Harry Thomson

Date and Place of Birth 25th August 1940 - LOANHEAD, EDINBURGH died 14th March 2013   Transfers to and from Burnley from BO'NESS UNITED - August 1959 released - May 1969   First and Last Burnley Games LEICESTER CITY (a) - 20th March 1965   SUNDERLAND (h) - 23rd April 1969   Other Clubs ---------------------------------------- BLACKPOOL, BARROW

Burnley Career Stats

Profile by Tony Scholes

For some he could walk on water and he was once described as a God in a green jersey, but for me it took some time before I was prepared to accept Harry Thomson as first team goalkeeper.

When he finally won his place in the side at the age of 24, he took the place of my hero Adam Blacklaw which at the time I felt was wrong, but his performances soon ensured we'd got another favourite between the posts.

I wonder what fans of today would think if we gave the first team goalkeeper's position to someone standing at least three inches short of six foot, but that was as tall as Harry was.

He had a long wait to get into the first team after joining Burnley in 1959. The Edinburgh born goalkeeper had been playing his football for Shotts FC and Bo'ness United and full time was employed as a pit worker.

He joined the Burnley staff on his 19th birthday and eventually made it to the reserves where he had to compete with the likes of Jim Furnell and Colin McDonald, the latter recovering from injury. When McDonald retired, and Furnell moved on, the place was his permanently and now there was just the small matter of displacing Blacklaw.

He won medals with the reserves, two Central League titles and the Lancashire Senior Cup, but the position he craved finally came in March 1965 when he came into the first team for Blacklaw in a First Division game at Leicester.

We won the game 2-0, with goals from Ralph Coates and Willie Irvine, but Thomson made a name for himself giving away and then saving a penalty. Penalty saves became something of a trademark for him and he saved on in what proved to be the biggest game of his Burnley career almost two years later.

Thomson retained his place for the remainder of the 1964/65 season and was in place at the beginning of the next season when Burnley were once again one of the best teams in the country.

Apart from one game, a big home defeat to Blackburn, he was doing well but in October a broken hand cost him his place with Blacklaw returning. Thomson played only twice more that season with Blacklaw again established as first choice.

It had been the best season for four years and, with the change of rules, earned Burnley a place in Europe in the Fairs Cup. For the first half of that season it was no more than a watching brief for him whilst Blacklaw continued to play well.

Then, at Christmas, Blacklaw had something of a nightmare at Stoke and Thomson was recalled. Blacklaw didn't play again for Burnley but was a central figure a couple of months later in Southern Italy when he came to Thomson's rescue.

When any mention is made of Harry Thomson it is absolutely certain to make reference to our Fairs Cup tie against Napoli. We'd beaten them 3-0 in the first leg at home and turned in a remarkable performance there in holding them 0-0.

The star was undoubtedly Thomson. He had the game of his life and capped it with yet another penalty save, this time from the brilliant Brazilian Jose Altafini, a goalscoring record holder to this day in Italian football.

In the Daily Express he was referred to as a 'God in a Green Jersey', once translated to 'Cod in a Green Jersey' in a Burnley match day programme.

It had been a stunning performance but did he wind up the home players with his gesturing towards the end of the game? We might never know but there were shocking scenes at the end with Blacklaw having to come to Thomson's rescue as things turned really nasty.

Thomson, and Burnley, survived their own Battle of Naples, we did not see it and die, but came home as heroes with Thomson, incredibly, saving another penalty three days later, this time from Ray Charnley in a 2-0 win at Blackpool.

Such was his form that he received a call up for Scotland but he was never to win a full cap although he did play for a Scotland XI against Israel in Tel Aviv.

He remained Burnley goalkeeper until the end of the 1968/69 season, although he did miss a few games with Rodney Jones deputising, with Thomson dropped for disciplinary reasons. He fell foul of Bob Lord once too often in the summer of 1969 and was promptly sacked.

At that point he signed for Blackpool where he enjoyed two years, helping the Seasiders to promotion back to the First Division in his first season, although they were immediately relegated again along with Burnley in 1971.

Again, disciplinary reasons saw his departure and he had just one more season with Barrow in 1971/72 before retiring from the game.

There is absolutely no doubt that Harry Thomson will be remembered fondly by Burnley supporters of the 1960s. He became a real cult figure for a time at Turf Moor when fans really did let him know that he could walk on water. Knowing Harry, he might well have even tried.

Me? I finally forgave him for taking my hero's place and thoroughly enjoyed watching Burnley's penalty saver supreme.

On 14th March 2013, Harry Thomson sadly passed away after a fight of several months against throat cancer. He was aged 72.

Links

Goalkeeper Harry Thomson passes away (15/03/13)