Jonathan Parr: I have no negativity over Crystal Palace exit – I achieved my dream of playing Premier League football
BY EDMUND BRACK
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk
Jonathan Parr achieved his dream of playing in the Premier League with Crystal Palace and there are no hard feelings that his desire to play in England’s top flight was fulfilled for only one season before he was released.
The left-back joined the Eagles from Aalesund, leaving the Norwegian top-flight club to sign for a side who were just a season on from administration and had just avoided relegation to League One in back-to-back campaigns.
Parr was signed by then manager Dougie Freedman, now sporting director, who sold the club to the then 22-year-old.
“I spoke with Dougie before I came – he was a big reason why I came,” Parr told the South London Press. “The way he wanted to do things, his plans for the club and how he was as a manager was a big reason for me signing.
“He was great. Unfortunately, he left a bit too soon, but he was a great manager and I really enjoyed working with him.
“He was honest about where the club was at the time but also open about his ambitions and plans for where he wanted to take the club.
“He was great for me as a young player coming over to a new team and country. He helped me settle in and I had a lot of good chats with him.
“It was the total package that he presented that was really tempting for me at the time. I’m really glad that I ended up at Palace.
“It was a great opportunity for me. I always had a dream of playing in the Premier League. Palace was in the Championship at the time, but they had the ambition to get promoted. I saw it as a great opportunity to achieve my goal.”
Parr hit the ground running in South London and managed to do something noteworthy in his first campaign – beating Julian Speroni to winning the club’s Player of the Season award.
He had already played half a season of footbal in Norway when he transferred to England at the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
“It was good because I jumped straight into it,” he said.
“There was a couple of weeks of pre-season and then I was ready to go straight away.
“I tried to do my best and always work hard. It was my success. I came in with energy, enthusiasm and some quality as well.
“The fans were amazing. We were in a difficult spot when I came to the club – the season before we almost got relegated.
“They were behind us all the time and the support was massive during my time there. The atmosphere at Selhurst Park was something different.
“I always tried to do my best wherever I played. I guess it was something they enjoyed as well – seeing commitment and energy.”
Freedman’s side, which saw academy products Wilfried Zaha and Nathaniel Clyne become important first-team members, finished 17th in Parr’s first season.
Zaha picked up 17 goal contributions in his first full campaign in the Palace first team and stole the show in their EFL Cup quarter-final win at Manchester United.
“Wilf was a great guy,” said Parr, who would room with Zaha on away trips.
“He was really confident, even at a young age. It allowed him to show off his tricks and do all of those things on the big stage.
“It’s very important for young players to believe in themselves. Many have good abilities, but it’s not easy to pull it off in big games.
“Wilf had that in place, so he could just go out and enjoy himself. He was amazing. He was the best player I trained with. His ability with the ball was something different.
“It was fun to see him develop and how his career developed.
“He was an amazing player when he was 19 and he just kept on getting better.”
The one minor blip in Parr’s first season in South London came during the EFL Cup run as Freedman’s side navigated their way to a two-legged semi-final clash against fellow Championship side Cardiff.
After taking a 1-0 lead to Wales thanks to an Anthony Gardener headed goal in the first leg at Selhurst Park, the Eagles went behind early on and
Paddy McCarthy was sent off as the game went to penalties for a place against Liverpool in the final at Wembley.
Jermaine Easter and Sean Scannell both missed and Parr put his decisive penalty wide as Palace were knocked out.
“That was a strange experience,” admitted Parr.
“We were 1-0 up from the home game and then in the away game, we scored an own goal and had a man sent off.
“We were hanging on with 10 players to get to the penalty shootout. I wasn’t supposed to take one, but some of the players were tired or didn’t want to take one.
“Dougie asked me if I wanted to take one. We had missed one or two and I took the fourth penalty – I had to score to keep the shootout going.
“I missed it.
“I was quite confident going up, more than I thought I would be, but unluckily, it didn’t go in.”
Parr’s second season in SE25 saw the Eagles push for promotion, with Ian Holloway replacing Freedman after he left to join Bolton.
The left-back remained a key part of the team – making 38 appearances in the Championship.
But, with Palace stuttering to get over the line and secure a top-six spot, he was ruled out for the rest of the season with four games remaining due to damaging ankle ligaments in the 3–0 defeat at Ipswich.
“Throughout my career, the worst games are the ones you watch from the side,” said Parr.
“When you’re playing, it’s completely different. When you watch it, you can’t affect it in any way and you get a lot more nervous.
“It was tough to watch the last few games when we were hanging on to the top six. We ended up with the same feelings as the fans.
“We wanted it so badly and supported the team as best as we can.”
Palace reached the play-off final at Wembley after beating rivals Brighton over two legs to set up a clash against Watford.
In a tense game at the National Stadium, 39-year-old Kevin Phillips stepped up to score the winning penalty in extra time and send Palace to the Premier League.
“I was so nervous. I didn’t know what to do,” he said.
“Then Kevin stepped up and hit it in the top bins. It was amazing to see his calmness in that situation – it was really impressive. It was a crazy game to watch, with a lot at stake. It was so nerve-racking. It was an amazing experience – I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.
“It was a big moment and one of the highlights of my career.”
Parr spent the first six months of the Premier League campaign on the sidelines as the Eagles moved on from Holloway and brought in Tony Pulis in an attempt to avoid relegation at the first time of asking.
Dean Moxey had assumed the starting spot in Parr’s absence, but the nine-time capped Norweigan achieved his career goal when he stepped onto the pitch at half–time in Palace’s 3-0 defeat to Newcastle in December.
He said: “Growing up in Norway, the Premier League is really big. It had always been a dream. Being out with an injury for so long, and working hard to get back, it was an amazing moment.
“I came back just before Christmas and was really happy to be a part of a lot of exciting games where we did well and began picking up points.
“The team got into a really good run when I picked up an injury – it’s difficult to get back in. I would have loved to play more.”
The Eagles secured an impressive 11th-placed finish in their first season back in the Premier League, but it would be Parr’s last chance at playing in the division and with the Eagles.
Joel Ward had switched to playing at left-back under Pulis and Parr failed to make a start in the final 11 games of the season.
“I had a good chat with Tony and we were talking about how things would be next season,” he explained.
“I wanted to play as much as possible and he couldn’t promise me regular game time.
“I got the chance to go to Ipswich, and I felt that I could play a bigger part in the team.
“I chose to go for that. We almost got promoted, so it wasn’t too far off. There were no hard feelings.
“If he had said: ‘You’re going to play every week for us,’ that would be the best scenario.
“It was uncertain how much I was going to play so I tried something new.”
Parr reached 100 appearances for the Eagles but left at the end of the 2013-14 season to join Championship side Ipswich.
He retired in 2022 to set up a company in his native Norway – a digital platform for selling and buying cars.
“It was a highlight of my career to be at Crystal Palace,” he said.
“I had a really good time there – on and off the pitch. I had some great memories. I was player of the year in my first season and in the second year, we got promoted.
“The third season was spent in the Premier League, playing against top teams and players.
“They were great years for me and I really enjoyed it.”
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