Steven Thompson

Dundee United

Born and raised in Paisley, Thompson started his football career at boys clubs Gleniffer Thistle and Renfrew Waverly. He then joined Dundee United at thirteen years old and waited to join full time at seventeen years old. Thompson was then promoted to the first team by manager Tommy McLean. He made his début as a substitute in a league match against Hearts on 3 May 1997. With the Tangerines, Thompson won the SFL Youth League at the end of the 1996–97 season. Thompson scored on his first appearance of the 1997–98 season, in the return leg of the UEFA Cup against CE Principat, winning 9–0 and saw Dundee United through to the next round. A week later, on 9 August 1997, he scored again, in a 4–2 win against Queen of the South. Following this, Thompson made three more starts for the Tangerines by the end of August. He spent the most of the season out of the first team for most of the 1997–98 season by manager McLean. Despite this, Thompson went on to make twelve appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. By the 1998–1999 season, Thompson had become a regular in the Dundee United team despite facing competitions from Kjell Olofsson and Roger Boli. However, in a match against Hearts, on 16 August 1998, he came on as a 76th-minute substitute for Boli, but was sent–off thirteen minutes later for a foul on Gary Locke, as the match ended in a 0–0 draw. After serving a one match suspension, Thompson returned to the first team, coming on as a 64th-minute…

Following the sacking of Tommy Craig in December 2014, Thompson was named as a favourites by bookmakers to become the next St Mirren manager. He acknowledged the difficulty to turn a down a role of becoming the Saints manager if owner Stewart Gilmour offered it to him. Eventually, teammate Gary Teale was appointed as the new manager of St Mirren. In September 2016, Thompson, once again, ruled out to become a manager of St Mirren. Following his end of his professional football career, Thompson said he would pursuit a career as a media pundit. In November 2016, Thompson became a columnist for Scottish newspaper The Herald. He also became pundit and commentator for Sportscene. In July 2020, Thompson was announced as a presenter for Sportscene. On 20 September 2017, Thompson was inducted into the St Mirren’s Hall of Fame.

Youth career

Having represented the under-19 level, Thompson was called up to the Scotland U19 squad for the 1997 Toulon Tournament. He played two times in the tournament, as Scotland U19 were eliminated in the group stage. Three months later, on 5 September 1997, Thompson made his debut for the Scotland U21, in a 3–0 loss against Belarus U21. In April 1999, Thompson was called up to the Scotland U21 squad for the first time in almost two years. He scored his first goal for the under–21 side, in a 2–1 loss against Germany U21 on 27 April 1999. In a follow–up match, Thompson scored the winning goal, in a 1–0 win against Republic of Ireland U21. Three months later, on 4 September 1999, he scored a brace, in a 5–2 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21. In a follow–up match, Thompson scored in a 4–0 win against Estonia U21. Following this, he played his last appearance for Scotland U21, in a 2–0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 on 5 October 1999.

Senior career

On 18 March 2002, Thompson was called up to the full Scotland squad for the first time. He won his first cap against France, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute, in a 5–0 loss on 27 March 2002. On 17 April 2002, Thompson made his first start a month and played 75 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–1 loss against Nigeria. A month later, on 23 May 2002, he scored his first goal for Scotland, in a 1–0 win against a Hong Kong League XI during the HKSAR Reunification Cup. For the rest of 2002,…

Growing up and raised in Houston, Thompson was a boyhood supporter of Rangers and St. Mirren. He witnessed the Scottish Cup final when the club beat Dundee United to win the tournament. Thompson is married to his wife, Joanna, and together they have two children, Gracie and Struan, who were both born in Wales. They currently resided in Paisley. Outside of football, Thompson is known for doing pranks, impersonations and voices. Teammate Kevin McNaughton said about him: "'I call him [Steven] Dr Jekyll. He is a real Jekyll and Hyde character. Stephen comes across as shy, but if he has a drink he's an absolute animal." In one incident on 23 April 2015, at St Mirren’s Ralson Training Complex, Thompson threw a spiked pole at teammate John McGinn, after losing possession in a training session. The pole went a centimetre into McGinn's leg and tore the muscle, but did not do any long term damage; McGinn missed the remainder of the season due to this injury. Thompson apologised for the incident, describing it as a "prank", and acknowledged his fault. Thompson is a musician and plays the guitar, having taught himself to play the instrument given by his father when he was nineteen and stated it helps him to relax. In May 2008, Thompson penned a song for Cardiff's FA Cup final appearance. His dad, Graham, is also a musician and plays in a Glasgow pub band called Dr. Cook and the Boners. After St Mirren won the Scottish League Cup, Thompson revealed he wrote a song for the club, but…