Robert Gillies McKenzie "Bobby" Thomson (born 21 March 1937) 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 le ...

, who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He played most of his professional career in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, making over 300 appearances in total for the two

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

clubs, and is probably best known for his four years at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Biography

Thomson was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland. He began his football career as an amateur first with

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

and then

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

. Following successful trials he moved to First Division champions

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in 1953 and signed professional forms in 1954. During Thomson's five years at the club, Wolves won the League twice more and never finished below sixth. However, he was unable to establish himself as a first-team player and managed just one League first-team appearance, scoring in a 2–0 win over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on 13 April 1957. He transferred to

, newly relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, in 1959 for a fee of £8,000. Here, he made an immediate impact, scoring 22 goals in his first season, which made him the club's top scorer and helped them win the 1959–60 Second Division championship. He followed this up with 18 goals the next season and another 18 in 1962–63. He played in the final of the inaugural

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

competition in 1960–61 in which Aston Villa beat

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

. Two years later he scored in the first leg of the 1963 League Cup Final against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, but in the second leg he was marked out of the game by former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

centre-half Trevor Smith, a significant factor in Birmingham retaining their 3–1 lead. In September 1963 Thomson moved to Birmingham City. In his first season, he was used in a variety of positions, eventually settling in at centre-forward alongside the newly arrived and prolific

Geoff Vowden Geoffrey Alan Vowden (born 27 April 1941) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward in the Football League for Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City and Aston Villa, a ...

. Their goals failed to prevent relegation to the Second Division in 1964–65. In his last full season he played successfully at

right half 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 ...

in place of captain

Ron Wylie Ronald Maurice Wylie (6 August 1933 – 14 April 2020) was a Scottish football player, coach and manager. He played as a right half or inside forward for Notts County, Aston Villa and Birmingham City, making more than 550 appearances in the Foot ...

who had broken his leg. Wylie's return to fitness and the arrival of former England centre-forward

Fred Pickering Frederick Pickering (19 January 1941 – 9 February 2019) was an English professional footballer. He played as a forward. Career Domestic career Pickering began his career with his hometown club, Blackburn Rovers, in 1959, signing professio ...

left no place for Thomson, so in December 1967 he moved to Third Division

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

, and then into

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Bromsgrove Rovers.

Honours

*with Aston Villa **

champions 1960 **Club's top scorer 1960 **

winners 1961 **League Cup runners up 1963

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

Profile
a
Aston Villa Players Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Bobby 1937 births Living people Footballers from Dundee Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Albion Rovers F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players English Football League players