A couple days after St. Louis CITY SC bowed out of the MLS Cup Playoffs last month, veteran defender Tim Parker went to the grocery store.
The bad taste of an early exit was still on his tongue, but as Parker navigated the aisles of the store, he received a reminder of just how much the team’s inaugural season had meant to so many in the region.
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“Someone congratulated me on the year and thanked me for it,” Parker said. “It’s hard to take that [so soon after the season ended], but at the same time you’re thankful for all the support that everyone was able to give us.”
In 2023, Parker had so much to be thankful for.
Parker entered the year facing all of the uncertainty that comes with lining up with an expansion club, and yet he knew he needed a fresh start. When CITY acquired Parker from Houston last November, it presented him with the opportunity to help shape a club with his leadership.
Parker embraced his role as CITY’s vice captain and ran with it.
He played a crucial part in CITY’s roaring start to the season, offering a level of experience and know-how that any club—expansion or not—could use. Assertive on the pitch, Parker scored a career-high four goals after becoming a centerpiece of CITY’s set piece routines. Those four goals would strengthen his case as a candidate for MLS Defender of the Year, and ultimately landed him on the MLS Best XI roster, alongside teammate Roman Bürki.
Those accolades were a byproduct of the fire that Parker added to the CITY DNA this past season—a competitive spirit that earned him the admiration of St. Louisans at CITYPARK and beyond. He wasn’t just a star on the field. Parker’s status as a key piece of CITY’s success earned him plenty of fanfare away from the stadium, too. His jersey outsold MLS stars such as Riqui Puig, Brandon Vázquez, and Xherdan Shaqiri, making him one of two center backs in the top 25 of sales, along with Nashville’s Walker Zimmerman.
And then there was the beer: Parker Pilsner.
“He’s definitely one of the leaders of our team, on and off the field,” teammate Indiana Vassilev said. “His beer’s pretty good, [and] he’s got some cool shirts with Arch Apparel.”
The adoration began from the club’s earliest moments when Parker scored CITY’s very first goal and set a standard that would help define all of the things head coach Bradley Carnell wants from his team. Now, Parker is eager to do it all over again and establish new levels of success in 2024.
“We have to continue to push because it’s going to look different next year,” he said. “But this is still a group of guys who want to stay resilient, especially when they’re in this league for the first time and they’re still young and growing. There’s definitely going to be changes, that’s for sure. I think you know you’re not going to see all [of the same] 25 guys next year, but you have to be able to encourage guys to have good offseasons, and to actually take that time to go and relax for a little bit because next year the season is even longer.”
The CITY offseason is well in motion, with the club announcing that the team will report for preseason on January 13. When the group reconvenes, there will be pressure on Parker to follow up on an enormously successful first season in St. Louis. Regardless of what the next campaign brings, Parker has already left a permanent mark on St. Louis soccer.
“He is the definition of this club,” fellow defender Jake Nerwinski said. “He is the guy that [embodies] everything that St. Louis—the city and the club—want to be in this league. I’m really happy for him. He deserves everything that he’s gotten because he’s one of the hardest working and nicest guys. He’s a born leader.”
