| Bob Thompson | |
| Fullname: | Robert Thompson |
| Birth Date: | 27 February 1890 |
| Birth Place: | Bell's Close, Scotswood, England |
| Death Date: | [1] |
| Death Place: | Liverpool, England |
| Position: | Full back |
| Clubs1: | Blaydon |
| Clubs2: | Swalwell |
| Years3: | 19??–1911 |
| Clubs3: | Scotswood |
| Years4: | 1911–1913 |
| Caps4: | 27 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 1913–1921 |
| Caps5: | 83 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 1921–1922 |
| Caps6: | 9 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 1922–1923 |
| Caps7: | 35 |
| Goals7: | 5 |
Robert Thompson (27 February 1890 – 3 July 1958) was an English professional footballer who made 154 appearances in the Football League playing as a full back for Leicester Fosse, Everton, Millwall and Tranmere Rovers. He was a regular in the Everton team that won the 1914–15 Football League title.
Thompson was born in 1890 in Bell's Close, Scotswood, Northumberland. He was a younger son of William Dann Thompson, a cartman, and his wife, Dorothy.[2] [3] The 1911 Census finds him living with his widowed mother and younger brother, still in Bell's Close, and working as a sand extraction labourer.[4]
Thompson played non-league football in the Newcastle area for Blaydon, Swalwell and Scotswood[5] before signing for Football League Second Division club Leicester Fosse in 1911. He made his debut on 16 September in a 4–1 defeat away to Nottingham Forest, and made nine league appearances in the 1911–12 season. He appeared more often in the following season,[2] and attracted the attention of First Division club Everton. He and team-mate George Harrison signed for Everton in April 1913 for a fee of £750 the pair.[6]
Thompson made his first appearance on 4 October 1913 in a 2–0 win at home to Middlesbrough and was almost ever-present for the rest of the season.[5] Having finished 15th in 1913–14, Everton won the 1914–15 Football League title as well as reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup. Thompson played in 33 of the 38 league matches and all 5 cup-ties.[5] He acted as club captain during the First World War, giving way to Tom Fleetwood when competitive football resumed.[7] Injury interfered with Thompson's later career at Everton: he made 17 appearances in the first post-war season but rarely played in 1920–21, new signing Jock McDonald being preferred to partner Dickie Downs at full back, and was listed for transfer.[5] [8]
He signed for Millwall, but made only nine appearances in the Third Division South and returned north at the end of the season to join Tranmere Rovers as captain.[5] [9] He played regularly, making 35 appearances in the Third Division North, and scored his first Football League goal from the penalty spot in a 4–1 defeat to Stalybridge Celtic on 2 September 1922.[5] He retired at the end of the season and took a pub, the Albany Hotel in Kirkdale, Liverpool.[10]
Thompson died in 1958 in Liverpool.