Alan Thompson (born 10 October 1953 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer and coach. He played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition from 1973 to 1984 and coached the club in 1989. He primarily played at .

Career

Playing

Thompson was a Manly district junior who could also play at or in the s. He was graded by the Sea Eagles in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

and played in the club's Reserve Grade premiership win that year (the first grade team also won their second straight premiership in 1973). Thompson went on to play five-eighth in Manly's 1976 Grand Final win over Parramatta, and their 1978 Grand Final win over Cronulla. After Manly's 1978 premiership, Thompson was selected for the

1978 Kangaroo tour The 1978 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France comprised the Australia national rugby league team's fourteenth tour of Great Britain and ninth tour of France, and took place from September to December 1978. Coached by Frank Stanton and captai ...

and made his test debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

from the bench in the second

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test against

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. Thompson played from the bench in the Kangaroo's 18–14 loss to the Lions, but retained his place for the deciding test at Headingley where Australia won convincingly 23–6. He played another six tests in his career, with his last being the second test of the 1980 Trans-Tasman series against

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at Carlaw Park in

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. Thompson was selected to represent

as five-eighth on ten occasions, seven of which were State of Origin matches. He played in the inaugural 1980 game, the complete 1982 series, games I and II of the 1983 series and game I of the 1984 series, the final year of his playing career. At the time of his retirement in 1984, Thompson held the record for the most Manly club games: 261 with 62 tries and two field goals.

Coaching

Thompson moved into coaching and took the Manly reserve grade side to the Grand Final in 1987 (losing to Penrith), before winning the Reserve Grade Grand Final in 1988. In

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, following

Bob Fulton Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great succe ...

's appointment as Australian coach, Thompson was appointed as first grade coach but a turbulent and unsettled year within the club which saw 1987 premiership and long serving Australian test players

Dale Shearer Dale Shearer (born 25 July 1965), also known by the nickname of "Rowdy", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative ...

Noel Cleal Noel Harvey "Crusher" Cleal (born 16 October 1958) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A destructive for the Manly Sea Eagles, he also represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series and the Austra ...

and team captain Paul Vautin leave the club at season's end, led to a disappointing season for Thompson with Manly failing to make the finals and he was replaced at the end of the season by former

and

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

coach Graham Lowe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Alan 1953 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players City New South Wales rugby league team players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles captains Manly Warringah Sea Eagles coaches Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Sydney