Alan Thompson ⭑ From A-Z since '92

This is part of my (eight year long, it'll fly by) attempt to write about every Leeds United player since 1992. For more about why I'm doing this, go back to Aapo Halme, then check out all the players featured so far on this page. Or you can keep going below, with a near-hero — if his hamstrings had let him.

Alan Thompson looked like everything when Leeds United were desperately trying to avoid relegation to League One in 2007. A midfield general, with big match and European experience, an England international, willing to move from one of the biggest clubs in the country to lead United out of trouble. He'd known adversity in his teens — as a passenger in a car accident, when the driver fell asleep on the way back to Newcastle from watching a reserve game at Elland Road, Thompson's neck was broken in five places and he didn't play for two years. Maturing into a Premier League winger with Bolton and Aston Villa, Thompson had grown in stature at Celtic, a key part as Martin O'Neill's team won every domestic trophy — several times — and reached the UEFA Cup final. He'd mastered the Old Firm with seven goals in games against Rangers, and three red cards at Ibrox hinted at an aggressive streak perfect for new manager Dennis Wise's stated aim of making his team, "A bit like the Leeds of old; horrible. I want a bit of nastiness and togetherness."

What he looked like, in essence, was Gordon Strachan, Howard Wilkinson's triumphant angel of 1989 who was told by Alex Ferguson that he was over the hill at Old Trafford so should go over the hill, and down to Division Two, to Leeds. At Elland Road Strachan became not only the on-field commander of United's return to European football but, for years afterwards, a talisman longed for from whatever desert Leeds fans found themselves in: if only we had a Strachan, a new Strachan, or the old one miraculously made young again, as if the original miracle of his second youth at Leeds hadn't been enough. There was an omen in 2007 as it was Strachan, now manager of Celtic, sending Thompson south to Yorkshire, ordered by the board to get his wages off their bill.

There was a crucial difference, though. Strachan, 31 years old when he joined Leeds, missed just ten of the team's next 166 league matches. Thompson was 33 and, after being left out of Celtic's side all season, couldn't stay fit. His first two games showed what he could do for United. On his debut, at home to West Brom, he put a free-kick into the top corner of Russell Hoult's Kop end goal to give Leeds hope — albeit forlorn — from 3-1 down. In the next game, ten days later at Hull, he helped Leeds ahead by giving Matt Heath a free-kick to finish, then won the game with another free-kick into another top corner. This was medicine for any team in a relegation fight — a set-piece expert who could turn free-kicks into goals. There was another contribution in a vital game against Burnley, Matt Heath's header putting in Thompson's corner to win all three points at Elland Road.