Phil Thompson
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Philip Bernard Thompson | ||
Date of birth | 21 January 1954 | ||
Place of birth | Kirkby, Lancashire, England[1] | ||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Centre back | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1971–1984 | Liverpool | 340 | (7) |
1984–1986 | Sheffield United | 37 | (0) |
Total | 377 | (7) | |
International career | |||
1977 | England U-23 | 2 | (0) |
1978 |
England B | 2 | (0) |
1976–1982 | England | 42 | (1) |
Managerial career | |||
2001–2002 | Liverpool (caretaker) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Philip Bernard Thompson (born 21 January 1954) is an English retired
Club career
Liverpool
Thompson was born in
He made his first team debut the following year against rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford. With the Reds 2–0 up in the 81st minute Shankly took off John Toshack, replacing him with the 18-year-old defender. The move was intended to tighten up the defence and keep a clean-sheet, but three minutes later, Emlyn Hughes popped up with a goal for Liverpool, with the game ending this way. In 1973, Liverpool won a double haul of trophies—the League championship and UEFA Cup and Thompson played a role in both successes earning league and UEFA Cup medals in the process. The next season led to him displacing Larry Lloyd from the side altogether and pushed Tommy Smith across to full back, and he settled into a defensive partnership with club captain Hughes.
Thompson man-marked
1976 was also the year in which he was called up to play for England for the first time, his debut coming on 24 March in a 2–1 win over Wales in a friendly at the Racecourse Ground at Wrexham. During a summer mini-tournament held in the United States on 28 May 1976, Thompson scored his one and only goal for England in a friendly match against Italy in New York.
Liverpool's most productive season followed in 1977, but Thompson was to unluckily miss out. Although he played enough games to guarantee a medal when Liverpool retained the title, he suffered an injury which denied him a role in the exciting charge towards a unique treble, as Liverpool limped into the finals of both the FA Cup and
Thompson recovered from his injury and returned to the defence the following season, scoring a goal in Liverpool's victory over Kevin Keegan's Hamburg in the
Thompson was accompanied by a new central defensive partner in Alan Hansen as Liverpool regained the title in 1979. When Hughes left the club for Wolves late in 1979, Thompson was appointed as captain and managed to lift the League trophy in 1980. He continued to play frequently for England and was in the squad which qualified for a major tournament's finals for the first time in a decade, though England's performances at the 1980 European Championships in Italy were disappointing.
Thompson's proudest moment as Liverpool skipper came in 1981 when he lifted the European Cup after a 1–0 victory over
Bob Paisley upset Thompson the following season when he decided to hand the captaincy to Graeme Souness. At the time the season hadn't started well and Thompson's own form had dipped. Despite this however Thompson continued to play regularly in defence, winning further title medals in 1982 and 1983. He was in the team which retained the League Cup in 1982, but missed the victory in the 1983 final due to injury.
From 1984, Thompson's opportunities as a Liverpool player were diminishing, with Hansen now being paired with the younger Mark Lawrenson. Liverpool won the title, League Cup and European Cup in this year, but Thompson did not qualify for a medal in any of these successes.
Sheffield United
In 1985, he was offered the manager's job at
Off-the-field return to Liverpool
He was with the club in this role for four years, progressing to being Dalglish's right-hand man as the team (still containing, and now captained by, Hansen) won the League in 1988 and 1990 and the FA Cup in 1989. Thompson was working at the club at the time of the
When Souness, the man who replaced Thompson as captain, came back to the club as Dalglish's replacement in early 1991, Thompson was kept on. Thompson was sacked by Souness in 1992 for allegedly talking to Manchester United's Alex Ferguson and his assistant about issues at the club involving Souness. Word had got back to Souness via his connections at Rangers. It was agreed by both the club and Thompson that details of what happened would not be disclosed.
It was alleged that Souness believed Thompson was interested in his job as manager while Souness recovered from bypass surgery in the spring of 1992.[citation needed]
In late 1993, Thompson was widely linked with the manager vacancy at
He earned a living through speaking and punditry until Gérard Houllier became Liverpool manager in 1998 and, needing a bona fide Liverpool man by his side following the departure of Roy Evans, asked Thompson to return to his old role, which Thompson accepted.[4] This second stint was eventful – a spat between Thompson and striker
During his time as assistant manager of Liverpool the Reds returned to winning ways as they completed a unique 'treble' of
When Houllier was relieved of his duties in 2004, Thompson also left the club.
In September 2010, Gérard Houllier was appointed manager of Aston Villa and this led to Houllier offering him the role of assistant manager at the Midlands club. However, Thompson rejected the offer as he felt he could not commit himself to the role due to the long journey to work, the inevitably large number of scouting missions and his unwillingness to uproot his family or live away from them. He then gave the job to Gary McAllister who played under Houllier and Thompson at Liverpool.[citation needed]
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Liverpool | 1971–72 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
1972–73 | First Division | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | ||
1973–74 | First Division | 35 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 51 | 2 | ||
1974–75 | First Division | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 2 | |
1975–76 | First Division | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 2 | — | 57 | 2 | ||
1976–77 | First Division | 26 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 2 | |
1977–78 | First Division | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 4 | |
1978–79 | First Division | 39 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 49 | 0 | ||
1979–80 | First Division | 42 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 1 | |
1980–81 | First Division | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
1981–82 | First Division | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 0 | |
1982–83 | First Division | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
1983–84 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 340 | 7 | 36 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 50 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 477 | 13 | ||
Sheffield United | 1984–85 | Second Division | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||
1985–86 | Second Division | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
Total | 37 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 45 | 0 | |||
Career total | 377 | 7 | 39 | 0 | 47 | 1 | 50 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 522 | 13 |
International
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
England | 1976 | 8 | 1 |
1977 | 0 | 0 | |
1978 | 2 | 0 | |
1979 | 8 | 0 | |
1980 | 10 | 0 | |
1981 | 3 | 0 | |
1982 | 11 | 0 | |
Total | 42 | 1 |
Honours
As a player
Liverpool[5]
- 1982–83
- FA Cup: 1973–74
- European Cup: 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81
- European Super Cup: 1977
As a manager
Individual
- Premier League Manager of the Month: November 2001,[6] March 2002[7]
References
- ^ "LFC profile". Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ^ "Thompson, Philip Bernard Thompson - Manager". www.bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ Liverpool Echo, 'Thompson is Back on Home Ground' – 18 July 1986
- ^ "There was a real togetherness at Liverpool and that was down to Gérard Houllier". The Guardian. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Liverpool career stats for Phil Thompson – LFChistory – Stats galore for Liverpool FC!".
- ^ "Liverpool duo scoop awards". BBC Sport. 3 December 2001. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
- ^ "Liverpool duo bag award". BBC Sport. 5 April 2002. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
External links
- Official Liverpool FC profile
- 100 Players Who Shook The Kop No. 29 Phil Thompson – liverpoolfc.com
- Phil Thompson – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Phil Thompson – UEFA competition record (archive)
- LFChistory.net profile
- Football heroes Phil Thompson, England part 1 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Football heroes Phil Thompson, England part 2 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Football heroes Phil Thompson, England part 3 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Football heroes Phil Thompson, Liverpool part 1 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Football heroes Phil Thompson, Liverpool part 2 at Sporting-heroes.net
- Football heroes Phil Thompson, England appearances at Sporting-heroes
- Phil Thompson at Englandstats.com