Eric George Parsons (9 November 1923 – 7 February 2011) was a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, Chelsea and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in England.

Career

An outside forward and crowd favourite whose blistering pace earned him the nickname "the Rabbit", Parsons started his career with

, spotted by the club during a game against West Ham Boys at Upton Park while playing for Worthing Boys. He played his first game for the Irons on 4 January 1947, in a Division Two game against Leicester City, then his second a week later against the same club in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. He was an ever-present during the 1947–48 and 1948–49 seasons and made a total of 152 appearances for the club, scoring 35 goals. His last game came against Notts County on 25 November 1950. He served in Montgomery's Eighth Army during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Parsons joined Chelsea in November 1950 for a then club record fee of £23,000. A pacy outside forward, Parsons was unfortunate to play in an era of great English outside forward, such as

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

and Tom Finney, which limited his international opportunities to two " England B" caps. Nevertheless, Parsons formed an important part of Ted Drake's Chelsea side of the early 1950s, as both goalscorer and creator. Despite this, he was occasionally barracked by sections of the Chelsea crowd. He played in every game of Chelsea's

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

-winning side in 1955 and contributed 11 goals, including two in the 3–0 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

which clinched the title. During the title celebrations and speeches following the win over Wednesday, he finally won over the crowd at Stamford Bridge, who chanted ''"We want Rabbit."'' Parsons left Chelsea in November 1956 for Brentford. He sustained a broken leg while at the club, but still managed to take his total to over 400 League appearances before retiring from football after a spell with

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. When Chelsea won the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

title in 2004–05 Parsons was among several surviving members of the 1954–55 title-winning side to be invited to the trophy presentation at Stamford Bridge. He continued to live in his home town of Worthing and played for the town's bowling club. He died on 7 February 2011.

Notes

References

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Eric Parsons
''westhamstats.info'', last accessed 5 February 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Eric 1923 births 2011 deaths Footballers from Worthing English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Chelsea F.C. players Brentford F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players English Football League players England men's B international footballers Dover F.C. players Southern Football League players British military personnel of World War II Military personnel from West Sussex 20th-century English sportsmen