James Thomson (born 15 May 1971) is 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 ...
. Nicknamed 'JT', Thomson was a central defender. Thomson's greatest achievements were during his 358 appearances for
Queen of the South, where he was club captain. Thomson also enjoyed some success in shorter periods at
Clyde and
Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...
and also played for
Stenhousemuir
Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...
.
Thomson had a short spell as
caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...
of Queen of the South during November and December 2016 and was most recently player-manager of
Kilsyth Rangers
Kilsyth Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire. Nicknamed ''The Wee Gers'', they were formed in 1914 and play at Duncansfield Park, which used to be one of the bigger ''non-league'' f ...
in the
SJFA West Region Championship
The SJFA West Region Championship (known as the McBookie.com West Region Championship for sponsorship reasons) was a Scottish semi-professional football competition run by the West Region of the Scottish Junior Football Association and was the ...
.
Playing career
Clyde
Thomson began his senior football career at
Clyde in 1991. Thomson made 151 league appearances and scored 11 goals. Clyde were
Scottish Football League Division Two
2 (two) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and the only even prime number.
Because it forms the basis of a Dualistic cosmology, duali ...
Champions in 1992–93 when Thomson was at the club and clinched the title at
Palmerston Park
Palmerston Park is a association football, football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South F.C., Queen of the South, who have played there ...
,
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
away to
Queen of the South, with a 3–2 win.
[
]
Stenhousemuir
Thomson then had a short spell with Stenhousemuir
Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...
during season 1996-97[ making thirteen league appearances and scored no goals.
]
Queen of the South
Thomson first joined Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
club Queen of the South as the club were rebuilding in 1997 in the post Harkness era. New chairman Norman Blount
Norman Blount is the Scottish former chairman of Queen of the South football club. Blount was instrumental as the new broom that swept through the Dumfries club in the mid and late 90s replacing the previous regime under which the club had gon ...
was getting the wheels moving on the club's revival. In 1997 the club reached the Scottish Challenge Cup
The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,[Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 a resident population of 32,422 at the ...](_blank)
,[ despite a rousing Queens display at ]Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
's Fir Park
Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–2008 SPL season. ...
, a performance that included the man of the match award going to Queens veteran central midfield playmaker Tommy Bryce
Tommy Bryce (born 27 January 1960) is a Scottish former footballer. Bryce had a playing career spanning 21 seasons from 1980 to 1981 with Scottish Football League clubs Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Queen of the South, Clydebank, Ayr United and Ar ...
and an early career appearance for Jamie McAllister
James Reynolds McAllister (born 26 April 1978 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former player who played as a defender (association football), defender and currently working as a professional Association football, football coach with Duli Pengiran Muda ...
. A late effort from Derek Townsley
Derek Johnstone Townsley (born 21 January 1973, in Carlisle) is an English former professional footballer. His clubs included Gretna, Queen of the South, Motherwell, Hibernian and Oxford United. Townsley was normally a midfielder, although h ...
denied Queens an equaliser, as his gilt-edged chance went over the bar.
Thomson made 65 league appearances during his first spell for Queens and scored 3 goals.
In a later interview on the club website, reflecting on his time at Queens, McAllister listed Thomson among the best players that he played with at the club.[
]
Arbroath
Thomson next went to Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...
making 44 league appearances and scored 2 goals. He then followed in the footsteps of another distinguished player, Jimmy Binning
James Binning (21 December 1922 – 1991) was a Scottish footballer who played for Arbroath and Dumfries side Queen of the South.
Career
From the season 1948–1949 until his departure, Binning scored six goals in his 84 league games for Arbro ...
, by leaving Arbroath to join Queen of the South. Thomson and his teammates ended the season in a promotion spot in the league.[
]
Return to Queen of the South
He was 'player of the season' three times over a ten-year period for the Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
club. In late August and early September 2006 Thomson had a 'clean up' operation on his knee but came back successfully, including scoring with an overhead kick.
Thomson made his 300th ''Queens'' appearance on 20 October 2007 in a First Division match against St Johnstone
St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...
and is one of the select players to have made more than 300 appearances for Queen of the South.[
Thomson captained Queens during the 2007–08 ]Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...](_blank)
(the club he supported as a child); he was the first man to captain Queens in a Scottish Cup semi-final victory. As well as captaining the side in the final, Thomson also scored Queens' equaliser to bring the game against 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 ...
to 2–2. Despite Queens' battling second half display, Rangers eventually ran out 3–2 winners.[ As Scottish Cup runners-up, Queens qualified for the ]2008–09 UEFA Cup
The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup association football, football tournament. The 2009 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K. (football), F ...
. Thomson captained the team in their second qualification round games against Danish side FC Nordsjælland
Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...
.
When Tommy Bryce
Tommy Bryce (born 27 January 1960) is a Scottish former footballer. Bryce had a playing career spanning 21 seasons from 1980 to 1981 with Scottish Football League clubs Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Queen of the South, Clydebank, Ayr United and Ar ...
[ was interviewed for the Queen of the South website, he named Thomson as being among the best players he had played beside at Queens. Thomson was also commended for his efforts when ]Andrew Coltart
Andrew John Coltart (born 12 May 1970) is a Scottish professional golfer and TV commentator. He had a successful amateur career and played in the 1991 Walker Cup. As a professional he won twice on the European Tour, the 1998 Qatar Masters an ...
was interviewed for the club website.
Thomson was given a testimonial by Queens on 18 July 2010. The result was a 1–0 win for Rangers. Thomson was retained as a player for the 2009–10 season after making 358 first team appearances and scoring a dozen goals. Thomson is 11th in the club's all time appearances list and also coached the under-19s team for the 2010–11 season. In his second spell at Queens, Thomson made 242 league appearances and scored 7 goals.
Thomson overall played in 307 league matches and scored 10 league goals in his combined spells in Dumfries.
Career after playing
Thomson was appointed commercial manager at Queens on 1 June 2011, succeeding Mark McMinn .
Thomson was appointed football development manager during May 2016.
After Gavin Skelton
Gavin Richard Skelton (born 27 March 1981) is an English football coach, manager, and former professional footballer who is currently a first-team coach at Hartlepool United. As a player, he was primarily deployed as a defensive midfielder.
Sk ...
left the club in November 2016, Thomson was appointed caretaker manager. Thomson reverted to his club role as football development manager after Gary Naysmith
Gary Andrew Naysmith (born 16 November 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former player, who is the manager of Scottish League One side Stenhousemuir.
Naysmith, who played as a left-back or left-winger, started his senior career with Hea ...
was appointed manager on 1 December 2016, alongside his assistant Dougie Anderson.
In the summer of 2018, Thomson was appointed team manager of his hometown club, Kilsyth Rangers
Kilsyth Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire. Nicknamed ''The Wee Gers'', they were formed in 1914 and play at Duncansfield Park, which used to be one of the bigger ''non-league'' f ...
. On 28 September 2019, he left the role.
Personal life
Thomson has two daughters with wife Victoria, from whom he separated in November 2016 and subsequently divorced. She then married one of the players he coached while caretaker manager at Queen of the South, Lyndon Dykes
Lyndon John Dykes (born 7 October 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Birmingham City. Born and raised in Australia to Scottish parents, he plays for the Scotland national team. Dykes previously played for Mudge ...
.
Managerial statistics
:'
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Jim
Living people
1971 births
Footballers from Stirling
Scottish men's footballers
Clyde F.C. players
Stenhousemuir F.C. players
Queen of the South F.C. players
Arbroath F.C. players
Kilsyth Rangers F.C. players
Queen of the South F.C. managers
Scottish Football League players
Scottish Junior Football Association players
Men's association football defenders
Scottish football managers
Scottish Professional Football League managers
Scottish Junior Football Association managers