Billy Thomson

Billy Thomson

Personal information
Full name	William Marshall Thomson
Date of birth	10 February 1958
Place of birth	Linwood, Scotland
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1975–1978	Partick Thistle	1	(0)
1978–1984	St Mirren	206	(0)
1984–1992	Dundee United	165	(0)
1989–1990	→ Clydebank (loan)	2	(0)
1992–1994	Motherwell	52	(0)
1994–1996	Rangers	6	(0)
1996–1997	Dundee	25	(0)
National team
1977–1980	Scotland under-21[1]	10	(0)
1980	Scottish League XI[2]	1	(0)
1980–1983	Scotland	7	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

William 'Billy' Marshall Thomson (born 10 February 1958) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is a goalkeeping coach with Kilmarnock.

Career

After a fall-out at his previous club St Mirren,^[3] Thomson, a former Scotland international, signed for Dundee United in 1984 and spent the first season as cover for Hamish McAlpine. After a serious injury to McAlpine, Thomson took over in goal in October 1985 and wasn't to give up his place as No. 1 until the early 90s. A big keeper who caught crosses with one hand, he was in fantastic form throughout the UEFA Cup campaign of 1986–87, but just about lost an ear in a horrific clash in the 1st leg of the Final in Gothenburg. Thomson also played in two consecutive Scottish Cup Finals for United in 1987 and 1988. Thomson eventually lost his place to Alan Main and left for Motherwell in 1992, spending two years with the Steelmen. A surprise move to Rangers followed, where he spent two years as backup. Thomson remains however the club's oldest debutant at 37 years 50 days on 1 April 1995 against Dundee United. His final club was Dundee.

After retiring, Thomson joined Dundee's coaching staff before returning to Rangers as goalkeeping coach in May 2001,^[4] remaining until August 2007, when he left with no reason for his departure.^[5] Two months later, Thomson took up a similar, part-time role with Kilmarnock.^[6]

Thomson won seven Scotland caps during his time with St Mirren and was perhaps unfortunate not to add to that total during his time with Dundee United.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		Lg Cup		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
St Mirren	1978–79	34	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		34	0
	1979–80	36	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		36	0
	1980–81	36	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		36	0
	1981–82	35	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		35	0
	1982–83	35	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		35	0
	1983–84	30	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		30	0
	Total	206	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		206	0
Dundee United	1984–85	11	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	15	0
	1985–86	28	0	5	0	0	0	5	0	38	0
	1986–87	39	0	6	0	4	0	12	0	61	0
	1987–88	36	0	7	0	3	0	4	0	50	0
	1988–89	35	0	6	0	4	0	4	0	49	0
	1989–90	7	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	11	0
	1990–91	5	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	10	0
	Total	161	0	24	0	18	0	31	0	234	0
Motherwell	1991–92	43	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		43	0
	1992–93	9	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		9	0
	1993–94	0	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		0	0
	Total	52	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		52	0
Rangers	1994–95	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	1995–96	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
	Total	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	0
Dundee	1995–96	25	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
	Total	25	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	29	0
Career total		454	0	26	0	20	0	32	0	532	0

Honours

Dundee United

• UEFA Cup Runner-up: 1

1986–87

• Scottish Cup Runner-up: 2

1986–87, 1987–88

References

1. http://www.fitbastats.com/scotlandu21/player.php?playerid=36
2. http://www.londonhearts.com/SFL/players/billythomson.html
3. "Player Profile: Billy Thomson". www.stmirren.info. Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
4. "McLean makes Rangers return". BBC Sport website. 11 May 2001.
5. "Stewart nets Gers coaching role". BBC Sport website. 1 August 2007.
6. Baillie, Michael (16 October 2007). "Thomson in to Give Killie Keepers A Hand". Daily Record.

External links

• Independent profile