 Thompson playing forMelbourne Victory FC in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Archie Gerald Thompson[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1978-10-23)23 October 1978 (age 47) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ōtorohanga, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lithgow Rangers | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Twin City Wanderers | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | NSWIS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Bathurst '75 | 16 | (9) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1999 | Gippsland Falcons | 43 | (10) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Carlton SC | 53 | (23) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Marconi Stallions | 13 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2005 | Lierse | 90 | (28) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2016 | Melbourne Victory | 224 | (90) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | →PSV (loan) | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Heidelberg United | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Murray United | 38 | (12) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Racing Murcia | 1 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Essendon Royals | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 482 | (179) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2001 | Australia U-23 | 8 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Australia Olympic (O.P.) | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2013 | Australia | 54 | (28) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Archie Gerald Thompson (born 23 October 1978) is an Australian former professionalfootballer who played as aforward. He is also currently serving as a club ambassador forMelbourne Victory FC.[3]
Born in New Zealand, Thompson played youth football at theNew South Wales Institute of Sport before going on to play numerous seasons in theNational Soccer League andA-League. After eleven seasons withMelbourne Victory, he moved on to play forHeidelberg United in 2016. Thompson also played overseas, forBelgian Pro League sideLierse and for DutchEredivisie sidePSV Eindhoven.
Thompson has played over 50 times for theAustralian national team, scoring 28 goals. He was in the squad for the2006 FIFA World Cup, the2001 and2005 FIFA Confederations Cups, the2007 AFC Asian Cup, the2008 Summer Olympics and the successful2004 OFC Nations Cup.
He holds the all time goal scoringrecord for a single international match, where he scored 13 goals in a31–0 victory againstAmerican Samoa in 2001.[4] In that samequalification campaign, Thompson scored 16 goals, which made him the top scorer. As of November 2024, Thompson is Melbourne Victory's all time top goalscorer, with 97 goals in all competitions, and is Melbourne Victory's most capped forward of all time, with 262 appearances in all competitions.[5]
In 2015, preeminent football journalistMichael Cockerill declared Thompson was the "greatest player inA-League history".[6]
Archie Thompson began his career as a teenager withBathurst '75 FC, breaking into the senior squad in 1995. At the close of the 1995 season, he secured a move to theNational Soccer League, signing with theGippsland 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 byCarlton, 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 withMarconi, before ultimately signing with Belgium'sLierse SK. A fan favourite, Thompson scored 9 goals in his first season with theBelgian 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.
Due to his strong form, he was lured back home to play forMelbourne 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 teamPSV Eindhoven on a temporary loan. PSV was then coached byGuus 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. 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 finalMelbourne Victory game againstQueensland Roar, scoring the only goal as the team's acting captain.[7] 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) withAlex Brosque,Bobby Despotovski andStewart 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 toMelbourne Victory for theA-League 2006-07 season.
Resuming withMelbourne Victory in domestic football, Thompson formed a deadly partnership in the second season of theA-League with strike partnerDanny Allsopp, who both benefited from the attacking skills ofBrazilian midfielderFred.
Their quality forward play lead Melbourne to become bothpremiers andchampions of theA-League in 2006–07.
Thompson starred in the2007 A-League Grand Final on 18 February 2007, scoring 5 goals and helpingMelbourne Victory to a 6–0 thrashing of rivalsAdelaide United. In becoming the first player toscore more than 3 goals in an A-League match, Thompson exceeded his own expectations, predicting before the game that he would get ahat trick. For his efforts, Thompson was awarded theJoe Marston Medal as the Man of the Match.
Thompson scored the winner againstRobbie Fowler'sNorth Queensland Fury in the third game of the2009–10 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 the2014–15 A-League and2015 FFA Cup with Victory.[8]
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).[9]
On 12 September 2016, Thompson was appointed as a club ambassador of Melbourne Victory.[3]
On 6 August 2016, Thompson signed a short-term, two-game deal withNational Premier Leagues Victoria teamHeidelberg United.
In something of a homecoming, Thompson signed up for a full season withMurray United FC, based inWodonga, home of his parents, ahead of the 2017National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 season.[10][11] He made his debut for Murray United as a 57th-minute substitute againstMelbourne City FC NPL.
On 20 August 2019, Thompson signed a contract for fifth division Spanish sideRacing Murcia.[12] The club has high ambitions as they aim for promotion toLa Liga, the top division in Spain, within five years.[13] Thompson made his debut on 2 September 2019 coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute againstCD Abarán.[14] In a video documenting the progress of the club uploaded toSBSThe World Game, it was announced that Thompson had left the club and returned home to Australia.[15]
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Thompson made his first international appearance forAustralia on 28 February 2001 in a friendly match againstColombia. He then was included by coachFrank Farina in the squad for the2002 FIFA World Cup qualification matches played in April 2001. On 9 April 2001, he came on as a substitute and scored his first international goal in Australia's first match againstTonga, which Australia easily won 22–0, breaking the world record for the largest win in an international match.[16] Two days later, in the match againstAmerican Samoa, Thompson was named as starter with regular attackers either rested or omitted from the squad. Australia went on to break their own record bywinning 31–0, with Thompson scoring 13 goals, breaking the world record for most goals scored in an international match. American Samoa, who had player eligibility issues, fielded a team with youth players and was not a match to Australia, even though Australia themselves were missing several star players.[4]
A month later, Thompson was named in Australia's squad for the2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. He made two substitute appearances in the tournament as Australia went on to achieve third place at the competition. In total, Thompson made seven international appearances in 2001, scoring an impressive 16 goals. However, after 2001, he was not called up by Farina for more than three years before earning a recall in 2004.
On 12 October 2004, he was recalled to the team and made a substitute appearance in the2004 OFC Nations Cup final, which Australia won. Since then, Thompson was more regularly called up to the national team, although most of his appearances were as a substitute. He was also included in Australia's squad for the2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, appearing in two matches as a substitute. In 2005, Thompson returned to Australia to play forMelbourne Victory in the inauguralA-League season. Despite not playing in Europe, he retained his place in the national team and became the only A-League based player in Australia's squad for thequalification matches againstUruguay for a berth in the2006 FIFA World Cup.[17] Australia eventually qualified for the 2006 World Cup. His good form for Melbourne earned Thompson a place in Australia's squad for the World Cup. He was one of three A-League based players in the squad, even though he spent the run-up to the tournament on loan atPSV Eindhoven.[18] However, he did not receive any playing time in the tournament, as Australia was eliminated in the second round.
In 2007, Thompson was once again included in Australia's squad for a major tournament. This time, Thompson participated in the2007 AFC Asian Cup, appearing as a substitute once, in a match against the eventual winnersIraq. In 2008, Thompson was included in Australia'sunder-23 squad for the2008 Olympics as one of the three over-age players allowed in the team.[19] National coachPim Verbeek described Thompson's performance againstIndonesia in February 2009 as "absolutely hopeless".[20]
Thompson returned to the national team in 2012 and scored in a 3–0 win againstLebanon, his first international goal in 6 years. Three days later, he scored in a 2–1 loss toJordan. His goal scoring form continued as he scored a last-gasp winner in a 2–1 victory overIraq in a must-win2014 World Cup qualifier. Thompson was selected in the squad to take part inEast Asian Cup qualification in Hong Kong, and Thompson was crowned top-goalscorer of the2013 East Asian Cup. On 5 November, he scored againstNorth Korea in a 1–1 draw. Two days later, he scored one of the fastesthat-tricks in history after coming on as a substitute and scoring the three in between the 58th and 65th minutes in a 9–0 win overGuam. This meant that Thompson has scored 28 international goals, one behind the 29 ofDamian Mori and 22 behind the Australian record of 50, held byTim Cahill.
Thompson's 13 goals broke the previous record of 7 goals, which was jointly held by another Australian,Gary Cole, who scored seven goals againstFiji in the1982 World Cup qualification on 14 August 1981,[21] andIranianKarim Bagheri, who also scored seven goals againstMaldives in the1998 World Cup qualification on 2 June 1997.[4][22] Some sources mentioned that the previous record was 10 goals, which was achieved byDenmark'sSophus "Krølben" Nielsen in a 17–1 win againstFrance at the1908 Olympics andGermany'sGottfried Fuchs in a 16–0 win againstRussia at the1912 Olympics.[23] These matches, although fully recognised byFIFA, were played by amateur players. Thompson also equaled the world record for most goals scored in a recognised senior match, set in 1885 whenJohn Petrie scored 13 goals inArbroath's 36–0 win over Bon Accord in aScottish Cup tournament.[citation needed]
Thompson was born inŌtorohanga New Zealand of Scottish descent аndPapua New Guinean mother.[24] He has three brothers and two sisters.[25] He has two children, Isabella and Axel, and bears one tattoo on each of his inner forearms of his children's names.[26]Archie was the official ambassador forFIFA 08 in Australia and New Zealand.[27]
Thompson is a fan of theMelbourne Football Club in theAustralian Football League.[28]
In October 2010, his bookWhat Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger was released by Melbourne University Publishing.[29]
Thompson is currently a pundit forParamount andNetwork 10's coverage of the A-League and a panellist on A-League review showA-Leagues Download.[30][31]
| Club | Division | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Gippsland Falcons | National Soccer League | 1996–97 | 6 | 2 | – | – | 6 | 2 | ||
| 1997–98 | 22 | 4 | – | – | 22 | 4 | ||||
| 1998–99 | 15 | 4 | – | – | 15 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 43 | 10 | – | – | 43 | 10 | ||||
| Carlton SC | National Soccer League | 1998–99 | 10 | 5 | – | – | 10 | 5 | ||
| 1999–2000 | 35 | 12 | – | – | 35 | 12 | ||||
| 2000–01 | 8 | 6 | – | – | 8 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 53 | 23 | – | – | 53 | 23 | ||||
| Marconi Stallions | National Soccer League | 2000–01 | 13 | 6 | – | – | 13 | 6 | ||
| Lierse | Belgian First Division | 2001–02 | 31 | 9 | 3 | 2 | – | 34 | 11 | |
| 2002–03 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2003–04 | 25 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | 27 | 5 | |||
| 2004–05 | 29 | 14 | 4 | 2 | – | 33 | 16 | |||
| Total | 90 | 27 | 9 | 5 | – | 99 | 32 | |||
| PSV Eindhoven | Eredivisie | 2005–06 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| Melbourne Victory | A-League | 2005–06 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 2 | – | 19 | 10 | |
| 2006–07 | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | – | 27 | 17 | |||
| 2007–08 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 7 | ||
| 2008–09 | 19 | 9 | 0 | 0 | – | 19 | 9 | |||
| 2009–10 | 26 | 11 | – | 1 | 0 | 27 | 11 | |||
| 2010–11 | 9 | 4 | – | 6 | 0 | 15 | 4 | |||
| 2011–12 | 27 | 7 | – | 0 | 0 | 27 | 7 | |||
| 2012–13 | 22 | 9 | – | 0 | 0 | 22 | 9 | |||
| 2013–14 | 24 | 9 | – | 5 | 0 | 29 | 9 | |||
| 2014–15 | 26 | 11 | 2 | 1 | – | 28 | 12 | |||
| 2015–16 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 24 | 2 | ||
| Total | 224 | 90 | 15 | 5 | 23 | 2 | 262 | 97 | ||
| Heidelberg United | NPL Victoria | 2016 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| Murray United[33] | NPL Victoria 2 | 2017 | 21 | 7 | – | – | 21 | 7 | ||
| 2018 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 26 | 7 | – | – | 26 | 7 | ||||
| Career total | 453 | 163 | 24 | 10 | 23 | 2 | 500 | 175 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2001 | 7 | 16 |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 8 | 3 | |
| 2006 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 12 | 7 | |
| 2013 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 54 | 28 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 April 2001 | Coffs Harbour International Stadium,Coffs Harbour, Australia |  Tonga | 18–0 | 22–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | [35] |
| 2 | 11 April 2001 | Coffs Harbour International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia |  American Samoa | 2–0 | 31–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | [36] |
| 3 | 8–0 | ||||||
| 4 | 10–0 | ||||||
| 5 | 11–0 | ||||||
| 6 | 12–0 | ||||||
| 7 | 14–0 | ||||||
| 8 | 15–0 | ||||||
| 9 | 16–0 | ||||||
| 10 | 20–0 | ||||||
| 11 | 22–0 | ||||||
| 12 | 23–0 | ||||||
| 13 | 29–0 | ||||||
| 14 | 30–0 | ||||||
| 15 | 16 April 2001 | Coffs Harbour International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia |  Samoa | 7–0 | 11–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | [37] |
| 16 | 9–0 | ||||||
| 17 | 12 October 2004 | Sydney Football Stadium,Sydney, Australia |  Solomon Islands | 4–0 | 6–0 | 2004 OFC Nations Cup | [38] |
| 18 | 3 September 2005 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia | Solomon Islands | 6–0 | 7–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [39] |
| 19 | 6 September 2005 | Lawson Tama Stadium,Honiara, Solomon Islands | Solomon Islands | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [40] |
| 20 | 9 October 2005 | Craven Cottage,London, England |  Jamaica | 2–0 | 5–0 | Friendly | [41] |
| 21 | 22 February 2006 | Bahrain National Stadium,Riffa, Bahrain |  Bahrain | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification | [42] |
| 22 | 6 September 2012 | Tripoli Municipal Stadium,Tripoli, Lebanon |  Lebanon | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | [43] |
| 23 | 11 September 2012 | King Abdullah II Stadium,Amman, Jordan |  Jordan | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | [44] |
| 24 | 16 October 2012 | Grand Hamad Stadium,Doha, Qatar |  Iraq | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | [45] |
| 25 | 5 December 2012 | Hong Kong Stadium,Causeway Bay, Hong Kong |  North Korea | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup | [46] |
| 26 | 7 December 2012 | Hong Kong Stadium, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong |  Guam | 5–0 | 9–0 | 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup | [47] |
| 27 | 6–0 | ||||||
| 28 | 7–0 |
Melbourne Victory
Australia
Individual
Records
Australia squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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