Robert Thomson (29 December 1890 – 1971) was an English
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 during the early 20th century, mainly prior to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Playing as a forward, Thomson carved out a career in the game despite having only one eye, resulting from a childhood accident with a
firework
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices in ...
. When asked how he dealt with a ball coming to him on his blind side, Bob would answer: 'I just shut my other eye and play from memory.'
He started out with his local side
Croydon Common
Croydon Common Football Club was an amateur and, later on, professional football club based in Croydon.
History
The team formed in 1897 as an amateur church team competing in local leagues. They turned professional in 1907, joining the Southern L ...
before joining west
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
ers
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in September 1911. His most successful season with Chelsea came in
1914-15, when his six goals in eight
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
games helped his team reach
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, where they lost to
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
.
When competitive football was abandoned in Britain in 1915, Thomson continued to turn out for Chelsea in unofficial wartime matches, scoring 100 goals in three seasons 1915–17. He played twice more for the club in FA cup when hostilities ended.
He made a total of 95 appearances and scored 29 goals.
He signed for
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
in 1921.
References
Charlton Athletic F.C. players
Croydon Common F.C. players
Chelsea F.C. players
English footballers
Footballers from Croydon
1971 deaths
1890 births
Association football forwards
FA Cup Final players
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