Alan Thompson

Thompson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. He began his career at his hometown club Newcastle United, progressing through their youth system before signing a professional contract on 11 March 1991. Thompson's contract expired in summer 1993, and after rejecting the offer of a new contract with Newcastle, he signed for Bolton Wanderers in July 1993, with the two clubs later agreeing a £250,000 compensation fee for the transfer. He scored for Bolton with a spectacular shot from just inside the opponent's box at Wembley in the 1995 League Cup Final in a 2–1 defeat to Liverpool. Thompson was integral to the Bolton Wanderers team that gained promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs in 1995. After Bolton were relegated in their inaugural Premier League season, he helped them to return as First Division Champions in 1997, the club's final season at Burnden Park. He also scored the first ever competitive goal at the Reebok Stadium in a match against Tottenham Hotspur. Two years earlier, he had been the scorer of their first ever Premier League goal on the opening day of the 1995–96 season in a 3–2 defeat to Wimbledon at Selhurst Park. Thompson moved to Aston Villa in June 1998 for a £4.5 million fee, agreeing a five-year contract with the club. Thompson moved to Celtic in 2000 for £2.75 million during manager Martin O'Neill's first season at the club. He was an integral part of the Celtic team that reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final where Celtic lost 3–2 in extra…

Thompson played for England U18s at the UEFA U18 Euros in 1992. England finished fourth. Thompson then played every match for England U19 at the FIFA U19 World Cup in 1993. England won the bronze medal. Thompson was also capped by England at under-21 and B levels, before earning one cap for the senior team, when he was picked by Sven-Göran Eriksson for a friendly against Sweden in 2004. As a result, he became the first Celtic player to have won an England international cap whilst playing his club football for the Glasgow club.

On 16 July 2008, Thompson was appointed new academy coach at Newcastle United. It was his former boss Kevin Keegan that handed him the role of looking after the club's young talents. He was the club's reserve-team coach for the 2009–10 season. On 4 June 2010, Thompson left Newcastle by mutual consent and on 17 June 2010 he was announced as the new first-team coach at Celtic, working under his former teammate Neil Lennon. Thompson was dismissed from his role at Celtic on 3 June 2012. He was appointed development squad coach at Championship club Birmingham City in June 2014, but when manager Lee Clark and assistant Steve Watson were dismissed in October, Thompson left the club by mutual consent a few days later. After a spell as first-team coach with Clark during his time at Blackpool, the pair re-united again in February 2017 with Thompson becoming Clark's assistant at Bury. On 30 October 2017, Thompson was dismissed as assistant manager at Bury.

Thompson's cousin David Longstaff is a former British international ice hockey player, whose sons Sean and Matty are footballers developed at Newcastle United.