BEMERTON Heath Harlequins’ George Parker is celebrating 60 years’ unbroken service with the Sydenhams Premier Division club.

It only seems like five minutes ago that the Harlequins saluted Parker’s half-century with a surprise This Is Your Life event.

But another ten years have rolled by and still Parker remains a pivotal figure at Western Way as a member of both the executive and football committees.

Born in Liverpool in December 1938, a stone’s throw from Goodison Park, Parker moved to Salisbury in 1941 and attended Highbury Junior School and Shaftesbury Grammar.

A prolific striker, he joined the old Bemerton Athletic club at the tender age of 15 and still holds the record for scoring most goals in one season.

As a manager, Parker won back-to-back league titles, but his service to the club didn’t end there.

To date he has been player, team boss, sponge man, groundsman, car park attendant, media officer, chairman, kit washer, committee member and life vice-president.

Harlequins’ vice-chairman Clive Leonard recalled: “In 1955 he helped Bemerton erect their first pavilion at South Wilts Sports Ground which, typically of George, has lasted to this day, and he still works around the ground and on the pitch.

“His association with Bemerton was disrupted when he joined the Wiltshire Regiment and was sent to Cyprus. He came back with a medal – nobody knows where he got it, but he came back with one!

“I’m reliably informed George was a tenacious footballer who got stuck in at every opportunity and goalkeepers were his favourite prey.

“He rarely got booked, although I think that was probably more to do with the way the game was played back then.”

Parker was chairman of Bemerton Athletic and Leonard chairman of Moon FC when the two combined with Bemerton Boys Club to create Bemerton Heath Harlequins in 1989.

Since entering the Wessex League, Harlequins have gone on to establish themselves as top-flight regulars, boasting some of the best facilities in the area.

Parker has been dogged by ill health in recent years.

What should have been a straightforward hip operation in February 2007 led to a catalogue of problems and he finally came out of hospital in November that year.

“The operation has left George partially disabled, but it does not deter him from working at the ground most days and he very rarely misses any games, home or away,” said Leonard.

“Sixty years’ loyal service to one club is a big achievement.”