Australian Football

An excellent all round footballer renowned for his scrupulous fairness, Charlie Parsons managed the relatively rare feat of playing at the top level in each of the three principal football states. In 1929 and 1930 he played 33 games for Carlton, and would almost certainly have remained at the club much longer had not a work transfer taken him to Adelaide, where he joined Sturt.

While at Carlton the strong marking Parsons had formed one third of a redoubtable half back line, along with centre half back Alex Duncan and fellow half back flanker Fred Gilby. At Sturt he rapidly became a prominent figure, playing a telling game at centre half back in the club’s 1932 grand final-winning team, and captaining the side for part of the 1933 season and the whole of 1934. He represented South Australia against Victoria in 1931.

In 1935 another employment transfer, this time to Perth, led to Parsons being snapped up by Claremont, who promptly appointed him captain-coach. However, after just three games at the helm another enforced shift saw him finish the season at York Football Club on the Avon River, 97 kilometres east of Perth. He remained with York until enlisting in the army on the outbreak of world war two in 1939.

Author - John Devaney