Alan Thompson (born 22 December 1973 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is an English former professional footballer who is now Reserve Team Manager for his hometown and former team, Newcastle United. Throughout his career, he made 550 appearances at 6 different clubs. He played in midfield and was capped once by England, against Sweden in 2004.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Playing career

Thompson started his career at Newcastle United, his hometown club and the team he supported as a child. He moved to Bolton Wanderers in 1993. He scored for Bolton at Wembley in the 1995 League Cup Final in a 2–1 defeat to Liverpool which was a spectacular shot from just outside the box and was part of their promotion teams of 1995 and 1997 becoming a huge crowd favourite in the process. He moved to Aston Villa in 1998, before moving to Celtic in 2000 for £2.75 million during manager Martin O'Neill's first season at the club. He was an integral part of the Celtic team that reached the UEFA Cup Final where Celtic lost 3-2 in extra time to José Mourinho's FC Porto.

Thompson scored the only goal in the 2005 Scottish Cup final for Celtic against Dundee United to give the outgoing O'Neill his seventh trophy whilst in charge of the club. He also scored the winning goal against Rangers in two separate Old Firm derby matches and seven against Rangers in all. He had mixed fortunes in Old Firm games, however, being sent off three times.

Under Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, Thompson went out of favour and found very limited first team opportunities, often not even securing a place on the substitutes' bench. On 12 January 2007, Thompson secured a loan move to Championship side Leeds United until the end of the 2006–07 season in a bid to play first-team football.

On 20 January 2007 Thompson made his debut for Leeds against West Bromwich Albion and scored in a 3–2 defeat. In his next game he scored a trademark free kick; the winning goal against Hull City in a 2–1 victory. Thompson left Leeds at the end of the 2006–07 season after his loan period and Celtic contract ended. His agent commented "He was very happy at Leeds, and there's a chance he could go back there."^[1].

Thompson signed a one-year contract with Leeds on 9 August 2007. He was made club captain for the 2007–08 season, their first in League One^[2] He scored from a free kick against Southend United in the first home league game of the season.

Thompson was made acting assistant manager after the departure of Gus Poyet,^[3] but returned to his playing role upon the arrival of Dave Bassett. In January 2008 he joined another League One side, Hartlepool United, on a one-month loan deal,^[4] scoring once against Luton Town.^[5] He spent a spell out of the side injured, before returning to feature in the squad for Leeds' play-off campaign, although he did not play. He retired at the end of the season, at the age of 34.

Thompson ended his playing career on 28 May 2008 after 17 years as a professional. He had this to say: "I've had a good career but I've decided to call it a day. I'll take a bit of time out but I'd like to stay in the game. The high point was playing for England against Sweden in 2004 but I've got plenty of good memories."^[6]

[edit] Coaching career

On 16 July, 2008 Thompson was appointed new academy coach at Newcastle United. It was his former boss Kevin Keegan that handed him the role of looking after the club's young talents.^[7]

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

[edit] Newcastle

• Division One Champions: 1992/1993

[edit] Bolton

• Division One Champions: 1996/1997
• Division One Play-Off Winners: 1994/1995

[edit] Celtic

• Scottish Premier League Champions (4): 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2003/2004, 2005/2006
• Scottish Cup Winners (3): 2000/2001, 2003/2004, 2004/2005
• Scottish League Cup Winners (2): 2000/2001, 2005/2006

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Alan Thompson career stats at Soccerbase