- Eddie Thomson
Infobox Football biography
playername= Eddie Thomson
fullname = Eddie Thomson
nickname = Eddie
dateofbirth = birth date|1947|2|25|df=y
cityofbirth =Rosewell
countryofbirth =Scotland
dateofdeath = death date and age|2003|2|21|1947|2|25|df=y
cityofdeath =Sydney
countryofdeath =Australia
height =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs = Whitehall WelfarePenicuik Athletic
years = 1966-73 1973-76 1976 1977-1980
clubs = Hearts AberdeenSan Antonio Thunder Sydney City
caps(goals) = 162 (4) 091 (1) 019 (3) 066 (?)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1980-1986 1986-1989 1984-1988 1989-1990 1990-1996 1997-2000
managerclubs =Sydney CitySydney Olympic Australia "Assistant Coach" FFA "Coaching Director" AustraliaSanfrecce Hiroshima
pcupdate =
ntupdate =Eddie Thomson (
February 25 ,1947 –February 21 ,2003 ) was a football (soccer) player and coach.Career
Born in
Rosewell ,Scotland , he played 162 games forHeart of Midlothian F.C. from 1966 to 1973, before moving toAberdeen F.C. and playing a further 91 games with them. After a brief stint with theSan Antonio Thunder of the NASL, [http://nasljerseys.com/Players/T/Thomson.Eddie.htm] he moved toAustralia and Sydney City in 1977 for the inauguralNational Soccer League season. He won twoNSL 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.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 theNSL in 1987 he took charge ofSydney 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 theSocceroos in 1985. After taking over asSocceroos 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 recalledDiego Maradona after some disappoingting qualification results.He was also coach of the
Australia n Olympicfootball team at the same time. In 1992, after defeating the Netherlands in a memorable encounter to qualify for the1992 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 thebronze medal playoff.In 1994, after allegations of inappropriate involvement in player transfers, an inquiry, chaired by retired
New South Wales judgeDonald 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 whichAustralia failed to get past the group stage, Eddie resigned to take charge ofJapan ese sideSanfrecce Hiroshima . During his time there, a number ofAustralia ns, such asAurelio Vidmar ,Graham Arnold andSteve Corica played there. He returned toAustralia in 2000 and shortly afterwards, he was diagnosed withNon-Hodgkin lymphoma , which he died of in 2003.External links
* [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/eddiethomson.htm Independent profile]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.