Paul Parry

Towards the end of the season, with a lack of strikers at the club, Parry was used primarily as a striker, playing alongside either Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Steve Thompson, and he would go on to finish the season as the club's joint top scorer, along with Joe Ledley, with 11 goals in all competitions. In April he suffered a hamstring injury during a 0–0 draw against West Bromwich Albion and he was forced to miss the remaining league games of the season as well as the FA Cup semi-final win over Barnsley. The injury meant he was forced into a long wait over his chances of appearing in the final, but he did eventually manage to return in time and played all 90 minutes in a 1–0 defeat to Portsmouth.

On 9 July 2012, Parry signed for League One club Shrewsbury Town having turned down a new offer from Preston North End. He made his debut for the club in the League Cup, in a 4–0 defeat against Yorkshire side Leeds United at Elland Road. Parry scored his first goal for the club on 14 August 2012, in a 1–0 win at home against Preston North End. Parry finished the 2012–2013 season with 6 goals in 34 appearances. Following Shrewsbury's relegation the following season, Parry was released at the end of his contract.

At the start of the 2011–12 season, Parry was mainly deployed as a left-back for Preston North End. Parry was initially selected because of a lack of full-backs, but he made the position his own during the course of the season.

On 3 August 2009, Parry joined Championship rivals Preston North End for a fee of around £300,000. He made his debut against Bristol City in a 2–2 draw at Deepdale and scored his first goal for the Lilywhites in his fourth appearance during a 3–0 victory over Barnsley on 18 August. After being a reserve for most of the 2010/11 season, Parry regained his first team place, at the start of the new campaign in League 1, in PNE team at left-back putting in some brilliant performances.

After stating his intent to be a regular as a forward for the club, Parry opened his goalscoring account early in the 2008–09 season, scoring both goals in a 2–1 win over Bournemouth in the first round of the League Cup, the team's second game of the season on 12 August. However Parry soon reverted to playing as a winger due to the partnership of Ross McCormack and Jay Bothroyd and was forced to wait until 4 October before scoring his first league goal of the season in a 1–1 draw with Blackpool. In February 2009, Parry made his 200th appearance in all competitions for Cardiff when he played in a 4–0 defeat to Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

In August 2007, Parry was called up to the Wales squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Germany and Slovakia but pulled out of the squad for personal reasons, which were later revealed to be due to going through a stressful divorce and custody battle. His decision was branded "silly" by former Cardiff player Jason Perry. However, on 15 January 2008 Parry stated that he would return to play for Wales if he was called upon by Toshack. Parry returned to international football to win one more cap in a friendly match against Georgia before causing another shock by announcing his retirement from internationals at the age of 28, later stating that he felt like a "spare part" in the Wales team after being overlooked during a 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Azerbaijan.

Parry began the 2007/08 season in fine form, forcing summer signing Trevor Sinclair out of the team with his impressive displays. His continuing good form also found him finding the net more often for Cardiff with goals against Queens Park Rangers, Burnley, Ipswich Town and Sheffield United leaving him as the Bluebirds joint top scorer by late December. His good form in the season and Cardiff's financial trouble saw several other Championship sides enquire about him, Norwich City even having a £750,000 offer rejected, but Parry stated that he did not wish to leave Cardiff. January saw Parry return to the club he started his playing career at, Hereford United, when the two sides met in the fourth round of the FA Cup, with Cardiff winning 2–1.

Parry made his international debut for Wales on 18 February 2004, coming on as a substitute in the 4–0 win over Scotland. It capped a remarkable rise for the midfielder who, at the time, had only made five appearances since joining Cardiff and had been playing Conference football six weeks earlier. He scored his first international goal in the 1–0 win over Canada on 30 May 2004.

He was Hereford's leading goalscorer in the 2002–03 season. On 19 December 2003, under the watchful eye of Cardiff City manager Lennie Lawrence, Parry scored a hat-trick for Hereford in a 7–1 rout over Forest Green. Soon after, Cardiff signed him for an initial fee of £75,000, which would increase depending on appearances. Parry's final appearance for Hereford saw him score the winning goal in added time against Stevenage Borough.

Parry started his career at Bristol City where he spent two years as a schoolboy, before joining Hereford United as a YTS trainee. He made his league debut for Hereford on 7 November 1998, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat away to Leek Town. His profile was raised after an excellent FA Cup performance against Leicester City in the 1999/00 season. In this match, Parry so nearly scored the winning goal when he dribbled half the length of the pitch and hit the post when one-on-one with goalkeeper Tim Flowers.

Paul Ian Parry (born 19 August 1980) is a Welsh professional footballer and former Wales international. He can play as either a Winger, striker or left-back.