Parsons is from the Barton Hill area of Bristol and played football as a schoolboy for South Gloucester Boys Club and New Cheltenham before signing as an apprentice with Bristol Rovers in 1961 at the age of 15.
He signed his first professional contract with Rovers on his eighteenth birthday and made his League debut shortly afterwards.
He stayed with Bristol Rovers until 1977, fifteen years after he originally joined them, and made a total of 358 League appearances without scoring any goals.
His only other Football League team was Torquay United, for whom he played between 1977 and 1980, and from there he went on to play for a number of non-League teams in the West Country – Taunton Town, Gloucester City, Forest Green Rovers, Yate Town, Hanham Athletic and Frome Town, finally retiring in 1990 at the age of 44.
[3] In April 2013 Parsons conducted an interview in which he criticised manager Tony Pulis' style of play and stated that a number of players he recommended to Pulis went on to join other Premier League club's.