Thomson enjoyed good form at club level, being well remembered particularly for UEFA Cup saves from AS Saint-Étienne's Johnny Rep and Laurent Roussey.
[3][5] Thomson signed for Jim McLean at Dundee United in 1984 and spent the first season as cover for Hamish McAlpine.
In the final against Göteborg, Thomson was injured after five minutes of the first leg diving at the feet of Lennart Nilsson and needed five stitches for a blow just behind his left ear.
[6][7] Thomson also played in two consecutive Scottish Cup Finals for United in 1987 and 1988, though both resulted in narrow defeats (the first to former club St Mirren).
[5] In the 1987 semi-final 3–2 win against Dundee, Thomson pulled off numerous saves in a display described in The Guardian as "fantastic".
[citation needed] Thomson eventually lost his place to Alan Main who played in goals in the 1991 Scottish Cup Final 4–3 defeat to Motherwell.
[6] Thomson left Dundee United for Motherwell in 1991 for a £50,000 fee,[5][8] spending three years with the Steelmen in which he replaced Ally Maxwell but then lost his place to Sieb Dijkstra.
Aged 36, he moved to Rangers where the experienced keeper spent two years as backup to Andy Goram.
His next two caps were also against Northern Ireland (the middle of the three was a 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifier and not the Home Internationals).
Thomson didn't make the squad for the finals, with Jock Stein selecting Rough, George Wood and a then uncapped Jim Leighton.
His seventh and last cap was in another dead rubber when Scotland finished their poor UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying campaign.