David Thomson (baptized 5 November 1847Published under Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. – 14 September 1876) was an England-born Welsh amateur

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 ...

who helped found the

Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

club and played for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in their first international match. He has been described as "one of the pioneers of Welsh football".

Early life and family

Thomson was born in

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England, and baptized at nearby

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. He moved across the border into Wales as a child when his family settled in the area of

Ruabon Ruabon (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. I ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, together with his younger brother

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

. Thomson enlisted in the Royal

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, reaching the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Thomson was also an excellent

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er with

Wynnstay Wynnstay is a country house within an important landscaped park 1.3 km (0.75 miles) south-east of Ruabon, near Wrexham, Wales. Wynnstay, previously Watstay, is a famous estate and the family seat of the Williams-Wynn baronets. The house wa ...

C.C. He was also a county cricketer for

and, between 1871 and 1875, for

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

while playing for Hawkstone C.C. For the latter county he made in ten matches a total 341 runs, with a best match score of 79, and took 11 wickets.

Football career

In 1869, Thomson (assisted by his younger brother) helped form the Plasmadoc club which in 1872 amalgamated with two other Ruabon clubs, "Ruabon Rovers" and "Ruabon Volunteers", and under the guidance of

Llewelyn Kenrick Samuel Llewelyn Kenrick (9 June 1847 – 29 May 1933) was a Welsh solicitor who became the founder of the Football Association of Wales and organised the first Wales national football team, Welsh international football match against Scotland nati ...

became Ruabon Druids. Thomson became the first president of the amalgamated club. All three played a prominent role in the foundation of the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

in early 1876, with David attending the first meeting of the Association, when they agreed to adopt

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

rules. Thomson was also a member of the Shropshire Wanderers club. In February 1876, Kenrick organized trial matches to select Welsh players to represent their country in a match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The international match was played at

Hamilton Crescent Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. It was previously also used for association football and hosted the first international football match in ...

Partick Partick (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to the north Broo ...

, the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club on 25 March 1876, with Thomson playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. The Welsh were well defeated, conceding four goals without reply. Thomson had a tough international baptism with at least one of the Scots goals coming when Thomson and the ball were charged over the line. Thomson died suddenly in September 1876, in his late 20s. As a mark of respect, the Druids players wore black armbands throughout the 1876–77 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, David 1847 births 1876 deaths Footballers from Dudley Welsh men's footballers Druids F.C. players Wales men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Shropshire Wanderers F.C. players