THE instantly recognisable voice of football in York and North Yorkshire has had a bus named after him.

For two decades, Barry Parker was famous as the ‘voice of York City’.

But despite retiring at the end of the football season this year after 40 years on air, the name of the former BBC presenter will still be seen across the city and county as bus operator Coastliner has named one of its flagship fleet after the popular commentator.

Barry’s friends at BBC Radio York teamed up with Coastliner to organise a surprise reveal of the newly named bus in front of the new home of his beloved York City, the LNER Community Stadium.

And Barry could scarcely hide his delight when he spotted his own name proudly displayed above the entrance to Coastliner bus number 3643.

Barry joked: “It’s amazing … people will look at my name on this wonderful bus and say ‘Who on earth is that?!

“The incredible thing is, I travel regularly on the Coastliner service between Leeds, York and Scarborough, so I’ll almost certainly end up getting on ‘my’ very own bus!

“It’s a lovely gesture by Coastliner to do this, I’m absolutely thrilled and very proud to see it, and I’m looking forward to seeing it out on the road across York and North Yorkshire.”

Coastliner even arranged for Barry to take the wheel of his newly named bus, in the safe surroundings of the company’s depot in York.

General Manager Kel Pizzuti said: “Barry has travelled all over the country to follow York City, and more recently Harrogate Town, bringing all the passion and drama of live football to radio listeners across the region.

“As well as being a football fan, Barry is also a fan of our buses, and we think he absolutely deserves to have a Coastliner bus named in his honour. It’s great that he’ll be travelling on his own named bus, into York and over to the coast.”

On board Barry’s bus, a specially written display tells his story for the benefit of any bemused customers who don’t instantly recognise him as the area’s voice of football. It reads: “BBC Radio York’s Barry Parker has worked for the Corporation for over 40 years. He spent 20 of those years commentating on York City.

“The end of the 2022 season saw him retire, hanging up his microphone for good. Alongside his passion for radio, he shares our love for all things buses!

“We’re pleased to be able to commemorate Barry’s legacy in York by naming this bus after him.”

The newly named bus ‘Barry Parker’ is now in service with Coastliner on its ever-popular services linking Leeds and York with the North Yorkshire Coast.

Full details of all Coastliner routes and ticket deals are online at: transdevbus.co.uk/coastliner and via the free to download ‘Transdev Go’ mobile app.