Andrew "Andy" Thomson (born
Motherwell
, 1 April 1971) is a former Scottish
professional
football player.
He played
over 600 matches and scored over 200 goals in a career that saw him
play for Queen of the South,
Partick Thistle and Falkirk in Scotland and for Southend United, Oxford United, Gillingham and Queens Park Rangers in England
.
Queen of the South (1st spell)
Thomson
signed on 28 July 1989 for Dumfries
club
Queen of the South from
Motherwell boys' club Jerviston FC
as an 18 year old. As he became more experienced the goals
started to flow and never stopped in his five seasons at Palmerston Park
. Arguably his finest achievement with Queens
was the 1990-91
Scottish League
Cup run to the quarter finals. Queens knocked out higher
division opponents (Dundee and Dunferlmine Athletic) before being
eliminated by a late goal away to Celtic.
Thomson's record in his first spell was 109 goals in 164 games. In
1993-94 he was Queens Player of the Year and also awarded the
Scottish Second Division
award, as he had been 2 seasons before, as well as being the
country's top scorer.
Aberdeen offered £150,000 for Thomson
but this was rejected.
Southend
United offered £250,000 and a deal was struck that led to
Thomson leaving for
Essex in south-east
England on 4 July 1994. As well as being the record fee paid at the
time by Southend, this still remains the highest fee received by
Queens.
Andy Thomson returned to Palmerston Park to play for a Queen of the
South select on
23rd April 1995. The opposition in the 2-2 draw was Rangers in a
game to mark Queens' 75th anniversary and the opening of the new
stand. Other guests for Queens included
Ted
McMinn,
Davie Irons and
Rowan Alexander.
Southend United and Oxford United
As well as four seasons at Southend Thomson also spent one season
at
Oxford United.
Gillingham
Andy Thomson signed for
Gillingham
on
5th August 1999 for £25,000 just
before the season kicked off. This was later described by manager
Peter Taylor as the best £25,000 he ever spent.
On
28th May 2000 Thomson
scored the winning goal for Gillingham in the Football League Second
Division play-off final at Wembley Stadium
. Thomson had come on as an extra time
substitute in the 97th minute of the game. Thomson scored with two
minutes of play left on the clock. Following
Ty Gooden's centre from the right, the diving
Thomson stole in front of
Stuart
Balmer to glance the ball into the far corner of the net. The
goal was reminiscent of
Keith
Houchen's cup final goal for
Coventry
City against
Tottenham
Hotspur.
The 3-2 win against Wigan Athletic ensured the Kent
club's first
ever promotion to the second tier of English football. The
club's website described the goals as, "The most iconic moment in
the long history of Gillingham F.C. encapsulated in a few moments
of extra time football".Andy Thomson became the second former Queen
of the South player to win a Wembley play off final after
Ted McMinn.
Thomson also scored 4 goals in Gillingham's 1999–00
FA Cup run, against Cheltenham, Walsall, Bradford
City and Sheffield Wednesday.
The Gills were knocked out of the cup in the
quarter-final - the first time they had ever reached this far - at
Stamford
Bridge
, where they lost 5-0 to Chelsea.
Queens Park Rangers
From Gillingham Thomson went to
Queens Park Rangers signing on
22nd March 2001
Thomson left to return to Scotland
10th
July 2003.
Back to Scotland
He
returned to Scotland and played
for Falkirk, Partick Thistle and then moved back to
Queen of the South. As Thomson was to say on his return to
Queens, "Things have changed quite a bit while I've been away - a
new stand, a completely new set-up and a more modern type of
training system". Thomson added, "
Norman
Blount was an excellent chairman."
From Queens Andy Thomson then went to
Stenhousemuir. Troubled by injuries
Thomson's retirement from playing was announced in the press on
18th March 2008.
References
External links
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