Kevin Thomson (born 14 October 1984) is a Scottish professional

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 ...

coach and former player. Thomson 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 ...

for Hibernian (three spells), Rangers,

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 ...

and

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 ...

and represented

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 ...

. Thomson began his career with Hibernian, before joining Rangers in 2007 for a £2m transfer fee. Thomson won five major trophies with Rangers, including consecutive

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

championships in

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and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Thomson was also part of the Rangers side which reached the

2008 UEFA Cup Final The 2008 UEFA Cup Final was a football match that took place on 14 May 2008 at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. It was the 37th annual final of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second tier club football tournament. The match, which wa ...

signed Thomson for a fee of £2m in July 2010, but released him in January 2013 after an injury-hit spell. Thomson then rejoined Hibernian in March 2013, but was released in May 2014 after the club was relegated. He then signed for

, before joining Hibernian for a third time. Thomson retired from playing in 2016. After a stint coaching Rangers youth teams, he managed

Kelty Hearts Kelty Hearts Football Club is a football club based in the village of Kelty in Fife, Scotland. Formed in 1975 and nicknamed ''the Hearts'', ''the Maroon Machine'' and ''the Jambos'', they play their home games at New Central Park. Their home ...

for one season.

Early life

Thomson grew up in

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

. His first club was

Peebles Rovers Peebles Rovers Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Peebles, Scottish Borders. Originally founded in 1888 as Greenside Rovers, the club changed their name to Peebles Rovers in the May of 1890. This is at odds with the official ...

, who play in the Eastern Region Youth League. He then moved on to play for

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

youth side

Hutchison Vale Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Football Club (LTHV) are a senior non-league football club based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Currently competing in the , they play their home matches at Saughton Enclosure in the Saughton area of the city. History ...

before being signed by

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 ...

on a four-year contract, but suffered from

homesickness Homesickness is the distress caused by being away from home.Kerns, Brumariu, Abraham. Kathryn A., Laura E., Michelle M.(2009/04/13). Homesickness at summer camp. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54. Its cognitive hallmark is preoccupying thoughts of home ...

and returned to Scotland with Hibernian.

Club career

Hibernian

Thomson joined Hibernian on 10 August 2001. He was one of a group of young players who came through their youth team during the early 2000s, also including

Steven Whittaker Steven Gordon Whittaker (born 16 June 1984) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach, who is currently an assistant manager with Fleetwood Town. He played as a defender. Whittaker began his career with Hibernian and made over 17 ...

Derek Riordan Derek George Riordan (born 16 January 1983) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker. He has been capped three times by the Scotland national team. Riordan started his career with Hibernian in 2001 and had a brief spell o ...

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

and

Garry O'Connor Garry Lawrence John O'Connor (born 7 May 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He played for Hibernian, Peterhead, Lokomotiv Moscow, Barnsley, Tom Tomsk, Birmingham City, Greenock Morton and represented Scotland. O'Connor began ...

. Thomson established himself as a regular in the Hibernian first team during the 2003–04 season and played in that season's

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

final defeat by

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

, but he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury during a game against

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

near the end of that season. The injury meant that he was out of football for almost a year, and he consequently made only four league appearances in the 2004–05 season. In the 2005–06 season Thomson made his comeback from his injury, establishing himself as one of Hibernian's most important players. He signed a long-term contract (until 2010) in March 2006. Thomson was appointed as club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...

after the previous captain

Gary Caldwell Gary Caldwell (born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach who is the current manager of Exeter City. Caldwell played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City, Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan Ath ...

left the club to join

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. Despite signing a long-term contract with Hibernian, it was still speculated that Thomson would soon leave Hibs. On 31 August 2006,

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 ...

club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

made an offer that was rejected by Hibernian. Speculation about Thomson's future increased after he (and

) appointed

Willie McKay Willie McKay is a British football agent, based in Monaco. He was the agent of many top-level footballers, mainly based in England and France, specifically the Premier League His clients include James McFadden, Joey Barton, Henri Camara, Scot ...

as his agent. McKay demanded that Hibernian offer Brown and Thomson wages commensurate with the transfer fees Hibernian were demanding for the players. Hibernian would have needed to significantly break their pay scale to offer such wages. Hibernian refused to meet with McKay to discuss improved contracts, which resulted in Brown submitting a written transfer request. On 20 December 2006,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

made a joint offer for Brown and Thomson, which was rejected by Hibernian. This sparked a further round of speculation, as Brown and Thomson demanded to know why they had not been informed of the offer before it was rejected. Thomson was stripped of the captaincy on 2 January 2007 and was replaced by Rob Jones. Thomson was told by manager John Collins to concentrate on his game because he believed that Thomson's performance levels had dropped since the transfer speculation began.

Rangers

Thomson signed for

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

's Rangers for a fee of £2 million on 30 January 2007. Less than two months earlier, Smith had been critical of Thomson's behaviour, calling on him to show more "responsibility", although this was a month before Smith had been appointed as Rangers manager. Thomson made his Rangers debut on 11 February in a 3–1 victory over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, although he was substituted at half-time after suffering a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

injury. Thomson established himself as a regular in the Rangers first team. He scored his first goal for Rangers in a victory against

on 29 March 2008 and he played in the club's run to the

and winning the

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 ...

Dundee United 2 Rangers 2 (Rangers win 3–2 on penalties): Boyd on target to end Rangers' trophy drought
The Independent, 17 March 2008 and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Queen of the South 2 – 3 Rangers
Herald Scotland, 26 May 2008 in his first full season. Thomson scored his second goal of the 2008–09 season when he scored an equalising goal in injury time against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . O ...

, on 4 November 2008. In the following league match against

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock F.C. Rugby Park has also been used for con ...

, a 4–0 victory for Rangers was overshadowed by Thomson suffering a serious knee injury. This injury ruled him out for the rest of the 2008–09 season. Thomson had surgery to save his career on 31 December 2008. The surgery was a success and Thomson hoped to be fit for the following season. On his return to the Rangers first team, Thomson was sent off in the 13th minute of a 2–1 win against Hearts. Thomson was sent off in the 2010 League Cup Final in the second half for a poorly timed challenge, although Rangers won the match 1–0 despite Danny Wilson also being shown a red card. Thomson helped Rangers win their second title in a row in

Middlesbrough

Rangers accepted a £2m offer from

for Thomson in July 2010. Middlesbrough then confirmed that Thomson had passed a medical, despite the player having suffered two serious knee injuries earlier in his career, and completed his transfer. In his second league match for Middlesbrough, Thomson suffered a fractured fibula against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, which prevented him from playing for two months. Further injury problems meant that Thomson only played in 44 games during his first two seasons with Middlesbrough. His contract with Middlesbrough was cancelled on 31 January 2013 by mutual consent.

Later career

Thomson trained with Hibernian, one of his former clubs, in February 2013. A move appeared unlikely because Hibs had no spare budget to pay Thomson with, but he decided in March to forego any salary and signed with the club until the end of the 2012–13 season. Thomson made his second debut appearance for Hibs in a goalless draw against Hearts on 10 March. He agreed a new one-year contract with Hibs in July 2013. Thomson dropped out of the Hibs team after

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland titles ...

was replaced with

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

, and was made available for transfer in January 2014. Thomson was released by Hibs following their relegation to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

. Thomson signed for newly promoted

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

in May 2014. Shortly after his arrival he was appointed

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

by manager

Paul Hartley Paul Hartley (born 19 October 1976) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Scottish Championship side Cove Rangers. As a player, Hartley won trophies with both Hearts and ...

. On 15 January 2016, Thomson left the club by mutual consent having made 38 appearances over 18 months for The Dee. On 22 January 2016, Thomson joined Hibernian for a third time, on a deal until the end of the 2015–16 season. He combined his playing duties with coaching the development squads under

Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...

and started the Scottish League Cup Final, which Hibs lost 2–1 to Ross County. After just six months back at

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-larges ...

, Thomson signed for Tranent Juniors in June 2016, agreeing a two-year deal with the SJFA East Premier League side. In August 2016, he left Tranent with the club saying he couldn't combine playing for them with his media commitments.

International career

Thomson made his debut for

in a goalless draw versus

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on 20 August 2008. After a three-year absence, Thomson was recalled to the national squad in September 2013.

Coaching

Thomson worked with former club Rangers as a youth coach before being appointed as manager of

on 28 May 2021, replacing former team-mate

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently the manager of Alloa Athletic. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells either side of a £7.5 mil ...

, who left Kelty to become manager of

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

. Thomson guided Kelty to the 2021–22 Scottish League Two championship, before he resigned on 31 May 2022.

Career statistics

:A. Includes

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

, Champions League,

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and

play-offs.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Rangers *

: 2008–09, 2009–10 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2007–08 *

: 2007–08, 2009–10 Individual * SPL Young Player of the Month: September 2005

Manager

Kelty Hearts *

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

: 2021–22 Individual * SPFL League Two Manager of the Month: August 2021; November 2021; March 2022

Notes

References

External links

*
Scotland U21 stats
at Fitbastats {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Kevin 1984 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh People from Peebles Scottish footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Scotland B international footballers Scotland international footballers Association football midfielders Coventry City F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Sportspeople from the Scottish Borders Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Tranent Juniors F.C. players Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Scottish football managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Kelty Hearts F.C. managers