Alan Thompson (footballer, born 1973)

Alan Thompson

Personal information
Full name	Alan Thompson[1]
Date of birth	22 December 1973[1]
Place of birth	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1989–1991	Newcastle United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1991–1993	Newcastle United	16	(0)
1993–1998	Bolton Wanderers	157	(37)
1998–2000	Aston Villa	46	(4)
2000–2007	Celtic	158	(37)
2007	→ Leeds United (loan)	11	(2)
2007–2008	Leeds United	13	(3)
2008	→ Hartlepool United (loan)	7	(1)
Total		408	(84)
National team
2004	England	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Alan Thompson (born 22 December 1973) is a retired footballer. He made 550 appearances for six different clubs. He played as a midfielder and was capped by England, against Sweden in 2004. He is currently first-team coach at Blackpool.

Club career

Newcastle United

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear,^[1] Thompson began his career at Newcastle United, his home town club and the team he supported as a child.

Bolton Wanderers

He moved to Bolton Wanderers in 1993. He scored for Bolton with a spectacular shot from just inside the opponent's box at Wembley in the 1994–95 Football League Cup Final|1995 League Cup Final]] in a 2–1 defeat to Liverpool. Thompson was integral to the Bolton Wanderers side that gained promotion from the third tier winning the 1994–95 play off and to the premier League in 1996–97 (Champions).

He also scored the first ever competitive goal at the Reebok Stadium in a game against Tottenham Hotspur.^[2] Two years earlier, he had been the scorer of their first ever Premier League goal on the opening day of the 1995–96 season in a 3–2 defeat to Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.^[3]

Aston Villa

Thompson moved to Aston Villa in 1998 for £4.5m.

Celtic

Thompson moved to Celtic in 2000 for £2.75 million during manager Martin O'Neill's first season at the club. He was an integral part of the Celtic team that reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final where Celtic lost 3–2 in extra time to José Mourinho's F.C. Porto.

Thompson scored the only goal in the 2005 Scottish Cup Final for Celtic against Dundee United to give the outgoing O'Neill his seventh trophy whilst in charge of the club. He also scored the winning goal against Rangers in two separate Old Firm derby matches and seven against Rangers in all. He had mixed fortunes in Old Firm games, however, being sent off three times - all at Ibrox Stadium. Thompson scored a spectacular goal in the dying minutes as Celtic beat Rangers in the first Old Firm match of the 2004–05 season, in turn securing Celtic's seventh consecutive win over their Glasgow rivals.^[4] Thompson scored several important goals in European competition for Celtic as well; including the opening goal in Celtic's 2–0 win over Liverpool at Anfield in March 2003^[5] during Celtic's run to the UEFA Cup Final, and he scored against Barcelona at Parkhead in a 1–0 win a year later^[6] to help Celtic reach the quarter-finals of the same tournament.

Under Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, Thompson fell out of favour and found first team opportunities very limited, often not even securing a place on the substitutes' bench. He left Celtic for Leeds in January 2007.^[7]

Leeds United

On 12 January 2007, Thompson secured a loan move to Championship side Leeds United until the end of the 2006–07 season in a bid to play first-team football.

On 20 January 2007 Thompson made his debut for Leeds against West Bromwich Albion and scored in a 3–2 defeat. In his next game he scored a trademark free kick; the winning goal against Hull City in a 2–1 victory. Thompson left Leeds at the end of the 2006–07 season after his loan period and Celtic contract ended. His agent commented "He was very happy at Leeds, and there's a chance he could go back there.".^[8]

Thompson signed a one-year contract with Leeds on 9 August 2007. He was made club captain for the 2007–08 season, their first in League One^[9] He scored from a free kick against Southend United in the first home league game of the season.

Thompson was made acting assistant manager after the departure of Gus Poyet,^[10] but returned to his playing role upon the arrival of Dave Bassett. In January 2008 he joined another League One side, Hartlepool United, on a one-month loan deal,^[11] scoring once against Luton Town.^[12] He spent a spell out of the side injured, before returning to feature in the squad for Leeds' play-off campaign, although he did not play. He retired at the end of the season, at the age of 34.

Thompson ended his playing career on 28 May 2008 after 17 years as a professional. He had this to say: "I've had a good career but I've decided to call it a day. I'll take a bit of time out but I'd like to stay in the game. The high point was playing for England against Sweden in 2004 but I've got plenty of good memories."^[13]

International career

Thompson has one cap for England, when he was picked by Sven-Göran Eriksson for a friendly against Sweden in 2004. As a result he became the first Celtic player to have won an England international cap whilst playing his club football for the Glasgow club.^[14]

Coaching

On 16 July 2008 Thompson was appointed new academy coach at Newcastle United. It was his former boss Kevin Keegan that handed him the role of looking after the club's young talents.^[15] He was the club's Reserve Team Coach for the 2009–2010 season. On 4 June 2010 Thompson left Newcastle by mutual consent^[16] and on 17 June 2010 he was announced as the new First Team Coach at Celtic, working under his former teammate Neil Lennon.^[17] Thompson was fired from his role at Celtic on 3 June 2012.^[18]

He was appointed development squad coach at Championship club Birmingham City in June 2014, but when manager Lee Clark and assistant Steve Watson were dismissed in October, Thompson left the club by mutual consent a few days later.^[19]

Honours

Club

Bolton Wanderers

• Football League First Division (1): 1996–97
• Football League First Division play-offs (1): 1994–95
• Football League Cup runner-up (1): 1994–95

Celtic

• Scottish Premier League (4): 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06
• Scottish Cup (3): 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05
• Scottish League Cup (2): 2000–01, 2005–06

Individual

• First Division PFA Team of the Year (1): 1996–97

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream Publishing. p. 411. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
2. Shaw, Phil (23 September 1997). "Armstrong erases painful memories". The Independent (London). Retrieved 19 April 2010.
4. "Celtic 1–0 Rangers". BBC Sport. 29 August 2004.
5. "Celtic brush aside Liverpool". BBC News. 20 March 2003.
6. "Celtic 1–0 Barcelona". BBC News. 11 March 2004.
7. "Thompson completes move to Leeds". BBC Sport. 12 January 2007.
8. "Thompson open to Leeds stay". Sky Sports. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2007.
9. "Let's Get Busy". Leeds United A.F.C. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
10. "Spurs Pick Poyet To Assist Ramos". BBC Sport. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
11. "Pools agree Thompson loan switch". BBC Sport. 22 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
12. "Hartlepool 4-0 Luton". BBC Sport. 2 February 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
13. "Thompson finishes playing career". BBC Sport. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
14. Nash, Matthew (5 October 2013). "Who are Glasgow Celtic's England internationals?". HITC Sport. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
15. "Alan Thompson delighted at academy role". Evening Chronicle (Newcastle upon Tyne). 29 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 August 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
16. "NUFC statement". Newcastle United F.C. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
17. Alan Thompson confirmed as first-team coach Celtic F.C. 17 June 2010
18. Wilson, Mark (2012-06-03). "Thompson gets lawyers involved after Celtic axe assistant over the phone". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 2012-09-16.
19. Tattum, Colin (23 October 2014). "Alan Thompson leaves Blues". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

External links

• Alan Thompson career statistics at Soccerbase