Eric "Rabbit" Parsons was a footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 who played for West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

, Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 and Brentford

Brentford F.C.

Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

.

A winger and crowd favourite whose blistering pace earned him the nickname "the Rabbit", Parsons started his career with West Ham United, spotted by the club during a game against West Ham Boys at Upton Park

Boleyn Ground

The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...

 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

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

, then his second a week later against the same club in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

. He was an ever-present during the 1947–48

1947-48 in English football

The 1947–48 season was the 68th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

 and 1948–49

1948-49 in English football

The 1948–49 season was the 69th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Portsmouth won the First Division title for the first time with a team of no recognised stars and very few international players. They won the league by five points from Manchester United and Derby...

 seasons, and made a total of 152 appearances for the club, scoring 35 goals. His last game came against Notts County

Notts County F.C.

Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...

 on 25 November 1950.

He served in Montgomery's Eighth Army during the Second World War.

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

Stanley Matthews

Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers'...

 and Tom Finney

Tom Finney

Sir Thomas Finney, OBE is a former English footballer, famous for his loyalty to his league club, Preston North End, and for his performances in the English national side....

, which limited his international opportunities to two "England B

England B national football team

England B is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the England national football team. At times they have played other nations' full teams; they have also played matches against 'B' teams from other football associations...

" caps

Cap (sport)

In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

. Nevertheless, Parsons formed an important part of Ted Drake

Ted Drake

Edward Joseph "Ted" Drake was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five caps for England. He was also a cricketer, but only ever played sparingly...

'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

1954-55 in English football

The 1954–1955 season was the 75th season of competitive football in England, from August 1954 to May 1955:-Overview:* Chelsea win the League Championship for the first time.* Newcastle United win the FA Cup....

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

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

 which clinched the title. During the title celebrations and speeches following the win over Wednesday, he finally won over the crowd at Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge (stadium)

Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...

, who chanted "We want Rabbit."

Parsons left Chelsea in 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. When Chelsea won the Premier League title in 2004–05

2004-05 in English football

The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League...

 Parsons was among several surviving members of the 1954–55 title-winning side to be invited to the trophy presentation at Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge (stadium)

Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...

. He continued to live in his home town of Worthing and died on 7 February 2011.