Pal's long wait for Parky to pay up
Former Black Country professional footballer Nigel Swingler waited more than 30 years for chat show host Michael Parkinson to pay him back seven shillings.
He lent him the money for his train fare while they were doing their national service army training together at Devizes, Wiltshire in 1955.
Yorkshire-born Parkinson was then an unknown reporter responding to the national service call up while Mr Swingler, from Kingsley Road, Kingswinford, had been chosen to play for the British Army Football Team.
But it was three decades later, when his friend became one of the most famous faces on television, that the cash was returned with interest. A photograph taken of the pair appears in Parky's new autobiography, in which the chat show king speaks fondly of his army days.
Mr Swingler, aged 71, who lives with wife Pat, 70, said: "We had a lot of laughs during our early days at Devizes despite the rigorous training and there was one occasion when Parky wanted to go back home to Barnsley for weekend leave but said he had no money. So I lent him 7s 6d," said Mr Swingler.
But the Yorkshire-born television presenter never forgot his debt and in 1992 the cash was returned. Mr Swingler said: "At the time Parky was hosting a television programme called The Help Squad in which he helped to sort out people's various problems.
"I was surprised to receive a telephone call from a producer who said they wanted to surprise Parky on his last programme. They wanted me to walk onto the show right at the end and ask Parky for the 7s 6d he owed me.
"I was working at Longbridge at the time and Rover laid on a special car to take me and my wife to TVS Studios at Southampton. Although Parky was surprised when I walked on he chuckled when I asked for my 7s 6d. The show organisers presented me with a framed cheque for £12.75 which included interest over the years."
Mr Swingler played for Swindon Town in the late 50s to early 60s and finished his footballing career at Hinckley United in 1962. He then worked as a slipman for Rover for 32 years. He added: "Parky had not changed one bit and invited my wife and myself to a party to celebrate the end of the TV series."
While turning the pages of the 73-year-old presenter's new book "Parky", Mr Swingler was shocked to see a snap of himself with Parky in their uniforms. "It is nice that after all these years he remembers me," he said.
