Philip 'Phil' Bernard Thompson (Liverpool, 21 January 1954) was a defender in the dominant Liverpool team of the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, he also represented the England national football team on 42 occasions. After retiring as a player, he later served Liverpool as a coach, and during the 2001/02 season, acted as manager for 6 months while manager Gerard Houllier was ill. He is currently one of the pundits on Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports.
Thompson was a Liverpool supporter who stood on The Kop as a boy. His dreams came true when he signed as a professional for the club on 22 January 1971, the day after his 17th birthday, and made his first team debut the following year against rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford. With the Reds 2-0 up in the 81st minute Shankly took off striker John Toshack replacing him with the 18 year-old defender. The move was intended to tighten up the defence and keep a clean-sheet, but 3 minutes later Emlyn Hughes popped up with a third for Liverpool, with the game ending this way. In 1973 Liverpool won a double haul of trophies - the League championship and UEFA Cup and Thompson played a limited but important role in both successes earning a league and UEFA Cup medals in the process. By the next season, his form had displaced Larry Lloyd from the side altogether and pushed Tommy Smith across to full back, and he settled into a strong defensive partnership with club captain Hughes.
Thompson man-marked Malcolm Macdonald out of the game as Liverpool comprehensively beat Newcastle United 3-0 in the 1974 FA Cup final, this after MacDonald had boasted what he was going to do to the Reds in the game. He remained an integral part of the team which, again, won the League and UEFA Cup double in 1976.
Thompson was accompanied by a new central defensive partner in Alan Hansen as Liverpool regained the title in 1979. When Hughes left the club for Wolves late in 1979, Thompson was appointed as captain and gleefully lifted the League trophy again in 1980. He continued to play frequently for England and was in the squad which qualified for a major tournament's finals for the first time in a decade, though England's performances at the 1980 European Championships in Italy were disappointing.
Thompson's proudest moment as Liverpool skipper came in 1981 when he lifted the European Cup after a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Paris final - the club's third success in the competition. Thompson also stepped up to receive the League Cup after a replay win against West Ham United, the club's first of four consecutive successes in the competition.
Liverpool manager Bob Paisley upset Thompson the following season when he decided to hand the captaincy to Graeme Souness (who himself became an Anfield legend), though Thompson continued to play regularly in defence, winning further title medals in 1982 and 1983. He was in the team which retained the League Cup in 1982 but missed the victory in the 1983 final due to injury.
From 1984, Thompson's opportunities as a Liverpool player were diminishing, with Hansen now being more regularly partnered at the back by the younger Mark Lawrenson. Liverpool won the title, League Cup and European Cup in this year, but Thompson did not qualify for a medal in any of these successes.
He was with the club in this role for four years, progressing to being Dalglish's right-hand man as the team (still containing, and now captained by, Hansen) won the League in 1988 and 1990 and the FA Cup in 1989. Thompson was working at the club at the time of the Hillsborough disaster, on 15 April 1989 at the beginning of the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest. The tragedy claimed 94 lives on the day, with the final death toll reaching 96. An abiding image of Thompson the coach came in the 1989 FA Cup final against Merseyside rivals Everton when a last minute chance for Everton to equalise went awry, and the camera caught Thompson, sweating in his suit and tie, sitting on the Wembley bench while shaking his fists in relief, delight and anticipation. Sadly for him, Everton did equalise moments later and forced extra-time, though Liverpool did eventually win.
When Souness, the man who replaced Thompson as captain, came back to the club as Dalglish's replacement in early 1991, Thompson was kept on. Thompson was sacked by Souness in 1992 for allegedly talking to Manchester United's Alex Ferguson and his assistant about issues at the club involving Souness. Word had got back to Souness via his connections at Rangers. It was agreed by both the club and Thompson that details of what happened would not be disclosed.
Thompson claimed in his book that Souness believed Thompson was interested in his job as manager while Souness recovered from bypass surgery in the spring of 1992.
He earned a living through speaking and punditry until Gérard Houllier became Liverpool manager in 1998 and, needing a bonafide Liverpool man by his side following the departure of Roy Evans, asked Thompson to return to his old role, which Thompson accepted with some delight. This second stint was eventful - a spat between Thompson and striker Robbie Fowler led to the sale of the popular centre forward to Leeds United; and Thompson spent several months in sole charge of the team (with some success) when Houllier underwent emergency heart surgery.
During his time as assistant manager of Liverpool the Reds returned to winning ways as they completed a unique 'treble' of UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup in 2001.
When Houllier was relieved of his duties in 2004, Thompson also left the club. He is now back on the punditry circuit, regularly working for Sky Sports. Phil Thompson recently turned down the opportunity to become an ambassador for Liverpool Football Club for personal reasons, reports suggesting he still remained bitter following his departure in 2004. Thompson recently claimed during Liverpool's Uefa Champions League clash with ACF Fiorentina that the Italian club was "at the same level as West Ham United", subsequently eating his words as Liverpool received a 2-0 defeat to the Italian hosts.
