George_Thomson_(footballer,_born_1936)
George Thomson (footballer, born 1936)
Scottish footballer
George Matthewson Thomson (19 October 1936 – July 2007) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Heart of Midlothian, Everton and Brentford as a utility player. He was capped by Scotland at schoolboy and U23 levels and made two appearances for the Scottish League XI.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Matthewson Thomson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1936-10-19)19 October 1936 | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | July 2007 (2007-08) (aged 70)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Lancashire, England | ||
| Position(s) | Utility player | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Edinburgh City | |||
| 1953–1957 | Heart of Midlothian | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1957–1960 | Heart of Midlothian | 117 | (14) |
| 1960–1963 | Everton | 73 | (1) |
| 1963–1968 | Brentford | 162 | (5) |
| Total | 352 | (20) | |
| International career | |||
| Scotland Schoolboys | |||
| Scotland U23 | |||
| 1959–1960 | Scottish League XI | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Heart of Midlothian
Thomson began his career with Edinburgh City and joined Scottish League club Heart of Midlothian in April 1953.[2] He had to wait until February 1957 to make his debut, which came in a 1–1 First Division draw with Falkirk.[3] He went on to make six further appearances during the 1956–57 season and was thereafter a regular in the team until his departure in November 1960.[2] He was a fixture in Hearts' 1957–58 and 1959–60 First Division title-winning teams and featured as an ever-present in the latter triumph.[4][5] He also played in both the 1958 and 1959 Scottish League Cup-winning campaigns.[6][7] Thomson made 161 appearances and scored 17 goals during three-and-a-half years as a first team player at Hearts.[2]
Everton
Thomson and Heart of Midlothian teammate Alex Young moved south to join English First Division club Everton for a combined £55,000 fee on 26 November 1960.[8][9][10] Thomson was unable to hold a regular place in the team during his 2+1⁄2 seasons with the club,[10] but he managed to make 20 appearances during the club's championship-winning season in 1962–63.[11] He made 77 appearances and scored one goal for the club before departing Goodison Park in late 1963.[10]
Brentford
Thomson joined newly-promoted Third Division club Brentford November 1963 and stayed at Griffin Park for 4+1⁄2 years, before retiring at the end of the 1967–68 season.[9] Thomson made 179 appearances and scored five goals for Brentford.[9]
Thomson represented Scotland at schoolboy and U23 level.[9] While with Hearts, he made two appearances for the Scottish League XI against the Irish League XI.[12]
Thomson attended Craiglockhart Primary School, Tynecastle High School and Slateford School.[2] As a player, he was nicknamed "007", because of his looks.[9]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Heart of Midlothian | 1956–57[13] | Scottish First Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1957–58[4] | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 0 | ||||
| 1958–59[14] | 34 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 49 | 11 | ||
| 1959–60[5] | 34 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 47 | 5 | |||
| 1960–61[15] | 12 | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 22 | 1 | |||
| Total | 117 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 29 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 161 | 17 | ||
| Everton | 1960–61[10] | First Division | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 0 | ||
| 1961–62[10] | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 1 | ||||
| 1962–63[10] | 19 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 73 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 77 | 1 | |||
| Brentford | 1963–64[16] | Third Division | 23 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 27 | 1 | |||
| 1964–65[16] | 41 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 46 | 0 | ||||
| 1965–66[16] | 44 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 47 | 2 | ||||
| 1966–67[16] | Fourth Division | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | |||
| 1967–68[16] | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 162 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 179 | 5 | ||||
| Career total | 352 | 20 | 22 | 0 | 34 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 417 | 23 | ||
- Appearance in East of Scotland Shield
- Appearances in European Cup
- Appearance in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Heart of Midlothian
- Scottish League First Division: 1957–58, 1959–60[4][5]
- Scottish League Cup: 1958–59, 1959–60[6][7]
- East of Scotland Shield: 1957–58, 1959–60[17][18]
Everton
- "George Thomson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- "George Thomson – Hearts Career – from 23 Feb 1957 to 19 Nov 1960". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- "1957-02-23 Sat Hearts 1 Falkirk 1". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- "1958-10-25 Sat Hearts 5 Partick Thistle 1". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- "1959-10-24 Sat Hearts 2 Third Lanark 1". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- Prentice, David (23 November 2010). "Dave Prentice on the 50th anniversary of Golden Vision Alex Young signing for Everton FC". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 160. ISBN 978-0955294914.
- "George Thomson". Everton Football Club. Archived from the original on 28 June 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- Everton F.C. at the Football Club History Database
- "George Thomson". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 387–389. ISBN 0951526200.
- "1958-11-24 Mon Hearts 3 Hibernian 0". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- "1960-04-18 Mon Hearts 2 Hibernian 3". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 2 November 2015.