Garry Lindsey Thompson (born 7 October 1959) is an English 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 ...

and manager who made over 480 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, most notably for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

and

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 ...

. After his retirement as a player, Thompson moved into coaching and management.

Playing career

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 ...

, Thompson had a long playing career and club level, making 487 appearances and scoring 124 goals in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and throughout the

. His peak years were earlier in his career with

, for whom he scored 49 goals in 158 appearances and

, for whom he was voted the club's 1984–85 Player of the Year. Late in the 1989–90 season Thompson joined

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

to provide cover for the injured

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

, but was

cup-tied In association football, a player who has appeared for a football club during a knockout cup but subsequently transfers to another club is ineligible to play for the new club in the remainder of that season's cup competition. Such a player is said ...

for the

1990 FA Cup Final The 1990 FA Cup Final was a football match played to determine to winners of the 1989–90 FA Cup. It was contested by Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium, London, England. The match finished 3–3 after extra time. Bryan R ...

. He briefly played in the Premier League for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

during the 1992–93 season and made one

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

appearance for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in September 1993. Thompson retired at the end of the 1996–97 season and finished his career with 584 appearances and 153 goals.

Managerial and coaching career

Bristol Rovers

Thompson began his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career while still a player at

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

and later moved to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

as a coach and

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

manager. In January 2001, after the sacking of manager

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

, he was named in caretaker charge and managed the first team until the end of the 2000–01

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 ...

season and was unable to prevent the Gas' relegation to the Third Division. Thompson became assistant to new manager

Gerry Francis Gerald Charles James Francis (born 6 December 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Playing career Francis made his first team debut for Queens Park Rangers against Liverpool in March 1969. He was captain and central midfield play ...

in June 2001 and after Francis' resignation in December 2001, he took over the role as permanent manager on a -year contract. By 9 April 2002 and with a double relegation 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 ...

looking likely, Thompson was sacked.

Brentford

In October 2002, Thompson was named as assistant to manager

Wally Downes Walter John Downes (born 9 June 1961) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently manager of AFC Wimbledon. As a footballer, Downes played the majority of his career for Wimbled ...

at Second Division club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. He continued in the role until 15 March 2004, when, with the prospect of relegation looming, Downes was sacked. Thompson was named caretaker manager and his one match in charge resulted in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

the following night. He left the club following the appointment of

Martin Allen Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and So ...

on 18 March.

Farnborough Town

Thompson served as a coach at struggling

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

during the 2004–05 season and quit the club on 31 March 2005.

Hucknall Town

In February 2006, Thompson joined

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

club

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club are a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club are members of the and play at Watnall Road. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

as assistant to manager Kevin Wilson. He was released from his contract in December 2006.

Personal life

Thompson is of

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

descent. His younger brother

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

was also a professional footballer and he is the uncle of athlete

Daniel Caines Daniel Stephen Caines (born 15 May 1979) is an English former athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres. Early life Caines was born in Solihull. He was educated at Solihull School, a British independent school in the affluent West Midlands t ...

. Thompson is an Aston Villa supporter and has worked in PR, as a driver and as a summariser for

BBC WM BBC Radio WM is the BBC's local radio station serving the West Midlands. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Mailbox in Birmingham. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 236,000 lis ...

. He released an autobiography, ''Don't Believe a Word'', in December 2020.

Honours

Aston Villa *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

second-place promotion: 1987–88 Individual *

Player of the Year: 1984–85

Career statistics

Player

Manager

References

External links

* *
Garry Thompson
at premierleague.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Garry 1959 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Association football forwards English footballers England under-21 international footballers English Football League players Premier League players Coventry City F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Watford F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players English football managers Bristol Rovers F.C. managers Brentford F.C. managers Northampton Town F.C. non-playing staff English people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent