It is with great sadness that I announce that Argyle fan Colin Parsons passed away last night following a short illness. He was at last night's match but passed away on returning home.
He amassed a wonderful collection of memorabilia and programmes far surpassing that held by anyone else.
He used to watch all first team, reserves and youth team matches.
In the past he was a scout for Peter Reid at both Man City and Sunderland and whilst working with Tony Waiters at Argyle in the 70s he was responsible for bringing Kevin Hodges to the club.
Details of his funeral will be announced when known.
Thoughts are with his family at this sad time.
RIP Colin.

[Argylegames]

RIP Pilgrim.

Ad astra Pilgrim.

He did a lot of good work with Steve Dean on GoS it seems.

So sad to hear this


I did a fair few deals with Colin for programmes over the years, but never had the pleasure of meeting him.


He had a pretty amazing collection of memorabilia based on his wants list which was tiny!

RIP sir.

RIP Fellow Pilgrim

It is sad to read about the passing of anyone, but just now and again the affect is felt more keenly. Colin Parson did indeed have a huge collection of memorabilia and I was fortunate enough to have had unlimited access to it on several occasions. He was a huge help to me when I was researching Thanks For The Memory and even more so for my forthcoming book about the period 1959 to 1962. In 2008 I put him in touch with former director Peter Skinnard and amongst the things he bought from Peter was a chest of drawers full of programmes and documents. One of the programmes, a match at Leicester just after the war, meant that Colin had completed the collection of EVERY first team game ever played (minus the Rochdale away game in August 1958 when there was no programme printed). From that chest of drawers he immediately lent me the boardroom minutes for the period I was studying with no limit put on when I needed to return them. The proviso was that I should honour Peter Skinnard's wishes about keeping certain matters private. Even after Peter passed away Colin reminded me that we had made a promise that we should still keep. That to me says much about the man and his principles. Colin was a third generation supporter and I believe his family had C144 in the grandstand from the time it opened until the time it closed. Colin was a decent referee when he taught in the Bristol area. He laughed as he told me that one of his referee assessors was the infamous GW Pullin, the man whose performance at Home Park in a game v Southend on 21 Aril 1958 nearly led to a lynching and is still talked about today. Argyle has certainly lost a very special supporter, one who had desperately hoped to see the club create a museum to which he would have given generously.. My thoughts are with his wife Hazel at this sad time.

Ad astra Pilgrim.

He did a lot of good work with Steve Dean on GoS it seems.

Colin’s contribution for me wasn’t so much ‘work’ as incredibly generous access to his amazing collection, including the loan of his complete set of Argyle handbooks that date back to 1903, which is the main reason why we have a photo of some 98% of all first team players.

Colin was also the instigator of GoS’s History of Argyle, which wouldn’t have happened (or even been possible) without his source material and draft chapters for the early professional club. Those who maintain a keen interest will know that the series has rather dried up on GoS; a case for me of the spirit being more willing than the flesh. With help it could be done; I know that Colin would look down with a beaming smile.

Steve Rhodes (memory man) has said it all about Colin. We knew he was ill but the suddenness of his passing has come as a huge shock. Thoughts are very much with Hazel, family and friends.

[Alan Turing]

RIP Pilgrim

RIP Pilgrim.

RIP Colin, and thanks for the memories you helped retain.

RIP Pilgrim

I can only concur with the words posted by the two Steve's - Colin was a big help when I was setting up and researching the original Semper Viridis site, incredibly generous with his time, knowledge and collection - a commitment that only increased over time with GoS. A genuine Argyle (and football in general) super fan in so many ways.

RIP Colin.

I first remember Colin in the playground at DHS (1964?) a towering figure, as a prefect, but always a gentle giant.
We met up again in the 1980s when he was inspector of schools for Surrey and I taught at Farnham College. In those days Inspectors were "advisors" and he was a great inspiration. As others have attributed he was a great Argyle fan and collector of programmes. In his scouting capacity for Sunderland we went to West Ham one evening and I was busy copying formations with Gianfranco Zola taking short corners for Chelsea. We left before the match ended and I think we missed the goals which turned West Ham from losing 2-1 to winning 3-2! When I last saw him he had moved to Devon. He was quite happy to visit Plymouth Albion as well as Argyle. A great love of all things Plymouth, he dreamt of having a flat/apartment in the Victualling Yard.

John Dymott