Bill Thompson (Scottish footballer)
William Gordon Thompson was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League as a wing half for Portsmouth and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. He went on to manage clubs in England and the Netherlands.Life and career
Born in Glasgow, Thompson played for Scottish junior club Carnoustie Panmure before joining Portsmouth. He was a member of Portsmouth's championship-winning team of 1949 and 1950. His only goals for the club came on the last day of the 1949–50 season, playing as an emergency centre-forward. Needing to beat Aston Villa to ensure they stayed ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers on goal average, Thompson scored twice in a 5–1 win. He went on to play in the League for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and in non-league football for Guildford City.
Thompson took over as manager of Guildford City towards the end of the 1955–56 Southern League season, in which they won the title. In May 1957, he was the pick of more than thirty applicants for the post of manager at Third Division South club Exeter City, but lasted only until January 1958, when the club announced his departure by mutual agreement, though Thompson himself said he had been sacked. A few days later, he was appointed manager of Southern League Worcester City, leading them to victory against Liverpool in the 1958–59 FA Cup and remaining in post until 1962.
He went on to coach abroad, including in the Netherlands with Sparta Rotterdam from 1963 to 1966 and HFC Haarlem from 1970 to 1971.
