Eddie Thomson (25 February 1947 – 21 February 2003) was a Scottish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and coach, who played as a defender. He played for Heart of Midlothian and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in Scotland,

San Antonio Thunder The San Antonio Thunder were an American soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 1975 as a member of the North American Soccer League, the team played two seasons in San Antonio before the franchise rights were moved to Hawaii. The t ...

in the United States and Sydney City in Australia. Staying in Australia, he coached Sydney City and

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club, based in Belmore, New South Wales, Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan- ...

before working with the Australia national team. Initially assistant coach, he was subsequently head coach from 1990 to 1996. His last coaching position was with

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the coun ...

in Japan.

Career

Born in Rosewell, Scotland, he played 162 games for Heart of Midothian from 1966 to 1973, before moving to

and playing a further 91 games with them. After a brief stint with the

of the NASL, he moved to Australia and Sydney City in 1977 for the inaugural

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

season. He won two NSL championships with this side as a player, in 1977 and as a player-coach again in 1980. During his time at Hearts he also played for the Scottish u-23 side. It was at this time he retired from playing and immediately became the full-time coach of Sydney City, winning a further two national championships in 1981 and 1982. He also won an NSL Cup trophy in 1986. After Sydney City withdrew from the NSL in 1987 he took charge of

, guiding them to a grand final in 1989 before leaving early in the next season to take charge of the Australia national team. His national coaching career did not start there however. He became coach of Australia B in 1984 before becoming assistant coach of the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

in 1985. After taking over as

manager, he guided the team to some impressive friendly results against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

before coming close to qualifying for USA 94, only losing 1–0 as a result of a freak deflection to an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

side who had recalled

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

after some disappointing qualification results. He was also coach of the Australian Olympic

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 c ...

team at the same time. In 1992, after defeating the

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in a memorable encounter to qualify for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, the team came within one game of the

gold medal match Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, losing 6–1 to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

before losing 1–0 to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

in the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

playoff. In 1994, after allegations of inappropriate involvement in player transfers, an inquiry, chaired by retired

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

judge Donald Stewart, was set up to investigate these claims. The report published recommended his sacking, but he stayed on in the end. Shortly after guiding the Olympic side through the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in which Australia failed to get past the group stage, Eddie resigned to take charge of Japanese side

. During his time there, a number of Australians, such as

Aurelio Vidmar Aurelio Vidmar ( ; born 3 February 1967) is an Australian association football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Thai League 1 club Bangkok United. He is a former captain of the Australia national team and former coach ...

Graham Arnold Graham James Arnold (born 3 August 1963) is an Australian soccer manager and former player. Arnold was appointed to work as an assistant coach of the Australian national soccer team in 2000. After head coach Frank Farina was sacked in 2005, Ar ...

and

Steve Corica Stephen Christopher Corica ( born 24 March 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Australian club Sydney FC. A technically gifted and skillful attacking midfielder during his playing ...

also played there.

Honours

Player

; Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1967–68 ;Sydney City *

: 1977, 1980

Manager

;Sydney City *

: 1980, 1981, 1982 * NSL Northern Division: 1984, 1985 * NSL Cup: 1986 ;Sydney Olympic *

Runners-up: 1986 * NSL Minor Premiership Runners-up: 1986 * NSL Cup: Runners-up: 1989 ;Australia *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Trans-Tasman Cup The Trans-Tasman Cup was an association football competition played between Australia and New Zealand. Six editions were played between 1983 and 1995 after the OFC Nations Cup was discontinued. It was considered the most important Oceanian tourn ...

: 1991, 1995 ;Individual * NSL Coach of the Year: 1981, 1984, 1985 *

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

: 2002 Inductee

Death

He returned to Australia in 2000 and shortly afterwards, he was diagnosed with

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...

, which he died of in 2003.

Managerial statistics

J.League Data Site
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References

External links

at Aussie Footballers * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Eddie 1947 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Midlothian Scottish footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Penicuik Athletic F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Hakoah Sydney City East FC players Scottish Football League players Australian soccer coaches Australia national soccer team managers J1 League managers Sanfrecce Hiroshima managers Expatriate football managers in Japan Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma San Antonio Thunder players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Scottish expatriate football managers Deaths from cancer in New South Wales National Soccer League (Australia) players Sydney Olympic FC managers Scottish emigrants to Australia Scottish Football League representative players Scotland under-23 international footballers Association football defenders Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Japan Hakoah Sydney City East FC managers