Exmouth-born Keith Parsons was an amateur who played for Exeter City’s reserves in the early 1960s. He then had a successful period with Taunton before returning to coach Exeter City Reserves between 1972 and 1975 and later serving as player-manager of Exmouth Town.

Keith is known to have played for City’s junior sides in the Exeter & District and South Western league sides as a teenager in 1959/60. Later, with the reserves leaving the Southern League and joining the Western League, he started to figure on a more regular basis - in a variety of positions - right through Jack Edwards’ time at the helm between 1963 and 1965.   

He then signed for Taunton on a semi-professional basis and, when the club became Taunton Town, was part of the team that won the Western League championship in 1968/69. After six seasons in Somerset, he spent time with Exmouth Town before rejoining Exeter City as coach of the newly-reformed reserve side in the Western League when John Newman was manager of the first-team..  

Five years after the reserves had pulled out of the Western League, the returning side finished 12th in 1972/73 followed by an improved 4th the next season before another change to the South Western League in 1974/75. Keith, now in his thirties and working for the Exmouth Journal, was tasked with providing football for professionals not currently in the first-team alongside giving an opportunity to promising local players in the absence of a structured youth set-up.  

Occasionally playing himself, including during the season in the South Western League in 1974/75 (the reserves were back in the Western League again the following campaign), Keith remained in position until October 1975 when he became player-manager of Exmouth Town who had joined the Western League from local football in 1973.