Former Rangers, St Mirren and Scotland goalkeeper Billy Thomson dies aged 64

Former Rangers, St Mirren and Scotland goalkeeper Billy Thomson has died at the age of 64.

Thomson, who was capped seven times by his country between 1980 and 1983 during his playing days with the Buddies, enjoyed a glittering 22-year career in Scottish football. He made over 280 appearances for the Paisley club before moving on to Dundee United where he played in the 1987 Uefa Cup final defeat to Swedish side IFK Gothenburg.

During the match, he suffered a nasty injury in the early minutes and required five stitches to his left ear before recovering from that setback to produce a “magnificent” performance according to his manager Jim McLean, despite the Tangerines losing 2-1 on aggregate.

He went on to play in consecutive Scottish Cup finals for United, narrowly losing both matches in 1987 and 88. A three-year spell at Motherwell followed before heading to Ibrox as back-up stopper to Andy Goram, making six appearances for the Govan side.

Thomson’s international career saw him mainly play second fiddle to Alan Rough with his final cap coming in the 2-1 loss to East Germany during the Euro 84 qualifiers.

After retiring from professional football at Dundee, Thomson took his first steps into coaching and was appointed goalkeepeing coach at Rangers in 2001 - spending six years working alongside the likes of Stefan Klos and Allan McGregor.

A statement released by Rangers said: All at Rangers Football Club were saddened to learn that former player and goalkeeping coach, Billy Thomson, has passed away at the age of 64. The thoughts of everyone at Rangers are with Billy’s family and friends at this difficult time.”

Tributes have been paid by a number of Thomson’s former clubs and players he coached: