Eddie Thomson
Eddie Thomson (25 February 1947 – 21 February 2003) was a Scottish association football player and coach, who played as a defender. He played for Heart of Midlothian and Aberdeen in Scotland, San Antonio Thunder in the United States and Sydney City in Australia. Staying in Australia, he coached Sydney City and Sydney Olympic before working with the Australia national team. Initially assistant coach, he was subsequently head coach from 1990 to 1996. His last coaching position was with Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Edward Thomson | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 25 February 1947 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rosewell, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 21 February 2003 (aged 55) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Whitehill Welfare | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penicuik Athletic | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1966–1973 | Heart of Midlothian | 162 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1976 | Aberdeen | 91 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1976 | San Antonio Thunder | 19 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1977–1980 | Sydney City | 65 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 337 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | Scottish Football League XI[1] | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969–1970 | Scotland U23 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1986 | Sydney City | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1989 | Sydney Olympic | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | Australia B | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1988 | Australia (Assistant coach) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1990 | Football Federation Australia (Coaching director) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1996 | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2000 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Career edit
Born in Rosewell, Scotland, he played 162 games for Heart of Midothian from 1966 to 1973, before moving to Aberdeen and playing a further 91 games with them. After a brief stint with the San Antonio Thunder of the NASL,[3] he moved to Australia and Sydney City in 1977 for the inaugural National Soccer League season. He won two NSL championships with this side as a player, in 1977 and as a player-coach again in 1980. During his time at Hearts he also played for the Scottish u-23 side.[4]
It was at this time he retired from playing and immediately became the full-time coach of Sydney City, winning a further two national championships in 1981 and 1982. He also won an NSL Cup trophy in 1986. After Sydney City withdrew from the NSL in 1987 he took charge of Sydney Olympic, guiding them to a grand final in 1989 before leaving early in the next season to take charge of the Australia national team.
His national coaching career did not start there however. He became coach of Australia B in 1984 before becoming assistant coach of the Socceroos in 1985. After taking over as Socceroos manager, he guided the team to some impressive friendly results against Sweden and the USA before coming close to qualifying for USA 94, only losing 1–0 as a result of a freak deflection to an Argentine side who had recalled Diego Maradona after some disappointing qualification results.
He was also coach of the Australian Olympic football team at the same time. In 1992, after defeating the Netherlands in a memorable encounter to qualify for the 1992 Summer Olympics, the team came within one game of the gold medal match, losing 6–1 to Poland before losing 1–0 to Ghana in the bronze medal playoff.
In 1994, after allegations of inappropriate involvement in player transfers, an inquiry, chaired by retired New South Wales judge Donald Stewart, was set up to investigate these claims. The report published recommended his sacking, but he stayed on in the end. Shortly after guiding the Olympic side through the 1996 Summer Olympics in which Australia failed to get past the group stage, Eddie resigned to take charge of Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima. During his time there, a number of Australians, such as Aurelio Vidmar, Graham Arnold and Steve Corica also played there.
Career statistics edit
Club edit
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[5][6][7] edit
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Heart of Midlothian | 1966–67 | Scottish Division One | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 1967–68 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| 1968–69 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | ||
| 1969–70 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| 1970–71 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 0 | ||
| 1971–72 | 29 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 3 | ||
| 1972–73 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
| Total | 162 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 199 | 6 | ||
| Aberdeen | 1972–73 | Scottish Division One | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 1973–74 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 47 | 1 | ||
| 1974–75 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | ||
| 1975–76 | Scottish Premier Division | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| 1976–77 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Total | 91 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 121 | 2 | ||
| San Antonio Thunder | 1976 | North American Soccer League | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 |
| Sydney City | 1977 | National Soccer League | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 18 | 0 |
| 1978 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 26 | 2 | ||
| 1979 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 15 | 1 | ||
| 1980 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 12 | 0 | ||
| Total | 65 | 2 | 6 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 71 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 337 | 10 | 28 | 2 | 41 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 410 | 14 | ||
Managerial statistics edit
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1997 | 2000 | 126 | 58 | 3 | 65 | 46.03% |
Honours edit
Player edit
Heart of Midlothian
- Scottish Cup runners-up: 1967–68
Sydney City
Manager edit
Sydney City
Sydney Olympic
- National Soccer League runners-up: 1986[10]
- NSL Premiership runners-up: 1986[10]
- NSL Cup runners-up: 1989[10]
Australia
Australia U23
Individual
- NSL Coach of the Year: 1981, 1984, 1985[10]
- National Soccer Hall of Fame: 2002 Inductee[9]
Death edit
He returned to Australia in 2000 and shortly afterwards, he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which he died of in 2003.
References edit
- ^ "Eddie Thomson – Scotland Football League Record from 19 Nov 1969 to 19 Nov 1969 clubs – Heart of Midlothian".
- ^ "New Zealand U-23 International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
"Australia Under 23 National Team "Olyroos" – 1996 Match". Oz Football. Retrieved 22 March 2021. - ^ "NASL-Eddie Thomson".
- ^ "Eddie Thomson". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
- ^ "Eddie Thomson – Hearts Career – from 22 Mar 1967 to 12 Mar 1973". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust – Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "NASL-Eddie Thomson". nasljerseys.com. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "J. League Data Site". data.j-league.or.jp. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Vale Eddie Thomson". The World Game. 27 April 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d "22nd February 2003 Eddie Thomson Scots footballer who made his mark coaching in Australia". Herald Scotland. 22 February 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
External links edit
- Eddie Thomson at Aussie Footballers
- Eddie Thomson at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
- Eddie Thomson manager profile at J.League () (in Japanese)