Andrew Edward Thomson is British a former international lawn and indoor bowler. Known as Andy Thomson he was born in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland, on 26 November 1955, and represented Scotland before deciding to represent England.

Bowls career

Thomson won the Buckhaven Club Championship at the age of 16 and one year later was the Fife under-30 champion. In 1978 he won the Scottish junior indoor title. After moving to Kent he claimed the 1981 EBA national singles. In 1981, he defeated Alan Windsor in the English national national singles. He represented

England at the 1986 Commonwealth Games England competed at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. England finished top of the medal table. Medallists , style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;", Aquatics Diving ;Men ...

in the singles, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

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 ...

, Scotland. Eight years later he partnered Gary Smith in the pairs and they won a bronze medal at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

. In 1993 he partnered Gary Smith as the pair won the

World Indoor Bowls Championships The World Indoor Bowls Championship is an international bowls competition held annually at Potters Resorts in Hopton on Sea. In recent history matches are streamed live on YouTube & Facebook, attracting around four million views annually. T ...

pairs title. He had won the 1992 national pairs with Smith the year before. Then in successive seasons he won the 1994 and 1995

men's singles title. In 1996 he was part of the men's fours who won the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia. In 2008 & 2010 he won the pairs title with Ian Bond and also became World Matchplay champion in 2008. At the WBT 2010 Awards Dinner he was awarded the 'Lifetime Achievement' Award as well as picking up his third World Indoor Pairs title. In 2012 Andy Thomson won his third World Indoor Singles title, 17 years after his previous success. Three years later he reached the final once more, but was defeated by Alex Marshall. Thomson spoke out against the new timing clock introduced for the 2013 World Indoor Championships. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to bowls.The United Kingdom: In September 2018 Thomson retired from the England indoor team after reaching 114 caps. He later announced his full retirement following his wildcard participation in the 2021 World Indoor Bowls Championship.

Coaching

Thomson is a tactical coach for Bowls Australia and is part of the coaching team for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Andy Scottish male bowls players English male bowls players Living people Sportspeople from Fife 1955 births Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Bowls World Champions Indoor Bowls World Champions Bowls players at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Members of the Order of the British Empire Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in lawn bowls