Charles Bellany Thomson (12 June 1878 – 6 February 1936) was a Scottish

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 lea ...

who played for Heart of Midlothian,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and the Scotland national team.

Playing career

Heart of Midlothian

Thomson started his career with local side Prestonpans, from where he moved to Hearts in 1898. Initially considered a centre-forward at Tynecastle, Thomson also occasionally played centre-half, and he took on that role permanently when

Albert Buick Albert Thoroughgood Buick (17 January 1875 – 25 March 1948) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Arbroath, Heart of Midlothian and Portsmouth. Born in Arbroath, Buick started his career with home-town Arbroath F.C., where he stayed until ...

left the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

club for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in 1903. He played in the former role in the 1901

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 Foot ...

. Two years later he was deployed in defense but could not prevent Hearts losing the 1903 Scottish Cup final to

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, in a second replay. As well as the centre-half berth, Thomson inherited the club

captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

upon Buick's departure south. Within a year he was also a Scotland international, making his debut in a 1–1 draw with

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. A tenacious and inspiring figure, Thomson was a "natural skipper" and during his ten-year international career 13 of his 21 caps were earned as captain. He was also renowned for his stamina, athletic physique and fitness and his penalty-taking technique. Most of his goals (including three of the four he scored for Scotland) came from the penalty spot and it was said that he missed only one penalty-kick in his career; however, modern research has shown that he missed at least six penalties for Hearts. Thomson captained Hearts to a 1–0 victory over

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

in the 1906 Scottish Cup Final, but injury prevented him from leading the side in the 1907 final that was lost to Celtic. There was some behind the scenes unrest at Tynecastle during the close-season however which resulted in him relinquishing the captaincy. His total of appearances in the league and Scottish Cup was 218, with 48 goals scored.

Sunderland

Thomson moved to

in 1908 in a joint transfer with goalkeeper Thomas Allan for £700. At the time a transfer fee limit of £350 existed in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

and it has been speculated that the joint fee was a means to circumvent these restrictions, with more than 50% of the fee being liable for Thomson's signature. These suggestions are supported by two facts: firstly, Thomson was at that point Scotland captain while Allan was not recognised internationally; secondly Allan returned to Hearts two seasons later for a fee much less than £350. Thomson's time with Sunderland was no less successful than his time with Hearts. Quickly appointed club captain, he led the team through a remarkably consistent period: during his time with the club they finished no lower than eighth in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. He made over 264 major appearances for Sunderland (seven goals) and helped them to the 1912–13 League title. The Black Cats narrowly missed out on a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

that season when beaten 1–0 by

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in the 1913 FA Cup Final, with Thomson and the Villa centre-forward Harry Hampton both later suspended for a month for their conduct in what was a bruising occasion. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, The Haddingtonshire Advertiser reported that Thomson was "again following his trade as a baker, being presently attached to the Italian Army in that capacity."2 November 1917 Thomson retired from playing in 1919, at the age of 41, and became a

publican The (Latin ; Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'') were public contractors in the Roman Republic and Empire. In their official capacity, they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw pub ...

back in his native Scotland.

Honours

; Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1901 December 13 of this year is the beginning of signed 32-bit Unix time, and is scheduled to end in January 19, 2038. Summary Political and military 1901 started with the unification of multiple British colonies in Australia on January ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

;Sunderland *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1912–13 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: runner-up

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

References

External links