Kevin Thomson

Kevin Thomson (born 14 October 1984) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player.

Thomson played as a midfielder for Hibernian (three spells), Rangers, Middlesbrough and Dundee and represented Scotland.

He was one of a group of young players who came through their youth team during the early 2000s, also including Steven Whittaker, Derek Riordan, Scott Brown and Garry O'Connor.

Thomson joined Hibernian on 10 August 2001.

Thomson established himself as a regular in the Hibernian first team during the 2003–04 season and played in that season's Scottish League Cup final defeat by Livingston, but he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury during a game against Partick Thistle near the end of that season.

The injury meant that he was out of football for almost a year, and he consequently made only four league appearances in the 2004–05 season.

In the 2005–06 season Thomson made his comeback from his injury, establishing himself as one of Hibernian's most important players.

On 31 August 2006, Premier League club Bolton Wanderers made an offer that was rejected by Hibernian.

Speculation about Thomson's future increased after he (and Scott Brown) appointed Willie McKay as his agent.

McKay demanded that Hibernian offer Brown and Thomson wages commensurate with the transfer fees Hibernian were demanding for the players.

Hibernian would have needed to significantly break their pay scale to offer such wages.

Hibernian refused to meet with McKay to discuss improved contracts, which resulted in Brown submitting a written transfer request.

On 20 December 2006, Charlton Athletic 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 began his career with Hibernian, before joining Rangers in 2007 for a £2m transfer fee.

Thomson was stripped of the captaincy on 2 January 2007 and was replaced by Rob Jones.

Thomson was told by manager John Collins to concentrate on his game because he believed that Thomson's performance levels had dropped since the transfer speculation began.

Thomson signed for Walter Smith's Rangers for a fee of £2 million on 30 January 2007.

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 Smith had been appointed as Rangers manager.

Thomson made his Rangers debut on 11 February in a 3–1 victory over Kilmarnock, although he was substituted at half-time after suffering a hamstring injury.

Thomson established himself as a regular in the Rangers first team.

Thomson was also part of the Rangers side which reached the 2008 UEFA Cup Final.

He scored his first goal for Rangers in a victory against Celtic on 29 March 2008 and he played in the club's run to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final and winning the League Cup and Scottish Cup in his first full season.

Thomson scored his second goal of the 2008–09 season when he scored an equalising goal in injury time against Dundee United at Ibrox Stadium, on 4 November 2008.

In the following league match against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, a 4–0 victory for Rangers was overshadowed by Thomson suffering a serious knee injury.

This injury ruled him out for the rest of the 2008–09 season.

Thomson had surgery to save his career on 31 December 2008.

The surgery was a success and Thomson hoped to be fit for the following season.

Thomson won five major trophies with Rangers, including consecutive Scottish Premier League championships in 2009 and 2010.

Middlesbrough signed Thomson for a fee of £2m in July 2010, but released him in January 2013 after an injury-hit spell.

He signed a long-term contract (until 2010) in March 2006.

Thomson was appointed as club captain by Tony Mowbray after the previous captain Gary Caldwell left the club to join Celtic.

Despite signing a long-term contract with Hibernian, it was still speculated that Thomson would soon leave Hibs.

Thomson then rejoined Hibernian in March 2013, but was released in May 2014 after the club was relegated.

He then signed for Dundee, before joining Hibernian for a third time.

Thomson retired from playing in 2016.

After a stint coaching Rangers youth teams, he managed Kelty Hearts for one season.

Thomson grew up in Peebles, in the Scottish Borders.

His first club was Peebles Rovers, who play in the Eastern Region Youth League.

He then moved on to play for Edinburgh youth side Hutchison Vale before being signed by Coventry City on a four-year contract, but suffered from homesickness and returned to Scotland with Hibernian.