Kevin Thomson

Kevin Thomson (born October 14, 1984 in Edinburgh) is a Scotland football (soccer) who plays for Scottish Premier League side . Thomson grew up in Peebles, in the Scottish Borders. He is related to former striker Steve MacLean (footballer).

Club career

Hibernian

Thomson's first club was Peebles Thistle, who play in the Eastern Region Youth League. He then moved on to play for Edinburgh side Hutchison Vale before being signed by . Whilst with Hibs he was part of a very promising group of young players who came through their youth team during the early 2000s. Players included current Rangers teammate Steven Whittaker, also Derek Riordan, Scott Brown (Scottish footballer) and Garry O'Connor. Thomson established himself as a regular in the Hibs first team during the 2003-04 in Scottish football and played in that season's Scottish League Cup 2003-04 final defeat by . He suffered a serious Anterior cruciate ligament injury during a game against at the end of the 2003-04 in Scottish football. This injury meant that he was out of football for almost a year, and he consequently made only four league appearances in the 2004-05 in Scottish football.

In the 2005-06 in Scottish football Thomson made an impressive comeback from his injury, establishing himself as one of Hibernian's most important players. He signed a long term contract (until 2010) in March 2006. Thomson was then appointed as club captain (football) by Tony Mowbray after the previous captain Gary Caldwell left the club to join . Despite signing a long term contract with Hibs, it was still speculated that Thomson would soon leave Hibs. On August 31 2006 (transfer deadline day), FA Premier League club made an offer that was rejected by Hibernian.

Speculation about Thomson's future increased after he (and Scott Brown (Scottish footballer)) appointed Willie McKay as his agent. McKay demanded that Hibs offer Brown and Thomson wages commensurate with the transfer fees Hibs were demanding for the players. Hibs would have needed to significantly break their pay scale in order to offer such wages. Hibs refused to meet with McKay to discuss improved contracts, which resulted in Brown submitting a written transfer request.

On 20 December 2006, made a joint offer for Brown and Thomson, which was rejected by Hibernian. This sparked a further round of speculation, as Brown and Thomson demanded to know why they had not been informed of the offer before it was rejected. Thomson was stripped of the captaincy on 2 January 2007 and was replaced by Rob Jones (footballer born 1979). Thomson was told by manager John Collins (footballer) to concentrate on his game because he believed that Thomson's performance levels had dropped since the transfer speculation began.

Rangers

On 30 January 2007, Thomson signed for Walter Smith (footballer)'s for a fee of Pound sterling2 million. Less than two months earlier, Smith had been critical of Thomson's behaviour, calling on him to show more "responsibility", although this was a month before he was re-appointed as Rangers manager. Thomson made his Rangers debut on 11 February in a 3–1 victory over , although he was substituted at half-time after suffering a hamstring injury.

Thomson has established himself as a regular in the Rangers first team. He scored his first goal for Rangers against in an Old Firm match on March 29 2008 and he played in an important part in their run to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. Thomson also has a perfect record in Old Firm matches, Rangers winning all 5 games against Celtic in which Thomson has played in since he signed for the club. He scored his second goal for Rangers in their 2–1 defeat to FBK Kaunas in the UEFA Champions League 2008–09 Second qualifying round on August 5 2008.

International career

Thomson made his debut appearance for Scotland national football team in a goalless draw against Northern Ireland national football team on August 20 2008.

Honours

With Rangers F.C.