Eddie Thomson
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Edward Thomson | ||
| Date of birth | 25 February 1947 | ||
| Place of birth | Rosewell, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 21 February 2003 (aged 55) | ||
| Place of death | Sydney, Australia | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Whitehill Welfare | |||
| Penicuik Athletic | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1973 | Heart of Midlothian | 162 | (4) |
| 1973–1976 | Aberdeen | 91 | (1) |
| 1976 | San Antonio Thunder | 19 | (3) |
| 1977–1980 | Sydney City | 66 | |
| Total | 338 | ||
| National team | |||
| 1969 | Scottish League XI | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1980–1986 | Sydney City | ||
| 1986–1989 | Sydney Olympic | ||
| 1984–1988 | Australia (Assistant coach) | ||
| 1989–1990 | Football Federation Australia (Coaching director) | ||
| 1990–1996 | Australia | ||
| 1997–2000 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Eddie Thomson (25 February 1947 – 21 February 2003) was a Scottish football (soccer) player and coach.
Born in Rosewell, Scotland, he played 162 games for Heart of Midlothian F.C. from 1966 to 1973, before moving to Aberdeen F.C. and playing a further 91 games with them. After a brief stint with the San Antonio Thunder of the NASL, he moved to Australia and Sydney City in 1977 for the inaugural National Soccer League season. He won two NSL 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 the NSL in 1987 he took charge of Sydney 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 the Socceroos in 1985. After taking over as Socceroos 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 recalled Diego Maradona after some disappointing qualification results.
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