Ben Parker ⭑ From A-Z since '92
From when Parker first took the ball knowing there would be a gap to run into, to the spot-on cross to meet the timing of Becchio's run, the goal was orchestrated by the left-back whose body, at the time, was ticking like a time bomb.
This is part of my (eight year long, it'll fly by) attempt to write about every Leeds United player since 1992. For more about why I'm doing this, go back to Aapo Halme, and to read all the players so far, browse the archive here.
Ben Parker's Leeds United career was as brief — 55 games — as it was long: he joined the club in 1995, aged eight, and left eighteen years later in 2013. And it was as painful as it was successful. He came through the ranks, played for the club he supported, spent more than two years injured and retired from professional football aged 25. But Parker got more from his career than many players get, particularly left-backs, particularly left-backs who mostly played in League One. People will always remember him for a goal, but not his goal, and it's rare for a player to be so fondly remembered for a goal they didn't score and even rarer in a game they didn't win. What we're talking about, happening in front of 37,036 fans watching a huge match at Elland Road under the floodlights, is an unforgettable assist.
Nights like these were an upside of relegation to League One in 2007. Leeds United Football Club had never played below the second tier of English football and should never have played below the second tier of English football. But when certain games came around, like the play-off semi-final second leg against Millwall in 2008/09, the anger of falling and the desperation to return to the top created an atmosphere as passionate and ferocious as any of the Champions League nights. In 2001, it had been a novelty to be written off as the 'weakest team' by Deportivo La Coruna. Being a goal down from the first leg with Millwall in 2009 activated a deeper nerve.
It was along the line of that nerve Ben Parker ran when he picked up the ball near the Kop on 14th May, 2009. It was just after 9pm. Making his eighteenth consecutive start as Simon Grayson's first choice left-back, Parker beat Millwall midfielder Gary Alexander to a through ball into United's penalty area, then surprised him by not passing back to the goalkeeper but turning 180 degrees, beating him to applause from the Kop, and setting off running due south. Along the east touchline he went, over halfway, passing to Jermaine Beckford outside him who flicked to Andy Robinson who turned, cut inside, and passed the ball neatly between two of Millwall's increasingly concerned defenders. Parker had carried on jogging forward and now a burst of speed took him away from his marker and towards the ball. His first touch was a cross. 'Good ball, Becchio well placed!' was Sky's commentary. "You could say it was a great cross but it was kind of easy, because there was a gap between the keeper and the centre-half," was what Parker told the YEP years later. At the time, most of what was being said inside Elland Road was incomprehensible. Luciano Becchio went into the gap and slid to make sure he put the ball into the net, then slid face-first onto the grass in the south-west corner. "The noise was unreal, absolutely unreal," Parker said. "It's one of those moments where if you weren't at the stadium you don't understand. It was the feeling when it went in."
Becchio was never going to miss, because he always scored those. His finish and celebration made the moment iconic, the commentary and footage of the wild celebrations in the stands going down in history: "Well," added Don Goodman, "The roof has just been lifted off Elland Road." When Phil Hay interviewed Becchio by email in 2020 and said he wanted to ask about a particular goal, Becchio said, "Like I don’t know! Millwall at home in the play-offs. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the perfect counter-attack which lasted only a few seconds ... a millimetre-perfect pass from Ben which left me an open door." Becchio admitted that, like many fans, he'd watched it over and over on YouTube.
But it was, in many ways, Ben Parker's goal. Becchio was a single-minded goalpoacher, but generous to the players who helped by opening the doors for him. Some goals are more about the build-up than the finish and this was one. From the appreciative applause when Parker took the confident step of swerving around Alexander, knowing the midfielder's presence in the box meant there would be a gap behind him to run into, to the neat contributions of Beckford and Robinson, to the spot-on cross to meet the timing of Becchio's run, this was all orchestrated by the left-back whose body, at the time, was ticking like a time bomb.