Chick Thomson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Charles Richard Thomson (2 March 1930 – 6 January 2009), also known as Chic Thomson, was a Scottish
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...
. After playing for
Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
he won the
1954–55 Football League The 1954– 55 season was the 56th completed season of The Football League. Final league tables The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found aThe Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundationwebsite and in ''Rothmans Bo ...
with
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 ...
and the
1959 FA Cup Final The 1959 FA Cup Final was contested by Nottingham Forest and Luton Town at Wembley. Forest won 2–1, with goals from Roy Dwight and Tommy Wilson just four minutes apart. Dave Pacey scored Luton's consolation goal. Forest were playing in th ...
with Nottingham Forest.


Life and playing career


Clyde

Born in
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, the son of
Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...
's
goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...
, also named Charlie Thomson, Thomson began his career with Clyde. One of his first appearances for the club came in the
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers at
Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
, though his side lost 4–1. He stayed with the club until October 1952.


Chelsea

He became one of the first signings of new
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 ...
manager,
Ted Drake Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...
. Thomson was a member of Chelsea's 1954–55 league title-winning side playing in the final 16 games of the run-in. That included the title decider against Chelsea's main rivals,
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' ...
, in which Thomson made a crucial last-minute save to secure a 1–0 win. He struggled to retain his position as Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper losing out to Bill Robertson. Thomson transferred in 1957 having made 59 Chelsea appearances.


Nottingham Forest

Thomson made his debut for Forest in the opening game of the 1957/58 season at the
City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...
in a 2–1 victory against
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
. Two years after joining Forest he was a member of their
1958–59 FA Cup The 1958–59 FA Cup was the 78th staging of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Nottingham Forest won the competition for their second time, as of 2022, beating Lut ...
winning team. Forest were 2-0 up after 14 minutes.
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
hit back midway through the second half after Forest's opening goalscorer
Roy Dwight Royston Edward Dwight (9 January 1933 – 9 April 2002) was an English footballer. He scored the opening goal in the 1959 FA Cup Final for Nottingham Forest. Career Fulham Although a winger, he was renowned for his shooting ability. Dwight scor ...
broke his leg in the 33rd minute. Forest had further personnel issue when cramp reduced
Bill Whare William Whare (14 May 1925 – 28 May 1995) was a professional footballer from Guernsey who played as a right-back. Career Born in Guernsey, Channel Islands, Whare spent his entire professional career with Nottingham Forest, making 298 appearan ...
to little more than a hobbling spectator. Thomson helped Forest protect their 2–1 lead to lift the trophy at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
. Thomson was replaced as the Forest goalkeeper by
Peter Grummitt Peter Grummitt (born 19 August 1942) is an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably with Nottingham Forest. He made 352 senior appearances for Forest before transferring to Sh ...
in November 1960. He remained at Forest until 1961, making 136 appearances.


Non League Football

In 1961 he joined Southern League side Rugby Town where he made a further 60 appearances and where he ended his career.


Death

He died on 6 January 2009 in
Sandiacre Sandiacre is a town and civil parish in the borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England adjoining the border with Nottinghamshire. The population of the town was 8,889 at the 2011 Census. The name Sandiacre is usua ...
.


Honours

Chelsea *
Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
: 1954–55 Nottingham Forest *
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 compet ...
:
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...


References


Charlie Thomson's obituary
* 1930 births 2009 deaths Chelsea F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Association football goalkeepers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Footballers from Perth, Scotland Scottish Football League players Scottish footballers English Football League players Rugby Town F.C. players FA Cup Final players {{Scotland-footy-goalkeeper-stub