Amanda Parkes was way ahead of her time... touch, vision and passing ability was way better than everyone else her age

The recent passing of one of my closest, dearest soccer teammate Amanda Parkes, 35, has left me heartbroken.

It got me thinking and reflecting about her as a person, a friend, and in my opinion, the best young player to ever come out of Cork.

Twenty years ago Amanda emerged as a superstar in Irish soccer.

She was regarded as one of the best footballers in the country and an underage international player.

There was nothing she couldn’t do with the ball at her feet. It was like a magnet to her.

Her vision and touch were incredible. She saw passes no one saw. 

She was ahead of her time.

Amanda began her career with Wilton, and enjoyed many years under manager Pat Bowdren whom she thought so fondly of. 

She started off part of a superb team with players such as Denise O’Sullivan, Nathalie O’Brien, Ericka O’Sullivan and Laura Lynch to name but a few. 

She quickly made the transition onto the senior team and from there she grew as an exceptional talent. 

She won numerous league titles, local and national cups and was always a key player in the middle of the park.

Devastated by the news of her passing Pat said these few words.

“It’s absolutely awful, I’m devastated. 

"What a gifted player and beautiful person," Pat Bowdren said.” 

In 2011, something which was unheard of at the time, but quite understandable considering her talent, a Dublin team came scouting for our Cork superstar. 

Wilton played St Catherine’s in the FAI Cup final and from her performance in that game, Amanda, along with Denise O’Sullivan, were asked by Peamount to play with them in the Champions League. 

What an honour!

They participated in the 2011–12 UEFA Women’s Champions League and were drawn alongside Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, ŽNK Krka and Pärnu FC, a group which they finished as runners-up in.

They were the first Irish team ever to qualify to the knock-out stages of a European competition and the management team of Eileen Gleeson and Denis Commins were very proud of Amanda and deeply saddened to hear of her passing.

“We at Peamount were devastated to hear about Amanda’s tragic passing,” said Denis.

“Amanda’s contribution to the team was brilliant which resulted in us reaching the last 32 of the Champions League. 

"Condolence’s to her family and friends at this very sad time.” 

Amanda achieved so much in her short life. Things that only young players today could ever dream about. 

She played at a high level with her club Wilton, winning national cup titles, representing her country, and playing in the Champions League. 

As well as that, she played inter-county gaelic football. 

She was phenomenal. 

So, while she didn’t play as much football as she would have liked in recent years, her record performances and ability should never be forgotten by anyone. 

And judging by the outpouring of condolences since her passing, I believe they won’t be.

While she played against great players such as Aine O’Gorman, Noelle Murray, Maedbh de Burca and boxer Katie Taylor to name a few, she also graced the pitch amongst footballing greats such as Juliet Murphy, Nollaig Cleary and Valerie Mulcahy on the Cork senior football team. 

She represented Ballyphehane GAA Club and won a national league title with Cork.

She also was the first recipient of an FAI soccer scholarship college award with CSN. 

Principal at the time Tim Kelleher was devastated to hear of her passing.

“I truly am very emotional to think that Amanda has left us at this very young age,” said Tim. 

"What an exceptional talent she was but more important what a beautiful person she was. It’s truly devastating.” 

Amanda was a huge influence on my girls and most youngsters growing up, she had that natural talent that they were in awe of. 

In fact, as team mates, and even though we were a lot older than Amanda, we were all in awe of her also, such was the joy watching her alongside you as she would glide past opponents as if they weren’t even there. 

What I loved about her was that she had the aggression and passion to go with the talent but what stood out most was her modesty. 

In all the years, I never once heard her boast about herself, instead she acted quite shyly when complimented, which was normally every 40 seconds on the pitch.

In recent years I got to know Amanda more outside of football. 

Albeit all we ever did was speak about football but I got to know Amanda as a person as opposed to the footballer. 

And what a person she was. 

The most kind hearted, soft spoken, generous, thoughtful, funny person. She always tried to be happy even when times were tough. 

She would never burden you with any of her troubles but instead was positive and was more interested in how the teams in Wilton were doing. 

So much so that she decided to get involved in coaching and while it was a brief stint, it was great to have her there because her interest was always there and she was one of the few senior players that always showed an interest in the young talent coming through. 

She absolutely loved football, loved Wilton. 

Wilton loved you Amanda and we are absolutely devastated to have lost our beloved number eight.