Against Blackpool  in October 2001 Sean Parrish made his  first League game since the 1-1 home draw with Rochdale in March, a game you may remember saw the likeable Welshman battered black and blue by the Dale players, he's had back problems and a hernia operation since then and his 20 minute or so sub appearance at Bloomfield Road was a welcome sight for all Spireites fans after his excellent debut season for the Club last term.

The 29 year old midfielder began his career as a trainee at Shrewsbury Town, close to his home town of Wrexham, though he only appeared in three League games for the Shrews, the first two were sub appearances at the end of 1989-90 at Bristol Rovers and at home to Preston, incidentally North End's Manager David Moyes was a Shrews player that day, his only League start for the Gay Meadow side was in a 3-2 defeat at Leyton Orient in October 1990 though a few days before that he was involved for the full 90 minutes in a League Cup match at Ipswich Town, the hosts won 3-0 to take the 2 legged tie 4-1 on aggregate. Sean had come into the side for the injured Carl Griffiths and he was replaced by Asa Hartford,  some tough competition!

Scored for The Shrews in a Leyland Daf Cup game against Torquay United but the following season he made no first team appearances and was loaned out to neighbours Telford United in the Conference, a side who also featured ex Spireite Robert Alleyne that season, United finished 6th in the League and in the summer of 1992, Sean was snapped up by Telford boss Gerry Daly on a permanent basis.

The Bucks Head based Telford finished just below half way in the table with crowds just over 1,000 in 92-93 and the following season they finished just 4 points clear of relegation as Daly made way for George Foster, the former Football in the Community man here at Saltergate (and he played for Mansfield as well).

However that season, United made it to the FA Cup 1st round, they drew 1-1 at home to Huddersfield Town before narrowly losing 1-0 in the replay, Sean played in both games.

Moved back into League football with Doncaster Rovers in the summer of 1994, £20,000 was the fee paid. There was a managerial change at Belle Vue before the season started, Ian Atkins was replaced by Sammy Chung during the reign of the now disgraced Ken Richardson as Rovers "benefactor".

Played in the opening day 1-0 win at Hereford United as Rovers started well and led the Division Three table early on. Scored his first ever, and his second ever, League goals on Bonfire night 1994, a pair in a remarkable 5-1 win at Exeter City who at the time were managed by ex Leeds hero Terry Cooper.

Missed the two games against Chesterfield (we were promoted via the play offs) that season but managed a third goal at Fulham's Craven Cottage in a 2-0 Rovers win on their way to a creditable 9th place in the table amongst a squad which included Gary Brabin, Russ Wilcox and Jon Schofield.

Mid-table in 95-96, five more goals, all crucial, in 4 wins and a draw and at the end of the season a £35,000 fee saw the left sided player move to Northampton Town, by then housed in their new Sixfields Stadium, Ian Atkins, the man who'd bought him from non League Telford, again his signing Manager. Chairman at the time was Barry Ward, currently working with CFSS, and also on the Northampton Board was Brian Lomax, now Chairman of Supporters Direct

Four seasons were spent in the South Midlands, his Cobblers debut was as a sub in a 3-0 win over Mansfield Town, he started the next match, 1-1 at Torquay. Went on to score 8 goals in the Division Three campaign, despite missing games with a broken nose at a time he was being closely monitored by the Welsh International scouts. The season saw Atkins' men finish 4th, one place (though 12 points) off an automatic promotion place, Wigan, Fulham and Carlisle went up by rights, his 8 strikes were again all critical, in 7 wins and a draw.

He bagged goal number 9 in the play off semi at Cardiff City, a 1-0 win with a crowd of 11,369 and over 7,000 saw the Sixfields' second leg, The Cobblers winning a terrific battle 3-2. The Wembley Final saw Sean play all 90 minutes against another Welsh outfit, Swansea City, the North Welshman was delighted when City were beaten by a last minute goal by John Frain before a crowd of 46,804.

The Cobblers took to Division Two well, Sean scored the winner at Luton Town to take his side into a play off berth, it was their 4th consecutive win, but personal disaster struck on October 18th 1997 when Sean broke his leg playing at home to Gillingham.

He was out until August the following year, coming back against Notts County . Played his first ever game against The Spireites that season, a pre-Christmas 1-0 win, Lee Howey scored after a mistake by keeper Billy Mercer, the League season was disastrous for The Cobblers, ending with relegation but there were some good moments in the League Cup, Brighton were beaten on aggregate as were Premiership West Ham, beaten 2-0 at Sixfields, the Hammers scraped a 90th minute winner in leg two (25,435 crowd), Parrish played in both games, Spurs were the third round reward, at home, and with 30 minutes on the clock, Sean Parrish put Northampton Town ahead, but two goals from Chris Armstrong and one from Sol Campbell won the day for a Tottenham team which also included Darren Anderton and David Ginola.

Back in Division Three, The Cobblers started the campaign under Ian Atkins, before Kevin Wilson took over in November, they rose from the lower half of the table to an automatic promotion slot, Sean played in just over half of the games, scoring three goals (again all crucial, two wins and a draw), he came on as a sub in the last game of the season, a 2-1 win at Torquay, which clinched the move up. However Sean was surprisingly released by Northampton, Nicky Law snapped him up and on 12th August last year he began his third promotion campaign in 5 years with a debut goal in the 4-1 win over York City.

Grabbed the headlines with that 45 yard wonder chip against former Club Shrewsbury and registered his first ever hat-trick in another 4-1 win, Macclesfield the opponents.  Scored the late winner in the 1-0 triumph over Fulham in the Worthington Cup, one of 11 goals he registered for The Spireites, and as has been his trait over the years, they were all scored in games which saw points earned, indeed he's only ever scored in wins for The Spireites.

Sean's missed much ofthis seson with injuries but with only a few games to go it would be a good time to see lucky talisman Parrish notch up another goal or two.

Sean Parrish's League career prior to his arrival at Saltergate: