Archie Thompson

He made his debut for Murray United as a 57th-minute substitute against Melbourne City FC NPL.

Archie Gerald Thompson (born 23 October 1978) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He is also currently serving as a club ambassador for Melbourne Victory FC.

Born in New Zealand, Thompson played youth football at the New South Wales Institute of Sport before going on to play numerous seasons in the National Soccer League and A-League.

Archie Thompson began his career as a teenager with Bathurst '75 FC, breaking into the senior squad in 1995.

At the close of the 1995 season, he secured a move to the National Soccer League, signing with the Gippsland Falcons midway through the 1996–97 season.

His exceptional pace and skill on the ball were instantly recognisable in a mediocre team, and it wasn't long before he was snapped up by Carlton, becoming a key goalscorer in an attack-minded squad.

The demise of Carlton saw a return to Sydney, where he spent the remainder of the 2000–01 season with Marconi after being signed by mastermind Head of Operations Tony "Bagonk" Trimboli, before ultimately signing with Belgium's Lierse SK.

A fan favourite, Thompson scored 9 goals in his first season with the Belgian First Division club before injury curtailed his progress.

In his fourth season in Belgium, he was the club's leading scorer, with 14 goals in 29 league appearances.

He holds the all time goal scoring record for a single international match, where he scored 13 goals in a 31–0 victory against American Samoa in 2001.

Due to his strong form, he was lured back home to play for Melbourne Victory in 2005 (the inaugural A-League season), scoring the team's first ever regular season goal.

With the A-League season finishing in March and a four-month gap between then and Australia's first World Cup group match, Thompson was approached in late 2005 join Dutch team PSV Eindhoven on a temporary loan.

PSV was then coached by Guus Hiddink, who was also the Australian national team's head coach, and playing for the team would provide Thompson with the match fitness and exposure to help his chances of being selected in the World Cup team.

He was in the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2001 and 2005 FIFA Confederations Cups, the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the successful 2004 OFC Nations Cup.

After negotiations between the Victory and PSV stalled over the financial terms of the deal, Thompson was officially placed on six-month loan to PSV Eindhoven on 13 January 2006.

He played what was thought at the time to be his final Melbourne Victory game against Queensland Roar, scoring the only goal as the team's acting captain.

This goal took his tally to 8 for the season, which made him Melbourne Victory's inaugural Golden Boot winner.

He also tied for the A-League's top goal scorer (the Reebok Golden Boot award) with Alex Brosque, Bobby Despotovski and Stewart Petrie.

Thompson made just two appearances for PSV as a substitute.

He was informed by the club that they would not be signing him to a further deal, and so he returned to Melbourne Victory for the A-League 2006-07 season.

Resuming with Melbourne Victory in domestic football, Thompson formed a deadly partnership in the second season of the A-League with strike partner Danny Allsopp, who both benefited from the attacking skills of Brazilian midfielder Fred.

Their quality forward play lead Melbourne to become both premiers and champions of the A-League in 2006–07.

Thompson starred in the 2007 A-League Grand Final on 18 February 2007, scoring 5 goals and helping Melbourne Victory to a 6–0 thrashing of rivals Adelaide United.

In becoming the first player to score more than 3 goals in an A-League match, Thompson exceeded his own expectations, predicting before the game that he would get a hat trick.

For his efforts, Thompson was awarded the Joe Marston Medal as the Man of the Match.

Thompson scored the winner against Robbie Fowler's North Queensland Fury in the third game of the 2009–10 A-League season.

During the 2009–2010 Hyundai A League grand final between the Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC, Archie was stretchered off after only 12 minutes due to tearing his knee ligaments.

During the post game interview, Archie confirmed that it looks like he will require a full knee reconstruction, resulting in him being out of action for up to 12 months.

Thompson played his first game in the A-League 2010–11 season loss against Gold Coast United, after coming back from a major knee reconstruction.

He went on to win the 2014–15 A-League and 2015 FFA Cup with Victory.

After eleven seasons with Melbourne Victory, he moved on to play for Heidelberg United in 2016.

Thompson also played overseas, for Belgian Pro League side Lierse and for Dutch Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven.

Thompson has played over 50 times for the Australian national team, scoring 28 goals.

On 30 April 2016, Melbourne Victory announced they hadn't renewed Thompson's contract with Thompson departing the club at the end of their 2016 ACL campaign.

Thompson spent 11 seasons with the club, scoring 90 goals, 10 of them in finals matches (both numbers being records at the time of his departure from the club).

On 12 September 2016, Thompson was appointed as a club ambassador of Melbourne Victory.

On 6 August 2016, Thompson signed a short-term, two-game deal with National Premier Leagues Victoria team Heidelberg United.

In something of a homecoming, Thompson signed up for a full season with Murray United FC, based in Albury–Wodonga, home of his parents, ahead of the 2017 National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 season.

On 20 August 2019, Thompson signed a contract for fifth division Spanish side Racing Murcia.