Robert "Bobby" Thomson (born 21 March 1955) is a Scottish former professional

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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

-born Thomson began his League career with St Johnstone and would spend five years at the club before moving to

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

. He moved to England to play for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

but returned to Scotland a year later to play for Hibernian. Thomson played 78 games for Hibs, but he was banned for six months after an incident with a linesman during a match against St Johnstone in 1983. He was a regular under the management of

Pat Stanton Patrick Gordon Stanton (born 13 September 1944) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Stanton played for Hibernian for most of his career, making nearly 400 league appearances. Late in his career, he had a short and successful sp ...

, but fell out of favour when

John Blackley John Henderson Blackley (born 12 May 1948) is a Scottish football coach and former player. Blackley made 279 appearances at centre-half for Hibernian and also represented Newcastle United, Preston North End and Hamilton Academical. He won se ...

became Hibs manager. Thomson briefly returned to Morton in 1985, on loan from Hibs. Thomson joined

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 ...

in August 1985, at a time when the club was about to embark on something of a revival under the management of Sam Ellis. "Thomson's aggression and experience will stiffen competition in the attack," said Ellis of the signing. A brief spell at

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

followed, before joining

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

. Thomson then moved into non-League football with

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

. Since retiring from football, Thomson has been employed as a day care worker. His daughter, Hollie, has played for Hibernian 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 ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Bobby 1955 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers St Johnstone F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Footballers from Glasgow