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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Ricky Charlesworth

McDonald's kid Scott Parker looking to deliver Bournemouth back to top flight

Nowadays he's more interested in feasting on wins and clean sheets, as opposed to burgers and fries.

But once upon a time Scott Parker was a TV star - for McDonalds.

Parker is now boss at AFC Bournemouth, who are enjoying a fine start to life back in the Championship. They are top of the table and are unbeaten - one of only two teams in the entire EFL.

But as a teenager, the upcoming youngster once appeared in a commercial for the fast food giants.

He was aged just 13 at the time. Parker showed his skills on the advert with a series of impressive keepie-uppies and headers.

After showing off his skills he's then called by his mum who says: "Jimmy! We're off to McDonalds."

But unlike most teenagers Parker decides to continue honing his skills, snubbing the chance of a treat.

The 30-second clip was run in the build-up to the FIFA World Cup in 1994 which was held in the United States with McDonalds one of the main sponsors for the tournament.

The ad proved to be a success with Parker even invited onto a London TV programme to talk about it although he was clearly more at home with a ball at his feet than with a microphone in hand.

The advert also used a line saying: "This commercial is dedicated to all those who know what practice makes..."

And it certainly turned out well for "Jimmy". Parker would go on to represent Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Tottenham and Fulham and won a total of 18 England caps.

He then moved into management with the Cottagers before leaving for Bournemouth this summer.

Having led Fulham to promotion, Parker looks on course to do the same with the Cherries.

They beat Luton 2-1 on Saturday and have a two-point buffer over second-placed West Brom.

Parker said after the result: "What is important is that we win the game and we dig in. In the second half, as much as they (Luton) put pressure on us, we defended it and managed the game well.

"We'd like it to be more comfortable, but you've got another 11 men who are trying to score a goal. I thought we did well.

"They had nothing to lose and when you have nothing to lose you're a bit more gung-ho.

"Winning is a habit and at this moment we're doing good on that."

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