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Personal
Fullname: Alan Thompson
aka: Thommo
Height: 6ft
Weight: 12st
Born: 22 December 1973
Birthplace: Newcastle, England
Signed: 1 September 2000
Left: 9 August 2007
Position: Midfielder
Debut: […]
Internationals: England
International Caps: 1 cap
International Goals: 0 goals
First Team Coach: 17 June 2010 – 3 June 2012
Trivia
- A stalwart in the side on the Road to Seville (UEFA Cup final 2003)
- First Celtic player to be capped for England whilst playing for Celtic! Sadly his one and only cap.
- Scorer of the single goal in the two leg-win over Barcelona in the UEFA Cup in 2004, the high point of Martin O’Neil’s reign.
- Scorer of two winners against Rangers.
- One of the first signings for Martin O’Neil.
- John Robertson, Celtic assistant coach, likened Thompson’s passing to David Beckham’s and described his left foot as “the wand”!
Summary
Thompson was signed on a 5 year deal by O’Neill on the 1st of September 2000 (along with Didier Agathe) for a fee of £2.75M from Aston Villa [BBC]
Thompson signed a 2 year extension to his contract in April 2004 tying him down to the summer of 2007 [BBC]
A major player in the MoN years with an important part in the Road to Seville, but also domestically where amongst other great moments he scored a screamer of a long shot against Rangers.
Biog ![[Untitled]](https://wikifoundryimages.s3.amazonaws.com/a5aeba6bf38895fcdded6f986b1a17dc "[Untitled]")
Alan Thompson was bought for a sum of £2.75m from Aston Villa, one of Martin O’Neil’s first signings, and a bit of an unknown name for most. His appearances at Aston Villa were limited due to injuries, so coming to Celtic he was to start with a clean sheet.
Having played already under Martin O’Neil, MoN knew what he was to get from him but many of us didn’t. A robust midfield player, he combined both fine play and aggression very well, and fast became a firm favourite amongst the fans. John Robertson, Celtic assistant coach, likened Thompson’s passing to David Beckham’s and described his left foot as ‘the wand’.
A stalwart in the golden era under Martin O’Neil, he more than played his part in guiding the club back to respectability, scoring 51 goals in his appearances for the club, and playing a strong role in Celtic’s campaign in the UEFA Cup 2003.
It wasn’t just the number of goals and games, it was also the quality. He twice scored the winner twice against Rangers, one of which is an oft replayed long shot screamer v Rangers. A hunskelper supreme, he scored seven goals against them, something that is often overlooked as all concentrate of for example Sutton or Larsson.
A physical player, he had the ability to put in needed tackles when required and helped to shore up the team on the pitch on many occasions. Some though whined that he was too one-footed, but what a foot that was!
Famously, he was known to have a running feud with arch-Rangers devotee Fernando Ricksen (who was a very unfriendly neighbour where he lived), but Thompson more than got the upper hand against him in the games, including the famous “knock-knock” episode” (see below).
Thommo’s greatest moments were in Europe. Firstly, a misleading free-kick against Liverpool away (Road to Seville, UEFA Cup 2003), saw Thommo kick a strong low shot that bulletted beneath the jumping Liverpool defence into the back of the net. Up to that point, there were worries if we’d make it through unscathed in the match. A fabulous strike. It wasn’t just that strike, Celtic had beaten a top English club and it was a real knock to the critics of the Scottish league and beyond.
Must add that he was a major part of the team in the Road to Seville (UEFA Cup final 2003), and like many others in the team, he played out of his skin in a number of games.
However, his greatest moment was against Barcelona in the UEFA Cup run in 2004, scoring the winner in the home game which set Celtic up well for the return leg in the Nou Camp, where the first team fought out a no score draw to take the club through to the the next round, overcoming one of the top in-form sides in Europe at that time. Not his greatest personal goal for style but his goal was instrumental to the victory against Barcelona, and showed how fundamentally important he was to the team during Martin O’Neil’s reign, many of the players being overshadowed by the awe all felt for Sutton & Larrson. The victory was the highpoint of Martin O’Neil’s reign at Celtic, and Thommo was centre stage.
As a reward and measure of his ability, Thompson earned an appearance for England under then manager Sven Goran Eriksson which made him the first Celtic player to be capped by England whilst playing for Celtic at the time (Chris Sutton never played for England whilst playing for Celtic). Sadly he didn’t earn more caps as he deserved.
He scored the winning goal in the Scottish Cup final of 2005 to win Martin O’Neill his last trophy with Celtic, and a good send-off it was too. It was apt that one of his first captures would be the one to seal the goodbye for O’Neill, and Thommo more than befitted the role.
As happens, he ended up being at Celtic for a season or so too long and was never really in the first side (or squad even), and there were too many on the terracing bemoaning his lack of pace and subtlety on the pitch when he was there, making him an easy target. He was sent off in his last “Celtic v Rangers” match for a silly two footed lunge which sealed his exit from the first team. He admitted that whilst on the bench he ended up not even watching all through the matches (just wasn’t him). He was transferred to Leeds in Jan 2007 where he had fitted in well and made himself popular.
Post-playing
He announced his retirement from playing football on 28th May 2008 (link) ending his time with Leeds. He then moved on as a Youth Coach at Newcastle Utd Academy.
In June 2010 he was appointed as a a first team coach at Celtic under newly appointed manager Neil Lennon. They were both member of the team that played together in the UEFA Cup Final in 2003.
Tough seasons together, but they sealed the league title as a coaching team in season 2011/12 which was well deserved and made Thommo an even greater hero amongst the fans.
However, to the surprise of all in the Celtic support he was dismissed from his role on 3 June 2012 (not too amicable a split to be honest), not long after the end of season. He’d not had an easy time of late, with a drink-driving charge and family issues making front page news but that’s not for this site (the tabloids can have that stuff).
We wish him the best.
The Knock-Knock story
One “*.gif” that had done the rounds is of Alan Thompson going past a Rangers player and doing a “knock-knock” remark (as if chapping a door)! The story behind this is that the player in question was the the unpopular Fernando Ricksen (a complete headcase in his time as a player) who was Alan Thompson’s next door neighbour, and apparently Ricksen was said not to be a great neighbour.
What occurred was that Ricksen decided one late night to chap on Thompson’s door and wake him and his family up, and then proceeded to shout through his letter box! Charming.
Anyhow, the mock remarks by Thompson on top of our victories against Rangers and his team i’m sure made our victory for Thompson all the sweeter, and sourer for Ricksen. Ricksen was really a pantomime villain for many in the Celtic support.
Sadly in later years, Ricksen developed Motor Neuron disease, a terrible physically debilitating condition. The hatchet had been buried long back between the two, and there was support from across all of Glasgow wishing Ricksen all the strength in the world. Sadly passed away prematurely in 2019. RIP
Playing Career
| Club __________ |
From __________ |
To __________ |
Fee __________ |
League __________ |
Scottish/FA Cup __________ |
League cup __________ |
Other __________ |
||||
| Hartlepool | 22/01/2008 | 23/02/2008 | Loan | 7 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Leeds | 09/08/2007 | 28/05/2008 | Free | 9 (4) | 3 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 |
| Leeds | 12/01/2007 | 07/05/2007 | Loan | 9 (2) | 2 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Celtic | 01/09/2000 | 09/08/2007 | £ 2,750,000 | 146 (12) | 37 | 19 (1) | 4 | 8 (3) | 2 | 34 (4) | 8 |
| Aston Villa | 05/06/1998 | 01/09/2000 | £ 4,500,000 | 36 (10) | 4 | 1 (0) | 0 | 3 (3) | 1 | 4 (1) | 0 |
| Bolton | 22/07/1993 | 05/06/1998 | £ 250,000 | 143 (14) | 37 | 6 (2) | 2 | 24 (1) | 5 | 7 (1) | 1 |
| Newcastle | 11/03/1991 | 22/07/1993 | Trainee | 13 (3) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 13 (3) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 |
| Totals | £7,500,000 | 363 (45) | 84 | 27 (3) | 6 | 48 (10) | 8 | 49 (6) | 9 | ||
| goals / game | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.13 | 0.16 | |||||||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Premier League Champions (4):
Scottish Cup Winners (3):
Scottish League Cup Winners (2):
TheCelticWiki Site
- Exclusive Q+A (Feb 2007)
KStreet
Pictures
Quotes
“There’s no football place quite like Glasgow. It’s a unique city”
Alan Thompson
Articles
Tribute by George McCluskey of KStreet Forum
Have we had a dedicated goodbye thread for Thommo? I know we’ve noticed his his goals for Leeds – one on his debut, as well as a booking. How appropriate! I won’t mince words. I loved the guy. He was a hothead with shaky discipline, but what a big match player he was! Although there’s plenty of massive goals to choose from, my abiding memory of Alan Thompson will be a spectacularly violent clothesline tackle against Porto in the Seville final.
I wonder if anyone else remembers it? It happened during extra time, after Bobo’s red and Derlei’s go-ahead goal. The Porto players were falling over and writhing everywhere, Mourinho was bitching like a 13 year-old girl, and then Thommo went into a “challenge” on the touchline. He absolutely flattened somebody, might have been Capucho, and I recall roaring hoarsely at the incident. It seemed to capture and express all the frustration I was feeling.
That’s what I loved about Thommo. So often his attitude on the pitch mirrored mine as a fan. The intensity that sometimes morphed into barely-suppressed rage. On several occasions that rage spilled over with negative consequence, most notably August 2005 at Ibrox. That was the beginning of Thommo’s long goodbye. It’s all over now, finally, but he’s a player I’ll never forget.
Godspeed Alan Thompson, you were a great Celt in your time.
Articles
Thompson returns to Celtic as coach
Provided by: The Daily Telegraph
ALAN THOMPSON was heartbroken when Celtic manager Gordon Strachan ended his six-year Parkhead career in 2006, although he admits that the manner of his departure, rather than the timing, was what hurt the most.
He was transferred to Leeds after scoring 51 goals in 227 appearances for the Hoops, becoming the first – and, thus far, only -Celtic player to be capped by England while playing for the club.
Thompson, 36, left boyhood heroes Newcastle, where he had been working with the reserves, to join Neil Lennon’s revolution and, after being officially unveiled as Celtic’s new first-team coach yesterday, he spoke of his disappointment at leaving four seasons ago.
“I left on a sour note,” he said. “I just walked out of a side door one day without really saying goodbye to anyone.
“There were stories at the time about me being injured but I wasn’t. Gordon didn’t want to use me in the preseason games and he knew how unhappy I was so he gave me the opportunity to go home.
“It was a shock, though, flying back from Boston on my own and knowing that was me done. It was the right time to go, although I wouldn’t have chosen those circumstances. Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady were coming through and they had more in their lockers than I had by then.
“Gordon was sending me on for the last 5-10 minutes of our pre-season matches but I’m not going to slag him because he treated me like a man. Not many managers would say: ‘You know where we stand and I know how you’re feeling so go home if you want.’ “It was the loneliest journey of my life and I shed tears. Fortunately, the stewardesses made me feel better.”
Thompson revealed that he and Lennon had arranged to work as part of the same management team while they were still stoking the engine room of Martin O’Neill’s side.
“We did our B licence together up here and we always had an agreement that we’d do this,” he said. “Neil knew that he wanted to be a manager and it was my ambition to come back here – I just didn’t think it would happen this quickly.
“It was a wrench leaving Newcastle but I’ve every confidence that Neil will be a big, big success and part of the attraction is helping the club come out of Rangers’ shadow again. Neil spoke to me when he became caretaker last season but he realised that I couldn’t leave St James’ Park for just nine games.
“I was in Dubai on holiday last week when he called to say that he’d got the manager’s job and asked me to come up: it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
With Johan Mjallby waiting to be confirmed as Lennon’s No2 and former Leicester City midfielder Garry Parker joining the backroom staff, O’Neill’s influence will loom large.
Celtic failed to even reach a cup final for the first time since 1997 and surrendered the title to Rangers again. Thompson, recalling that Dick Advocaat’s team had won the title 18 points clear of Celtic before O’Neill’s arrival a decade ago, stressed the need for big-game hunters at Parkhead.
With nine goals to his credit (and three red cards), Thompson knows the intensity of Old Firm rivalry. “It’s as much about mentality as it is about skill,” he said. “Neil and I used to get abuse at Ibrox but we both thrived on it. Next season the four games against Rangers will vital to the outcome of the championship and we need strong players. It would be great to have Sol Campbell around.”
© 2010 Telegraph Group Limited, London
The Daily Telegraph
Q&A 2021
We published an article with the audio embedded last night, but for those who wish to read a transcript of the conversation here’s how the interview unfolded:
Q) How did the idea to publish a book (A Geordie Bhoy) come about, was it something you’d always planned to do? Because I notice from the famous Seville team that you were part of that many of you have published books (Petrov, Lennon, Sutton, Hartson, McNamara). As well as having great careers, you all have stories off the pitch, so I had wondered if it was something you’d all spoken about.
No, I’d never planned to do a book at all. I’ve had contact with people in the past who’ve asked me to do one and I’ve always passed on it, but I just thought the time was right now. As you’ve said lots of my ex-teammates, Chris and Lenny, John, Jackie and Stiliyan have all done books. It’s about my football career, it’s about life after football since I retired and it’s interesting. I talk about a lot of things that people won’t know about, mental health struggles and all that – so it’ll be a good read and it’s something that I felt the time was right now to get it off my chest and talk about it in the open.
Bildnummer: 00921024 Datum: 17.09.2003 Copyright: imago/Ulmer
Q) One of the major personal stories that I know is included in the book is about the bad car crash you were involved in when you were younger, before you’d even started your professional career. What happened in that incident?
Obviously it goes into quite a lot of detail in the book. I was 16, I’d not long left school and was just about to embark on hopefully a glittering career and I had a serious car accident. It was touch and go whether I would walk again, I was extremely lucky. I could have been in a wheelchair being fed through a tube. I missed a lot of my childhood football, 16-18 was disrupted through the severity of the neck break, so I was an extremely lucky boy.
GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM – AUGUST 02: Celtic’s Alan Thompson scores from the penalty spot during the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, second leg match between Celtic and Artmedia Bratislava at Parkhead on August 2, 2005 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Q) Thankfully, you did make a full recovery not just in terms of your basic health but actually to go on and have a proper football career. You came through at your boyhood club Newcastle and went on to play for Bolton and Aston Villa too. Is there a lot in the book about your early career?
Yes it goes from being a young boy, how I fell in love with the game growing up in Wallsend in Newcastle, going on to play for my boyhood club Newcastle United which is a dream come true for any kid to play for the club in the city where they grew up, especially after the long road to recovery from the neck injury and car crash. Then it goes on to Bolton and Aston Villa, then obviously the big chunk of the book is about my time at Celtic, both as a player and a coach.
Q) Most football minded people will know about your success at Bolton, but for younger listeners, my age and below, they might not be as aware. You didn’t just play for Bolton, you won two promotions and had really successful time there so it’ll be good for readers to get the full picture of your career.
Yeah, one thing I’ll say about the book as well is that there’s a lot of other people that speak in it. People like Bruce Rioch, who was my manager at Bolton, he’s in the book. Ex-teammates from Bolton, Celtic, Aston Villa they’ve all got little bits in there. It’s interesting to get other people’s take on myself and what they thought of me. It’s a little bit different and there’s lots of interesting content.
Q) After playing for three huge clubs you eventually went to Celtic, just after the 6-2 game. I remember the good times, but your experiences in the Glasgow Derby fixture were mixed in the sense that you scored seven goals but had a few red cards. Did the players dislike each other, or was it purely the importance of those games for winning trophies that made them so intense?
I think everyone was personal. Everyone had their own views on different people and different players, but I think when you went on the pitch you always respected the opposition whether it was an Old Firm game or not. So yeah there was love hate relationships. A big part of the book is just about Old Firm games. Obviously the red cards and the goals you mentioned, and my relationship with Fernando Ricksen god rest him. They were great times and they were brilliant games to play in. If you won there was no better feeling, but if you lost there was no worse feeling.
EDITORIAL USE ONLY: Celtic’s Alan Thompson scores against Rangers during the Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League match at Rangers’ Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow.
Q) When you signed for Celtic were you made aware of the basic history, of the club being founded by Irish immigrants to feed the poor Irish in the city, so that you get a sense of what it means and the history behind the rivalry?
I knew a bit about it. My mother’s family are from Ireland, the Kelly’s are Irish, and I knew the tradition and the history, and the great players who played for the club over the years – 67 winning the European Cup – and I had mates already at the club, Tommy Johnson and Alan Stubbs who I’d already played with at Bolton. So, I followed it and kept an eye on it. I knew what it was all about but it’s only when you get there that you realise the size of it.
Q) Besides Henrik Larsson, who was the best player you’ve ever played with?
One that always stands out for me would be Peter Beardsley. Watching him as a kid at Newcastle United, he just had a football brain like a computer, just always ticking it was always thinking, it was ahead of everyone else. He just had pure natural ability you can’t coach that, you can’t teach that. Peter would probably be the one, although when I played with him it was at the end of his career – the beginning of my career at Bolton Wanderers. But having watched him as a kid and then having the opportunity to play with him at Bolton I’d say Peter would be the standout one. He’s a big Celtic fan as well so that makes him even better!
Bildnummer: 00926365 Datum: 17.09.2003 Copyright: imago/ExSpo
Q) While you were at Celtic you became the first player who, during their time at the club, received an England cap. All the talk I heard in England at that time was how people wished Ryan Giggs had declared for England, because the English played Scholes wide left to accommodate Gerrard and Lampard. I felt you should have been on the left with one of Gerrard or Lampard dropping out. You’d scored major goals in Europe, so I felt you deserved more than one cap. It must have been a great experience to get that cap and I know that’s covered in the book, but do you think you should have got more games for England?
Obviously everyone as a kid wants to play for their boyhood club, which I achieved, and then to represent your country. Although I’d represented my country at under age, at U18 and U21 level, you want a full cap. It was towards the end of my career when I got that cap, but maybe I was doing enough in Europe, whether it was UEFA Cup or Champions League, to justify getting a call earlier or getting more than one chance, but I got my one cap and I was extremely proud to get it. Would I have liked more opportunities? For sure. It wasn’t to be but it’s certainly a proud moment when you pull on the strip for the country of your birth. I don’t think it gives you much opportunity in a friendly away from home to show what you can do and I think I got 70 minutes, so yeah I’d like to have gotten an opportunity to play in a home game or something like that as well with a home crowd and possibly put a bit of a stamp on a game and prove I could play at that level.
Q) You eventually left Celtic and you weren’t too happy about the manner of your exit. You went on to a big club in Leeds and you finished at a smaller club with Hartlepool. Was it hard retiring from the game?
It’s always hard to stop playing, but if you told me when I was 16 and I could possibly have ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of my life – you’re going to have a career, retire when you’re 34, play 500 plus games, play for great clubs and get an England cap; I would have snatched your hand off. So, although it is hard to retire, I wanted to go down the coaching route and I look back on my playing career with fond memories and I’m extremely proud.
Q) Away from football you’ve been involved in a boxing match recently and you’ve written a book, so what does the future hold next; are you looking to get back into football?
It’s nice with covid lifting and getting a bit of normality back. I was up in Glasgow last week for three evenings, which was hard work. I’m going to Dublin next week and I’ve got lots of book signings coming up with the book coming out keeping me busy. But I’d like to get back into football in some capacity. Possibly coaching, possibly recruitment or something like that. Who knows? 2022 might be the year when I get back in. It’s fast approaching and I haven’t worked for over three years now so the batteries are fully charged and I’d like to get back involved in some capacity without a doubt.
Q) Is there a favourite story you want to share as a taster for people to get a copy of the book?
Not really off the top of my head. I’ve gone into it completely open, there’s nothing I’ve avoided in the book. There’s a lot of humour included, but also a lot of serious stuff from playing days to losing my job at Celtic in 2012, so it goes into a lot of detail about a lot of things. Hopefully it’ll help people out in a few ways, it’ll give people a laugh and a smile, and then there’s a few truths in there as well. It’s just an open account of my life.
I’ve played with some unbelievable characters, not just at Celtic. Everyone who listens to this podcast will know about the Celtic ones, but there’s characters at everywhere I’ve played. As a kid at Newcastle there was people like Micky Quinn and Brian Kilcline. At Bolton there was people like John McGinlay, Jason McAteer, Alan Stubbs; and Aston Villa had characters like Stan Collymore, so there’s a lot of characters in the group who I’ve got some funny stories about.
Chris (Sutton) was a big joker. I’ve seen one of his tweets yesterday saying ‘I thought Gerrard was happy at Rangers’, he’s always having a little pop and a wind up.
The dressing rooms are the hub. There’s a lot of humour in them and a lot of raw emotion going on in dressing rooms, so you do get the laughs but you also get the fall outs and the arguments, the fights. It’s an interesting place the dressing room, and one that every footballer misses when they retire. That dressing room atmosphere, the camaraderie, the highs and lows, the winning and losing, the red cards and massive victories over big clubs. The dressing room is a massive part of every football club and that’s something that gets spoken about a lot in the book.
People used to think I was a fighter because I’d get involved in a few tear ups with other players and then when I done the boxing match a few weeks ago I think everyone realised I wasn’t a fighter. People have different opinions on us outside the dressing room.
GLASGOW – APRIL 27: Celtic players John Hartson, Henrik Larsson, Alan Thompson and Jackie McNamara line up in a defensive wall during the Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League match between Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic held on April 27, 2003 at the Ibrox Stadium, in Glasgow, Scotland. Celtic won the match 2-1. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
Q) The book is written by Jamie Boyle, published by War Cry Publishing and is available for pre-order now, on Amazon and warcrypress.co.uk. It’s fully released on 1 December 2021, so where can people buy it from then?
It’ll be on Twitter and social media, it’ll be available in good bookshops. Amazon, War Cry Publishing and look out for the audio version and all the links will be on social media for people to get and have a good read.
Big shout out to Martin O’Neill as well. When I rang him up and asked him if he’d do the foreword for the book he was over the moon that I asked him because I could have asked other people but I just thought there’s no better man to do the foreword for my book ,especially after everything he done for me, so a big shout out to Martin for doing the foreword. I’ve read it and it’s a marvellous piece of writing. He tried to take me to Leicester so I didn’t think he’d come back in for me any time after that but as soon as he gave me the chance to go to Celtic I was all over it.
