George Parsonage (November 1880 – 22 May 1919) was an English professional

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 le ...

, most notable for his time as a half back and

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

in the Southern League with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. He was banned from football for life by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

in 1909, but later returned to the game.

Club career

Early years

A half back, Parsonage began his senior career at local First Division club Blackburn Rovers in 1900, after joining from Oswaldtwistle Rovers. He failed to make a league appearance for the club before dropping into the Lancashire Combination to sign for Accrington Stanley in 1901.

Brentford

Parsonage moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to sign for Southern League First Division club

in 1903. He became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the club in the

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

season and was a "tower of strength" for five seasons, before departing

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

in 1908. He made 194 appearances and scored 15 goals for the Bees.

Fulham

Parsonage returned to league football with

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in 1908. He made 23 appearances and scored three goals during the 1908–09 season.

"The Parsonage Affair"

While a Fulham player, Parsonage was the subject of transfer interest from Second Division club

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in 1909. Reportedly not keen on a move to

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, Parsonage submitted a request for a £50 signing-on fee (equivalent to £ in ), which was £40 higher than the Football League's maximum. Chesterfield reported the request to

, who banned Parsonage

sine die In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is oppo ...

from football. A petition signed by thousands of fans failed to see the ban overturned.

Later career

Parsonage returned to football with First Division club Oldham Athletic in September 1910. He ended his career with hometown Lancashire Combination Second Division club Darwen, whom he joined in March 1911.

Managerial and coaching career

Parsonage had a spell as

of Brentford during the 1907–08 season. He later coached at Oldham Athletic.

International career

Parsonage's form while at Brentford saw him called up for two

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

trial games. He played for Amateurs versus Professionals on 16 January 1905 and for the South versus the North the following month, but was passed over in favour of

Charlie Roberts Charles Roberts (6 April 1883 – 7 August 1939) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-half in the Football League for Grimsby Town, Manchester United and Oldham Athletic. He spent nine years at United, where he was capta ...

Career statistics

Player

Manager

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsonage, George 1880 births 1919 deaths Footballers from Darwen English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Oswaldtwistle Rovers F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Brentford F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Darwen F.C. (1870) players English Football League players Southern Football League players Brentford F.C. managers Southern Football League managers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff English football managers