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Thompson, Alan
| T | Player Pics | Road to Seville | A-Z of Players |
Personal
Fullname: Alan Thompsonaka: Thommo
Height: 6ft
Weight: 12st
Born: 22 Dec 1973
Birthplace: Newcastle, England
Signed: 1 Sep 2000
Left: 9 Aug 2007
Position: Midfielder
Debut:
Internationals: England
International Caps: 1 cap,
International Goals: 0 goals
First Team Coach: 17 June 2010 - 3 June 2012
Trivia
- A stalwart in the side on the Road to Seville (UEFA Cup final 2003)
- First Celtic player to be capped for England whilst playing for Celtic! Sadly his one and only cap.
- Scorer of the single goal in the two leg-win over Barcelona in the UEFA Cup in 2004, the high point of Martin O'Neil's reign.
- Scorer of two winners against Rangers.
- One of the first signings for Martin O'Neil.
- John Robertson, Celtic assistant coach, likened Thompson's passing to David Beckham's and described his left foot as "the wand"!
Summary
Thompson was signed on a 5 year deal by O'Neill on the 1st of September 2000 (along with Didier Agathe) for a fee of £2.75M from Aston Villa [BBC]Thompson signed a 2 year exctension to his contract in April 2004 tying him down to the summer of 2007 [BBC]
A major player in the MoN years with an important part in the Road to Seville, but also domestically where amongst other great moments he scored a screamer of a long shot against Rangers (see video below).
Biog
A stalwart in the golden era under Martin O'Neil, he more than played his part in guiding the club back to respectability, scoring 51 goals in his appearances for the club, and playing a strong role in Celtic's campaign in the UEFA Cup 2003.
It wasn't just the number of goals and games, it was also the quality. He twice scored the winner twice against Rangers, one of which is an oft replayed long shot screamer v the Huns. A hunskelper he scored seven goals against them!!!
A physical player, he had the ability to put in needed tackles when required and helped to shore up the team on the pitch on many occasions. Some though whined that he was too one-footed, but what a foot that was!
Famously, he was known to have a running feud with arch-hun Fernando Ricksen (who was a very unfriendly neighbour where he lived), but Thompson more than got the upper hand against him in the games, including the famous "knock-knock" episode" (see below).
Thommo's greatest moments were in Europe. Firstly, a misleading free-kick against Liverpool away (Road to Seville, UEFA Cup 2003), saw Thommo kick a strong low shot that bulletted beneath the jumping Liverpool defence into the back of the net. Up to that point, there were worries if we'd make it through unscathed in the match. A fabulous strike. It wasn't just that strike, we had beaten a top English club and it was a real GIRUY to the critics of our league and beyond.
Must add that he was a major part of the team in the Road to Seville (UEFA Cup final 2003), and like many others in the team, he played out of his skin in a number of games.
However, his greatest moment was against Barcelona in the UEFA Cup run in 2004, scoring the winner in the home game which set us up well for the return leg in the Nou Camp, where we fought out a no score draw to take us through to the the next round, overcoming one of the top in-form sides in Europe at that time. Not his greatest personal goal for style but his goal was instrumental to the victory against Barcelona, and showed how fundamentally important he was to the team during Martin O'Neil's reign, many of the players being overshadowed by the awe we all felt for Sutton & Larrson. The victory was the highpoint of Martin O'Neil's reign at Celtic.
As a reward and measure of his ability, Thompson earned an appearance for England under then manager Sven Goran Eriksson which made him the first Celtic player to be capped by England whilst playing for Celtic at the time (Chris Sutton never played for England whilst playing for Celtic). Sadly he didn't earn more caps as he deserved.
He scored the winning goal in the Scottish Cup final of 2005 to win Martin O'Neill his last trophy with Celtic, and a good send-off it was too. It was apt that one of his first captures would be the one to seal the goodbye for O'Neill, and Thommo more than befitted the role.
As happens, he ended up being at Celtic for a season or so too long and was never really in the first side (or squad even), and there were too many on the terracing bemoaning his lack of pace and subtlety on the pitch when he was there, making him an easy target. He was sent off in his last "Celtic v Rangers" match for a silly two footed lunge which sealed his exit from the first team. He admitted that whilst on the bench he ended up not even watching all through the matches (just wasn't him). He was transferred to Leeds in Jan 2007 where he had fitted in well and made himself popular.
Post-playing
He announced his retirement from playing football on 28th May 2008 (link) ending his time with Leeds. He then moved on as a Youth Coach at Newcastle Utd Academy.In June 2010 he was appointed as a a first team coach at Celtic under newly appointed manager Neil Lennon. They were both member of the team that played together in the UEFA Cup Final in 2003.
Tough seasons together, but they sealed the league title as a coaching team in season 2011/12 which was well deserved and made Thommo an even greater hero amongst the fans.
However, to the surprise of all in the Celtic support he was dismissed from his role on 3 June 2012 (not too amicable a split to be honest), not long after the end of season. He'd not had an easy time of late, with a drink-driving charge and family issues making front page news but that's for not for here (the tabloids can have that stuff).
We wish him the best.
The Knock-Knock story
One "*.gif" that had done the rounds is of Alan Thompson going past a Rangers player and doing a "knock-knock" remark (as if chapping a door)! The story behind this is that the player in question was the fud Fernando Ricksen (a complete headcase) who was Alan Thompson's next door neighbour, and apparently Ricksen was said not be a great neighbour. What occurred was that Ricksen decided one late night to chap on Thompson's door and wake him and his family up, and then proceeded to shout through his letter box! Charming.Anyhow, the mock remarks by Thompson on top of our victories against the Hun and his team i'm sure made our victory for Thompson all the sweeter, and sourer for Ricksen.
| Club __________ | From __________ | To __________ | Fee __________ | League __________ | Scottish/FA Cup __________ | League cup __________ | Other __________ | ||||
| Hartlepool | 22/01/2008 | 23/02/2008 | Loan | 7 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Leeds | 09/08/2007 | 28/05/2008 | Free | 9 (4) | 3 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| Leeds | 12/01/2007 | 07/05/2007 | Loan | 9 (2) | 2 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Celtic | 01/09/2000 | 09/08/2007 | £ 2,750,000 | 146 (12) | 37 | 19 (1) | 4 | 8 (3) | 2 | 34 (4) | 8 |
| Aston Villa | 05/06/1998 | 01/09/2000 | £ 4,500,000 | 36 (10) | 4 | 1 (0) | 0 | 3 (3) | 1 | 4 (1) | 0 |
| Bolton | 22/07/1993 | 05/06/1998 | £ 250,000 | 143 (14) | 37 | 6 (2) | 2 | 24 (1) | 5 | 7 (1) | 1 |
| Newcastle | 11/03/1991 | 22/07/1993 | Trainee | 13 (3) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 13 (3) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 |
| Totals | £7,500,000 | 363 (45) | 84 | 27 (3) | 6 | 48 (10) | 8 | 49 (6) | 9 | ||
| goals / game | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.13 | 0.16 | |||||||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Premier League Champions (4): Scottish Cup Winners (3):
Scottish League Cup Winners (2):
Wetpaint
- Exclusive Q+A (Feb 2007)
KStreet
Pictures
Tribute by George McCluskey of KStreet Forum
Have we had a dedicated goodbye thread for Thommo? I know we've noticed his his goals for Leeds - one on his debut, as well as a booking. How appropriate! I won't mince words. I loved the guy. He was a hothead with shaky discipline, but what a big match player he was! Although there's plenty of massive goals to choose from, my abiding memory of Alan Thompson will be a spectacularly violent clothesline tackle against Porto in the Seville final.
I wonder if anyone else remembers it? It happened during extra time, after Bobo's red and Derlei's go-ahead goal. The Porto players were falling over and writhing everywhere, Mourinho was bitching like a 13 year-old girl, and then Thommo went into a "challenge" on the touchline. He absolutely flattened somebody, might have been Capucho, and I recall roaring hoarsely at the incident. It seemed to capture and express all the frustration I was feeling.
That's what I loved about Thommo. So often his attitude on the pitch mirrored mine as a fan. The intensity that sometimes morphed into barely-suppressed rage. On several occasions that rage spilled over with negative consequence, most notably August 2005 at Ibrox. That was the beginning of Thommo's long goodbye. It's all over now, finally, but he's a player I'll never forget.
Godspeed Alan Thompson, you were a great Celt in your time.
I wonder if anyone else remembers it? It happened during extra time, after Bobo's red and Derlei's go-ahead goal. The Porto players were falling over and writhing everywhere, Mourinho was bitching like a 13 year-old girl, and then Thommo went into a "challenge" on the touchline. He absolutely flattened somebody, might have been Capucho, and I recall roaring hoarsely at the incident. It seemed to capture and express all the frustration I was feeling.
That's what I loved about Thommo. So often his attitude on the pitch mirrored mine as a fan. The intensity that sometimes morphed into barely-suppressed rage. On several occasions that rage spilled over with negative consequence, most notably August 2005 at Ibrox. That was the beginning of Thommo's long goodbye. It's all over now, finally, but he's a player I'll never forget.
Godspeed Alan Thompson, you were a great Celt in your time.
(1 Feb 2007)
Articles
Thompson returns to Celtic as coach
18 June 2010
Provided by: The Daily TelegraphHe was transferred to Leeds after scoring 51 goals in 227 appearances for the Hoops, becoming the first - and, thus far, only -Celtic player to be capped by England while playing for the club.
Thompson, 36, left boyhood heroes Newcastle, where he had been working with the reserves, to join Neil Lennon's revolution and, after being officially unveiled as Celtic's new first-team coach yesterday, he spoke of his disappointment at leaving four seasons ago.
"I left on a sour note," he said. "I just walked out of a side door one day without really saying goodbye to anyone.
"There were stories at the time about me being injured but I wasn't. Gordon didn't want to use me in the preseason games and he knew how unhappy I was so he gave me the opportunity to go home.
"It was a shock, though, flying back from Boston on my own and knowing that was me done. It was the right time to go, although I wouldn't have chosen those circumstances. Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady were coming through and they had more in their lockers than I had by then.
"Gordon was sending me on for the last 5-10 minutes of our pre-season matches but I'm not going to slag him because he treated me like a man. Not many managers would say: 'You know where we stand and I know how you're feeling so go home if you want.' "It was the loneliest journey of my life and I shed tears. Fortunately, the stewardesses made me feel better."
Thompson revealed that he and Lennon had arranged to work as part of the same management team while they were still stoking the engine room of Martin O'Neill's side.
"We did our B licence together up here and we always had an agreement that we'd do this," he said. "Neil knew that he wanted to be a manager and it was my ambition to come back here - I just didn't think it would happen this quickly.
"It was a wrench leaving Newcastle but I've every confidence that Neil will be a big, big success and part of the attraction is helping the club come out of Rangers' shadow again. Neil spoke to me when he became caretaker last season but he realised that I couldn't leave St James' Park for just nine games.
"I was in Dubai on holiday last week when he called to say that he'd got the manager's job and asked me to come up: it was an offer I couldn't refuse."
With Johan Mjallby waiting to be confirmed as Lennon's No2 and former Leicester City midfielder Garry Parker joining the backroom staff, O'Neill's influence will loom large.
Celtic failed to even reach a cup final for the first time since 1997 and surrendered the title to Rangers again. Thompson, recalling that Dick Advocaat's team had won the title 18 points clear of Celtic before O'Neill's arrival a decade ago, stressed the need for big-game hunters at Parkhead.
With nine goals to his credit (and three red cards), Thompson knows the intensity of Old Firm rivalry. "It's as much about mentality as it is about skill," he said. "Neil and I used to get abuse at Ibrox but we both thrived on it. Next season the four games against Rangers will vital to the outcome of the championship and we need strong players. It would be great to have Sol Campbell around."
© 2010 Telegraph Group Limited, London
The Daily Telegraph
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gerryg | Alan Thompson | 0 | Feb 2 2007, 4:41 PM EST by gerryg | ||
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Thread started: Feb 2 2007, 4:41 PM EST
Watch
Alan was an honest hard working old fashioned footballer. He didn't have the style or hero worship of the likes of henrik but, when it mattered, he delivered.
Remember his wonder freekick against the gers August 04!!! He never seemed to be a fans favourite, but even when the support was on his back due to his having an off day he didn't crumble under the abuse, he stood up and fought back. E.g. he was struggling against falkirk, suffered abuse and replied with 2 late goals to win the game for Celtic. He was a high earner who had to be removed from the wage bill. I wish him all the best, and thanks for 6 years of hard work. Cheers Alan |
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