Thomson looking for a Dumfries win on and off the park

Friday 3rd February 2012

Queen of the South meet Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup this weekend and this first meeting between the sides in almost four years will invoke memories of what many rank as The Doonhamers' greatest ever win....REPORTS THE SFL WEBSITE

Back on 12th April, 2008, the Dumfries men saw off Aberdeen 4-3 in a pulsating Scottish Cup Semi-Final to secure their first ever appearance in a National Cup Final and blue and white supporters will quite correctly look back proudly on that game as they look forward to this cup tie.

Such is the changing nature of football these days, only one of the Queens' team from that day remains connected to the club and even then, that is no longer as a player but with two off the field jobs.

The team that day was:-

MacDonald, McCann (Paton 90), Thomson, Aitken, Harris, Burns, Tosh, Macfarlane, McQuilken, O'Connor, Dobbie (Stewart 42). Subs Not Used: Grindlay (GK), O'Neill, Gilmour

and it is centre back Thomson who remains the last link with that team.

Thomson, who gave up playing in 2009 after an 18 year career that saw him give service to Queens twice as well as Clyde, Stenhousemuir and Arbroath, is now building a football based community programme in Dumfries and Galloway as well as teaming up with his wife Victoria to front a new commercial team at Palmerston Park.

Thomson said: “My community work started off when I was still playing and Ian McCall, when he was in charge, asked me to get involved. He asked me to do a schools programme on my Wednesday off and a Friday afternoon and things have grown from there.

“A local charity, The Hollywood Trust, are now funding a programme for three years and they have provided great support financially and other ways. I now work on that up to four times a week at schools in and around the Dumfries and Galloway area, particularly areas that are a bit deprived of social amenities.

“The programme involves a bit about education on a sports related topic which lasts about 15 minutes and then 45 minutes of coaching. The first week I talk about the importance of a healthy diet and what terms like nutrition and carbohydrates mean.”

Thomson added: “The second week is all about making the right choices in life such as sticking in at school and passing exams and we also look to promote activities outside of school.”

A new generation of football players could emerge with Thomson saying: “We promote various things for the children to do and one of those is boys cub football and clubs in Dumfries have had a bit of an influx since then. Doing some ball work during these sessions builds their confidence about taking skills elsewhere.

“Week three deals with issues such as alcohol and drug awareness as well as bullying so I suppose you could say we are addressing what society wants us to address. I have seen bullying at football clubs and I also experienced it when I was at school. The kids love it when I tell them I used to get picked on for having fairly wild curly hair as I have hardly any hair now.”

Thomson explains some of the content further by saying: “The children discuss who they are letting down with their behaviour in terms of themselves, their classmates and team-mates if the bullying is happening within a football team.

“Week four recaps everything that has gone on in the first three weeks and we also leave 600 tickets at the school for children to come along and see the Queen of the South first team in action and the take up on that has been great.”

The community work carried out by Thomson on behalf of the club started out as a reaction however, it is much more on the front foot now with Thomson explaining: “A few years ago, Gretna were very active in their community and started branching out onto our doorstep and the club had to start turning that around. I am pleased to say that we are now a much more community orientated and accessible club.

“I now want to expand our work in High Schools where we have dipped our toe in the water with motivational programmes with children that can be disruptive in the classroom.”

Thomson is asked if ‘that glorious moment’ in the Scottish Cup Final against Rangers helps engage the pupils and he joked: “It helps a million per cent. Who would have thought getting in the way of a superb Bob Harris cross would have had such an impact!”

‘That moment’ of course, was Thomson’s booming header that tied the score at 2-2 after they had been two goals down and his strike had Rangers rocking before the Ibrox grabbed a late winner with Thomson saying: “Of course, scoring a goal in a Cup Final gives you a real head start and I also scored it for a club I knew well. I moved down here when I re-joined them so it was quite a special goal for me.”

The irony of Thomson’s move to Dumfries was that not long after doing that, the club moved their day to day footballing operations to Glasgow Green and he said: “I do not miss playing that much but I do miss the car journeys as they were laugh a minute. We had Steve Tosh, Sean O’Connor and Andy Aitken all travelling up and the spirit at the time of the Cup Final was fantastic.”

The Cup Final goal also puts Thomson one up in the other role he holds down at the club as he explained: “I have taken on the commercial side of things and it helps when people tell me that my goal was one of the best ever moments as a Queen of the South fan and it was certainly the best moment I have ever had.

“I have also brought Victoria on-board as well to help and her poor head is now pickled by Queen of the South as well. She will enjoy me saying that she is the brains of the outfit and I am the face!”

Thomson, who also runs his own Confined Space Training Company, said: “The club had asked me to look at the commercial side of things and it has been a real learning curve for us both. I knew a bit about marketing and Victoria has a degree in it from her college days so we did not go into it blind.

“One thing I would encourage all clubs to do is to pursue money they are due as that is one area that we have seen success in already. Hopefully, we have improved the situation financially at Palmerston and we are now looking at re-vamping things such as season ticket prices, the club lottery, and shirt sponsorship before the end of the season.”

The former centre back said: “The club’s commercial side of things depends on small businesses and any sponsorship is vital so we are really grateful for everyone who has backed us so far.”

One change that the Thomsons have already brought in is to the Hospitality Room at Palmerston and it was done through the assistance of local firms with the now 40-year-old saying: “The place needed revamped but there was a very limited budget to do it so we went and asked local businesses for help in providing materials. Their support was great and actually quite overwhelming and it has turned the Hospitality Area into a much more appealing and welcoming venue.

“That has led to a better atmosphere and you hope that will entice repeat business.”

It is a team effort from the Thomsons with Jim saying: “Victoria and I are the hosts and it is a long day for us as we start at 11.00 in the morning and finish about an hour and a half after the game has finished but I do get to see Queens play. The catering team from Light Bites are invaluable to us on the day and I have to thank them.”

Thomson added: “It all sounds like hard work but I view myself as quite privileged as a lot of people disappear from clubs once they stop playing but I have been really lucky to stay involved.”

It will be Gus MacPherson’s Queen of the South players that face a long day this weekend as they travel up to Pittodrie looking for a second win over the Dons and for Thomson, it is only the second time he has wanted Craig Brown’s side to lose a home game.

Thomson explained: “I grew up in Kilsyth as an Aberdeen fan thanks to Jim Whyte who played with them in the sixties. I was friends with his son and he got me interested in them at the right time.

“My first ever game was a school trip to the Scottish Cup Final in 1982 when the rest of the class supported Rangers and I supported Aberdeen. It was the team with the likes of Jim Leighton, Alex McLeish, Willie Miller and Doug Rougvie and they won 4-1 in extra-time.”

Despite his affection for the Granite City team, Thomson was delighted to beat them in the 2008 Semi-Final saying: “That game was the most memorable one of my career not only because we won it but because we knew we would be going back to Hampden for the Cup Final. The celebrations afterwards, amid the realisation we had made it to a Cup Final, made it a fantastic game.

“We scored and then they would score and as a defender, I kept on hoping that this time we would keep them out. We did the fourth time and it must have been a great game for our supporters and the neutrals but not ironically the Aberdeen fans.”

Thomson enjoyed that April day more than the Cup Final showdown the following month as he said: “In fact, the Cup Final in some ways was an anti-climax as getting there was more memorable. I scored but we got beat 3-2.”

MacPherson’s side are in their best form of the season with a four game unbeaten run behind them and a second shock could be on the cards with Thomson saying: “We have turned the corner a bit and after being short up front due to injuries that were keeping out Marc McCusker and Kevin Smith, it was a good piece of business to bring Sam Parkin in.

“He scored twice on his debut and will do well at Pittodrie in this game. It is always difficult against a SPL side but we have looked stronger at the back recently as well so you never know.”

The other occasion Thomson wanted the Dons to lose came nine years ago when he was in the Queens defence.

Thomson explained: “I played up there in a Scottish Cup replay after a goalless draw at Palmerston not long after Steve Paterson had taken over. We were beaten 4-1 so it was not the best of debuts at Pittodrie.”

Finally, Thomson was asked if he would swap his two new roles at Palmerston to feature against Aberdeen and he joked: “I could hardly run when I was playing every week so there is no chance I could now. I will leave that to Gus and his players.”