Robert Austin Thomson (12 July 1907 – 17 Sep 1937) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, who played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Career

Club

Born in

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

, Thomson joined

aged 22 from

Glasgow Perthshire Glasgow Perthshire Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Possilpark, in the north of Glasgow. History The Glasgow Perthshire Athletic Club, within which the football club operated, was formed on 7 November 1890 at the Waterloo R ...

, traditionally a

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

team but in that era a member of the rival Intermediate Association, a breakaway body protesting the compensatory payments given by senior clubs signing Junior players. With Thomson on an intermediate contract, he and Celtic were taken to court by Perthshire for breach of agreement after his move in 1929. At

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

, where he was brought in to replace

Paddy Connolly Patrick Connolly (born 25 June 1970 in Glasgow) is a Scottish football player and coach. In a twenty-year playing career, he made over 100 appearances for both Dundee United and St Johnstone; he also played for Airdrieonians, Greenock Morton, ...

as a supplier for prolific goalscorer

Jimmy McGrory James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...

, Thomson became a popular figure with supporters for his exciting and determined play on the right wing. In the

1931 Scottish Cup Final The 1930–31 Scottish Cup was the 53rd staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Celtic who defeated Motherwell in the replayed final. Fourth round Semi-finals ---- Final Replay - ...

against

, his run and cross set up a late equalising goal to force a replay, and in the second match he scored twice in a 4–2 victory. He was in the side which won the trophy again in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

with a 1–0 win over the same opposition. However, an excessive lifestyle off the field caused problems with his fitness and form, and a resulting dispute with the club management led to his departure soon after that second cup win. Following a short spell in English football with

, he returned to Scotland with Motherwell but again suffered from physical problems and retired from the game aged 27.Bertie Thomson
MotherWELLnet

International

He gained one full cap for

in October 1931, a 3–2 win over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

, in which he scored the second goal. He made his second and last appearance for the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

a week later, having first played for them a year earlier.

Death and personal life

Thomson died suddenly from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

in 1937, aged 30, leaving a wife and two young children.Former Celtic Star : Bert Thomson Shock
Evening News, 18 September 1937 (via The Celtic Wiki)Death of former Celtic player
The Glasgow Herald, 18 September 1937 He was not related to Celtic teammates and fellow Scotland internationals

Alec Thomson Alexander Thomson (9 March 1873 – 18 November 1953), known as Alec Thomson, was an Australian politician, and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1914 until 1930 representing the seat of Katanning, and a member of t ...

(an inside forward who was his partner on the right flank in over 100 matches) or John Thomson (a goalkeeper who died from a head injury during a match aged 22).On this day in history: Celtic great, Alec Thomson born in 1901
Celtic FC, 14 June 2019

References

;Sources *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Bertie 1907 births 1937 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wingers Scotland men's international footballers Celtic F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League players Glasgow Perthshire F.C. players