Born in Singapore to a Japanese mother and an English father, Parkinson’s family relocated to Portugal when she was 10 years old after her brother, Denis, was scouted to play in the Porto academy. Parkinson herself would spend time with FC Foz and Leixoes, while also training with Benfica on several occasions, before joining Valadares Gaia in 2023, where she would make her senior debut at the age of 15.
The move to Portugal would introduce a fourth nation that Parkinson was eligible to represent at international level, but England would be her choice, as it was “the first country that invited me into the national training centre,” she explained last year.
“They sent a scout out to Portugal to see my games,”she recalled. “I was playing with boys at that point. They saw some clips of me online and realised I was half-English. Once I got here, I just really liked the culture. Everyone is kind but also ambitious. I enjoyed the way England conducted themselves in the training sessions and the style of play in games.”
While also continuing to make a serious impact on the first team at Valadares Gaia, voted the best young player in the Portuguese league in the 2024-25 season, Parkinson would rapidly rise up through the England youth ranks, representing the nation of her father at the U17 Euros and World Cup in 2024, before progressing up to the U19s to play at their Euros and, back in November, into the U23s.
