Bobby Thomson (footballer born 1937)

Infobox Football biography
playername = Bobby Thomson


fullname = Robert Gillies McKenzie Thomson
dateofbirth = March 21, 1937
cityofbirth = Dundee
countryofbirth = Scotland
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
position = Forward
youthyears =
1952–1953
1953–1954
youthclubs = Albion Rovers
Airdrieonians
Wolverhampton Wanderers
years = 1954–1959
1959–1963
1963–1967
1967–1968
1968–1970
clubs = Wolverhampton Wanderers
Aston Villa
Birmingham City
Stockport County
Bromsgrove Rovers
caps(goals) = 001 0(1)
140 (56)
114 (23)
017 0(0)

Robert Gillies McKenzie "Bobby" Thomson (born March 21, 1937) is a former Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside-forward or centre-forward. He played most of his professional career in the West Midlands, making over 300 appearances in total for the two Birmingham clubs, and is probably best known for his four years at Aston Villa.

Biography

Bobby Thomson was born in Dundee, Scotland. He began his football career as an amateur first with Albion Rovers and then Airdrieonians. Following successful trials he moved to First Division champions Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1953 and signed professional forms in 1954. During Thomson's five years at the club, Wolves won the League twice more and never finished below sixth. He was unable to establish himself as a first-team player, making only one League appearance (in which he scored), and transferred to Aston Villa, newly relegated to the Second Division, in 1959 for a fee of £8,000.cite web
url=http://web.telia.com/~u27301997/1335.html | title=Aston Villa Player Database | author=Jörn Mårtensson | accessdate=2007-08-28]

Thomson made an immediate impact at Aston Villa, scoring 22 goals in his first season, which made him the club's top scorer and helped them to the 1959–60 Second Division championship. He followed this up with 18 goals the next season and another 18 in 1962–63.He played in the final of the inaugural League Cup competition in 1960–61 in which Aston Villa beat Rotherham United. Two years later he scored in the first leg of the 1963 League Cup Final against Birmingham City, but in the second leg he was marked out of the game by former England centre-half Trevor Smith, a significant factor in Birmingham retaining their 3–1 lead. [cite news
url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20030915/ai_n12704214 | title=Obituary: Trevor Smith | author=Ponting, Ivan | format=reprint via www.findarticles.com | publisher=The Independent | date=September 15, 2003 | accessdate=2007-07-24 | quote=Smith was an inspirational figure in both legs of their League Cup victory over local rivals Aston Villa in 1963, especially in the goalless second game at Villa Park, when his tight marking of the combative Bobby Thomson was a crucial factor in the Blues maintaining their 3-1 advantage from the opening encounter.]

In September 1963 Thomson moved to Birmingham City. In his first season he was used in a variety of positions, eventually settling in at centre-forward alongside the newly-arrived and prolific Geoff Vowden. Their goals failed to prevent relegation to the Second Division in 1964–65. In his last full season he played successfully at right-half in place of captain Ron Wylie who had broken his leg. Wylie's return to fitness and the arrival of former England centre-forward Fred Pickering left no place for Thomson, so in December 1967 he moved to Third Division Stockport County, and then into non-league football with Bromsgrove Rovers.

Honours

* with Aston Villa
** Second Division champions 1960.
** Club's top scorer 1960.
** League Cup winners 1961.
** League Cup runners up 1963.

Notes

References

*cite book
author=Hayes, Dean | title=The Villa Park Encyclopedia: A-Z of Aston Villa | date=1997-10-02 | publisher=Mainstream Publishing | pages=pp.161 |isbn=1-85158-959-7
*cite book
author=Matthews, Tony | title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record | year=1995 | publisher=Breedon Books | isbn=1-85983-010-2
*cite book
author=Matthews, Tony | title=The Encyclopedia of Birmingham City Football Club 1875-2000 | year=2000 | month=October | publisher=Britespot Publishing | isbn=0-9539288-0-2
*cite web
url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/ | title=Neil Brown's statistics site

External links

[http://web.telia.com/~u27301997/1335.html Profile] at [http://web.telia.com/~u27301997/ Aston Villa Players Database]

Persondata
NAME = Thomson, Robert Gillies McKenzie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Thomson, Bobby
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH = 1937-03-21
PLACE OF BIRTH = Dundee, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =