Kevin Thomson (born 14 October 1984) is a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. Thomson played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

(three spells),

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and represented

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 ...

. Thomson began his career with

, before joining

in 2007 for a £2m transfer fee. Thomson won five major trophies with Rangers, including consecutive

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

championships in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Thomson was also part of the Rangers side which reached the

2008 UEFA Cup Final The 2008 UEFA Cup final was a football match that took place on 14 May 2008 at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. It was the 37th annual final of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second tier club football tournament. The match, which was ...

signed Thomson for a fee of £2m in July 2010, but released him in January 2013 after an injury-hit spell. Thomson then rejoined Hibernian in March 2013, but was released in May 2014 after the club was relegated. He then signed for

, before joining Hibernian for a third time. Thomson retired from playing in 2016. After a stint coaching Rangers youth teams, he managed Kelty Hearts for one season.

Early life

Thomson grew up in

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

. His first club was

Peebles Rovers Peebles Rovers Football Club is a Scottish association football, football club based in Peebles, Scottish Borders. Originally founded in 1888 as Greenside Rovers, the club changed their name to Peebles Rovers in May 1890. This is at odds with ...

, who play in the Eastern Region Youth League. He then moved on to play for

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 ...

youth side

Hutchison Vale Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Football Club (LTHV) are a senior non-league football club based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Currently competing in the , they play their home matches at Saughton Enclosure in the Saughton area of the city. History ...

before being signed by

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

on a four-year contract, but suffered from

homesickness Homesickness is the distress caused by being away from home.Kerns, Brumariu, Abraham. Kathryn A., Laura E., Michelle M.(2009/04/13). Homesickness at summer camp. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54. Its cognitive hallmark is preoccupying thoughts of home ...

and returned to Scotland with

Club career

Hibernian

Thomson joined Hibernian on 10 August 2001. He was one of a group of young players who came through their youth team during the early 2000s, also including

Steven Whittaker Steven Gordon Whittaker (born 16 June 1984) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player, currently serving as the assistant manager of Ayr United. Whittaker played as a defender, primarily at right-back. He began his senior c ...

Derek Riordan Derek George Riordan (born 16 January 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped three times by the Scotland national team. Riordan started his career with Hibernian in 2001 and had a brief sp ...

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State *Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, born ...

and

Garry O'Connor Garry Lawrence John O'Connor (born 7 May 1983) is a Scottish professional football manager and a former player. He played for Hibernian, Peterhead, Lokomotiv Moscow, Barnsley, Tom Tomsk, Birmingham City, Greenock Morton and represented Scotl ...

. Thomson established himself as a regular in the Hibernian first team during the 2003–04 season and played in that season's

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

final defeat by

Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...

, but he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury during a game against

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

near the end of that season. The injury meant that he was out of football for almost a year, and he consequently made only four league appearances in the 2004–05 season. In the 2005–06 season Thomson made his comeback from his injury, establishing himself as one of Hibernian's most important players. He signed a long-term contract (until 2010) in March 2006. Thomson was appointed as club

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 ...

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

after the previous captain

Gary Caldwell Gary Caldwell (born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach who is the manager of Exeter City. Caldwell played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City, Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan Athletic an ...

left the club to join

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

. Despite signing a long-term contract with Hibernian, it was still speculated that Thomson would soon leave Hibs. On 31 August 2006,

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

made an offer that was rejected by Hibernian. Speculation about Thomson's future increased after he (and

) appointed

Willie McKay Willie McKay is a Scottish football agent, based in Monaco, known for representing a number of high-profile footballers, particularly in the Premier League and Ligue 1. His clients have included James McFadden, Joey Barton Joseph Anthony ...

as his agent. McKay demanded that Hibernian offer Brown and Thomson wages commensurate with the transfer fees Hibernian were demanding for the players. Hibernian would have needed to significantly break their pay scale to offer such wages. Hibernian refused to meet with McKay to discuss improved contracts, which resulted in Brown submitting a written transfer request. On 20 December 2006,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

made a joint offer for Brown and Thomson, which was rejected by Hibernian. This sparked a further round of speculation, as Brown and Thomson demanded to know why they had not been informed of the offer before it was rejected. Thomson was stripped of the captaincy on 2 January 2007 and was replaced by Rob Jones. Thomson was told by manager John Collins to concentrate on his game because he believed that Thomson's performance levels had dropped since the transfer speculation began.

Rangers

Thomson signed for

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing career consiste ...

for a fee of £2 million on 30 January 2007. Less than two months earlier, Smith had been critical of Thomson's behaviour, calling on him to show more "responsibility", although this was a month before Smith had been appointed as Rangers manager. Thomson made his Rangers debut on 11 February in a 3–1 victory over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

, although he was substituted at half-time after suffering a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury. Thomson established himself as a regular in the Rangers first team. He scored his first goal for Rangers in a victory against

on 29 March 2008 and he played in the club's run to the

and winning the League CupDundee United 2 Rangers 2 (Rangers win 3–2 on penalties): Boyd on target to end Rangers' trophy drought
The Independent, 17 March 2008 and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Queen of the South 2 – 3 Rangers
Herald Scotland, 26 May 2008 in his first full season. Thomson scored his second goal of the 2008–09 season when he scored an equalising goal in injury time against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...

, on 4 November 2008. In the following league match against

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...

, a 4–0 victory for Rangers was overshadowed by Thomson suffering a serious knee injury. This injury ruled him out for the rest of the 2008–09 season. Thomson had surgery to save his career on 31 December 2008. The surgery was a success and Thomson hoped to be fit for the following season. On his return to the Rangers first team, Thomson was sent off in the 13th minute of a 2–1 win against Hearts. Thomson was sent off in the 2010 League Cup Final in the second half for a poorly timed challenge, although Rangers won the match 1–0 despite Danny Wilson also being shown a red card. Thomson helped Rangers win their second title in a row in

Middlesbrough

accepted a £2m offer from

for Thomson in July 2010. Middlesbrough then confirmed that Thomson had passed a medical, despite the player having suffered two serious knee injuries earlier in his career, and completed his transfer. In his second league match for Middlesbrough, Thomson suffered a fractured fibula against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, which prevented him from playing for two months. Further injury problems meant that Thomson only played in 44 games during his first two seasons with Middlesbrough. His contract with Middlesbrough was cancelled on 31 January 2013 by mutual consent.

Later career

Thomson trained with Hibernian, one of his former clubs, in February 2013. A move appeared unlikely because Hibs had no spare budget to pay Thomson with, but he decided in March to forego any salary and signed with the club until the end of the 2012–13 season. Thomson made his second debut appearance for Hibs in a goalless draw against Hearts on 10 March. He agreed a new one-year contract with Hibs in July 2013. Thomson dropped out of the Hibs team after

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland title ...

was replaced with

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that feature ...

, and was made available for transfer in January 2014. Thomson was released by Hibs following their relegation to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

. Thomson signed for newly promoted

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

in May 2014. Shortly after his arrival he was appointed

club captain The captain of a football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influ ...

by manager

Paul Hartley Paul Hartley (born 19 October 1976) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Scottish League One side Cove Rangers. As a player, Hartley won trophies with both Hearts and C ...

. On 15 January 2016, Thomson left the club by mutual consent having made 38 appearances over 18 months for The Dee. On 22 January 2016, Thomson joined Hibernian for a third time, on a deal until the end of the 2015–16 season. He combined his playing duties with coaching the development squads under

Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...

and started the

Scottish League Cup Final The Scottish League Cup is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football, organised by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). It is considered to be the second most important domestic cup competition in Scottish football, after the S ...

, which Hibs lost 2–1 to Ross County. After just six months back at

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-largest ...

, Thomson signed for Tranent Juniors in June 2016, agreeing a two-year deal with the SJFA East Premier League side. In August 2016, he left Tranent with the club saying he couldn't combine playing for them with his media commitments.

International career

Thomson made his debut for

in a goalless draw versus

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

on 20 August 2008. After a three-year absence, Thomson was recalled to the national squad in September 2013.

Coaching

Thomson worked with former club

as a youth coach before being appointed as manager of Kelty Hearts on 28 May 2021, replacing former team-mate

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently caretaker manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells ei ...

, who left Kelty to become manager of

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They compete in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. According to the official club hist ...

. Thomson guided Kelty to the

2021–22 Scottish League Two The 2021–22 Scottish League Two (known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of Scottish football. The season began on 31 July. Ten teams contested the league: Albion Rovers ...

championship, before he resigned on 31 May 2022.

Career statistics

:A. Includes

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, Champions League,

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

and

play-offs.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Rangers *

: 2008–09, 2009–10 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2007–08 *

: 2007–08, 2009–10 Individual * SPL Young Player of the Month: September 2005

Manager

Kelty Hearts *

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

: 2021–22 Individual * SPFL League Two Manager of the Month: August 2021; November 2021; March 2022

Notes

References

External links

*
Scotland U21 stats
at Fitbastats {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Kevin 1984 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Sportspeople from Peebles Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Coventry City F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Footballers from the Scottish Borders Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Tranent F.C. players Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Scottish football managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Kelty Hearts F.C. managers 21st-century Scottish sportsmen