John Parsons (footballer, born 1875)

John Parsons Alexander (14 April 1875 - 18 November 1960), was an Anglo-Spanish footballer who played as a forward for FC Barcelona.^[1][2] His younger brother, William, followed him every step through.

John Parsons

John (seated, the first from the left), in 1895.
Personal information
Full name	John Parsons Alexander
Date of birth	(1875-04-14)14 April 1875
Place of birth	Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Date of death	18 November 1960(1960-11-18) (aged 85)
Place of death	Barcelona, Spain
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1895–1896	Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona	+3	(+3)
1899	Team Anglès	+2	(+1)
1899–1904	FC Barcelona	41	(15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Together with his brother, he is regarded as one of the most important figures in the amateur beginnings of football in Catalonia, taking part in some of the earliest Catalan clubs in existence such as Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona, where he stood out as a great striker, netting some of the first goals in the history of Catalan football.^[3] Parsons is best known for his role in FC Barcelona's beginnings, being among the 11 founders of the club in 1899, and then serving the club as its vice-president between 1900 and 1901 and as a player between 1899 and 1904, netting 15 goals in 41 appearances^[1] and helping his side win the 1901–02 Copa Macaya, the club's very first trophy, and helping his side reach the final of the 1902 Copa de la Coronación, in which he scored in a 2–1 loss.^[4] He was also a great fan of philately, receiving several awards and distinctions throughout his life.

Playing career

Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona

His family, of English origins, settled in Barcelona in 1870, where John was born on 14 April 1875. Together with his brother William, he was one of the first pioneers of football in Catalonia, joining the Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona in 1895, with whom he played several training matches (Blue vs reds), including the one on 2 February 1895, in which he scored twice to help the Blues to a 4–1 victory.^[5] Parsons also played both games against Asociación de Foot-Ball de Torelló on 24 March and 14 April 1895,^[3] which was the very first time that teams from two different cities played against each other in Catalonia, and he rose to the occasion, netting a brace at Bonanova in an 8–3 local win^[6] and another one at Torelló in a 3–5 loss.^[7]

 

Members of the Barcelona Football Society in 1895. John Parsons seated, first from the left, next to other pioneers of Catalan football such as his brother William, the Morris brothers, James Reeves, and Alberto Serra.

Parsons played several friendly matches at Can Tunis and a few others at Bonanova between 1892 and 1895, where he stood out as a great goal scorer, however, due to the little statistical rigor that the newspapers had at that time, the exact number of goals he netted is unknown.^[8] Despite some encouraging first steps, this Society was never officially established and when its founder and captain James Reeves returned to the United Kingdom in the autumn of 1895, it was the Catalans and the Parsons brothers who took the reins of the team, but without Reeves, the entity soon declined, collapsed and seems to disappear around 1896.^[8] Football in the city then crosses its first crisis which lasted three years from 1896 until 1899, with the Parsons playing an important role in the sport's return to the city in 1899, helping with the creations of Team Anglès and FC Barcelona in 1899.^[3]

FC Barcelona

He and his brother were among the eleven men that attended the infamous meeting held at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November 1899 which saw the birth of Foot-Ball Club Barcelona.^[9][10] However, in Barcelona's official debut on 8 December 1899, the two Parsons brothers played for the rival team, Team Anglès, which consisted of members of the British colony living in Barcelona.^[1][3][11]

Together with Bartomeu Terradas, Arthur Witty and team captain Joan Gamper, he was part of the Barça side that participated in the first regulated football championship played on the Iberian Peninsula, the Copa Macaya in 1900–01, in which he scored 8 goals, including two hat-tricks in 0–13 and 14–0 trashings of Franco-Española, but despite his goalscoring prowess, Barça finished the tournament as runner-ups to Hispania AC.^[12] These 8 goals earned him a spot in the top scorers of the tournament only behind Gustavo Green(9) and Joan Gamper(31). In the following season, however, he helped Barcelona win the 1901–02 Copa Macaya, the club's first-ever piece of silverware, netting two goals on the final matchday on 23 March 1902 in a 15–0 victory over Català FC.^[13] The Copa Macaya is now recognized as the first Catalan championship.

In 1902, Parsons was a member of the Barcelona team that participated in the Copa de la Coronación (predecessor of Copa del Rey), featuring in the semi-finals against Real Madrid (then Madrid FC),^[14] the very first El Clásico in history, and in the final, where he scored Barça's only goal in a 1–2 loss to Club Vizcaya.^[4][15]

In 1903, he added a new title to his career, the Copa Barcelona, which was later recognized as the fourth edition of the Catalan Championship.

Retirement

In 1912, he took part together with Joan Gamper, Udo Steinberg and Arthur Witty of the Comité Athlétic of the Football Club Barcelona as a referee and under the presidency of Joaquín Peris de Vargas.^[3]

He founded a dye factory and dry cleaners under the name of Juan Parsons & Sons. He died in Barcelona on 18 November 1960 at the age of 85.

Honours

FC Barcelona

• Copa Macaya:
  • Champions: 1901–02
  • Runner-up: 1900–01
• Copa Barcelona:
  • Champions: Copa Barcelona
• Copa de la Coronación:
  • Runner-up: 1902

References

1. "John Parsons Alexander stats". players.fcbarcelona.com. from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
2. "John Parsons Alexander - Footballer". www.bdfutbol.com. from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
3. "Els onze apòstols de Gamper" [the eleven apostles of Gamper] (in Spanish). FC Barcelona. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
4. "Spain - Cup 1902". RSSSF. 15 September 2000. from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
5. "Blues 1–4 Reds". hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 5 February 1895. from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
6. "Barcelona 8–3 Torelló". hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 27 March 1895. p. 6. from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
7. "Torelló 5–3 Barcelona". hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 17 April 1895. from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
8. "La Sociedad de Football de Barcelona de 1894 y el Foot-ball Club Barcelona de 1899" [The Barcelona Football Society of 1894 and the Foot-ball Club Barcelona of 1899] (in Spanish). CIHEFE. 17 January 2010. from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
9. Ball, Phil p. 89.
10. "1899–1909. Foundation and survival". FC Barcelona. from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
11. "Barcelona 0–1 Team Anglès". hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 9 December 1899. from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
12. "Primera edición de la Copa Macaya Enero-Abril 1901" [First edition of the Macaya Cup January–April 1901] (in Spanish). CIHEFE. 1 June 2014. from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
13. "Barça Rewind: The first ever title". www.fcbarcelona.com. 23 March 2020. from the original on 19 September 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
14. "FC Barcelona - Madrid FC (3 - 1) 13/05/1902". www.bdfutbol.com. from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
15. "Club Vizcaya - FC Barcelona (2 - 1) 15/05/1902". www.bdfutbol.com. from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.