William Parsons Alexander (19 January 1877 – Unknown), was a Anglo-Spanish footballer who played as a forward for FC Barcelona. Although little has been recorded of his life, he was one of the most important footballers in the amateur beginnings of FC Barcelona, being among the 11 founders of the club in 1899, and then serving as the club's vice-captain in 1899 and 1900,[1] and played in the very first final of the Spanish Cup.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Parsons Alexander | ||
| Date of birth | (1877-01-19)19 January 1877 | ||
| Place of birth | Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain | ||
| Date of death | Unknown | ||
| Place of death | Barcelona, Spain | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1895 |
Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona | 3 | (0) |
| 1899 | Team Anglès | +1 | (0) |
| 1899–1900 | FC Barcelona | 0 | (0) |
| 1902 | FC Barcelona | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Born in Barcelona of English ancestry, William Parsons, together with his brother John, was one of the first pioneers of football in Catalonia, having played a match for Sociedad de Foot-Ball de Barcelona against Asociación de Foot-Ball de Torelló on 2 February 1895.[1] In 1899 he and his brother were among the twelve men who attended the infamous meeting held at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November 1899 which saw the birth of Foot-Ball Club Barcelona.[2][3] 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, such as the two of them and the Witty brothers (Arthur and Ernest), helping Anglès to a 1–0 win.[1]
Five days later, on 13 December 1899, the Blaugrana team merges with the Team Anglès, which leads to the expansion of the board of directors with his brother John Parsons becoming the vice-president of the club while he was appointed the vice-captainancy of the team,[4] but he did not get to play a single game with the club because, in February 1900, he left for Manila for family reasons, leaving the vice-captaincy of Barcelona in the hands of Ernest Witty.
William returned in 1902, and together with Udo Steinberg, the Morris brothers (Samuel, Enrique and Miguel), and Joan Gamper, he was part of the Barça side that participated in the Copa de la Coronación (predecessor of Copa del Rey), featuring in the semi-finals against Real Madrid CF (then Madrid FC), the very first El Clásico, and in the final, where Barça were defeated 2–1 by Club Vizcaya.[5]
William was also one of the founders of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona.[1]
FC Barcelona