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John Thomson
Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper John Thomson was born in Kirkcaldy and grew up in the mining community of Cardenden in Fife. A member of the Church of Christ, a small Protestant evangelical church, he soon discovered football.
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On
5 September 1931, Celtic were playing their old rivals Rangers at Ibrox Stadium.
Early in the second half Thomson and a Rangers player, Sam English, went for the
ball at the same time. Thomson's head collided with English's knee, fracturing
his skull. Thomson was taken off the field in a stretcher, most people assumed
that he was just badly concussed, but a few people who had seen his injuries
suspected worse. One Rangers player who was also a medical student said later
that as soon as he saw him he gave little chance for his survival. The rest of
the match passed uneventfully and ended in a 0-0 draw. Thomson died in the
Victoria Infirmary later that evening. A huge crowd of Celtic supporters
attended his funeral in Fife, many of them had even walked from Glasgow.