Aged 35, striker Jon Parkin has seen plenty during his football career, but on Sunday he has the chance to win silverware for the first time.
The 6ft 4in powerhouse has turned out for 14 clubs since making his debut for home-town side Barnsley in 1999, with his career highlights largely reserved for play-off battles.
On Sunday though, Parkin is set to lead the line for York City against Macclesfield Town in The Buildbase FA Trophy.
And the 35-year-old is desperate to land a winner’s medal.
“I’ve never won a cup, apart from when I was a school, and it’s like our FA Cup, so it would be a great achievement to win it,” said Parkin.
“I’ve had experience of winning and losing here at Wembley in the play-offs, it’s an incredible place.
“If you win it’s amazing, if you lose it’s really hard to take, but I’m looking forward to playing at Wembley again.”
Despite York suffering relegation from the National League, Parkin has signed a new one-year contract to remain at Bootham Crescent next term.
And Parkin has urged his team-mates to put the league campaign to the back of their minds and reward the supporters with a strong showing at Wembley against one of his former clubs.
“This is for the fans who have had a tough time of late, and we really want to win the Trophy for them,” added Parkin, who originally joined York in 2002.
“Hopefully the York fans can go home with a smile on their face.
“I’m still devastated about relegation. It was a tough final day and difficult to take when it was confirmed we were going down.
“No one said much in the dressing room after, the gaffer took a couple of minutes to get his thoughts together, and there was just a deathly silence.
“He told us that we needed to dust ourselves down for Wembley, we’ve got a game to prepare for and we want to win it for the fans.”
