FROM ship-building to sales rep, Jim Thomson's football odyssey was never straightforward!

The working class hero, who would give 13 years of his life to Burnley Football Club, came from a humble background.

And the adventure began out of the blue when a flashy London scout knocked on the door of the family three-storey tenement block in Glasgow.

Jimmy recalled: "I was only 17 and working in the ship building industry when I returned home one night and this guy asked where Jim Thomson lived.

"He said he was a scout from Chelsea and would like to speak to my parents. I went down for a week's trial, where I played one game against Arsenal in the Youth League and manager Tommy Docherty signed me.

"That was it. I was a professional footballer. I'd never been away from Glasgow in my life, so it was a real culture shock but we had relatives in the Woolwich area and they put me up for about six years."

Jim played around 50 games for Chelsea, but it was a constant struggle to hold down a regular place with the likes of Bobby Tambling, John Hollins, Peter Osgood and Ron Harris in the side.

And there was huge disappointment when family tragedy played a part in him missing out on an FA Cup Final appearance

"When Chelsea played Spurs in the 1967 final, the Doc said I would be on the bench," explained Jimmy.

"But the week before the game my father-in-law died and I had to return to Scotland. I got back to London on the Friday before the final, but the manager had decided to play someone else.

"I could understand it to a certain extent as I hadn't trained all week, but it became a double disappointment as we also lost the game 2-1.

"I was playing centre back by this time, but the following season I played in numerous positions and I never played there again until I joined Burnley."

By now, Dave Sexton took over as Chelsea manager and told Jim that another First Division side had made an offer.

"When I found out it was Burnley I said 'yes' straight away," said Jimmy, adding: "Sexton told me to have a chat, but not to sign.

"Chelsea had a League Cup game against Derby County that week and with a possible replay, followed by a Fairs Cup match at Morton and he told me I would be needed for those fixtures.

"But when I met the Burnley manager Harry Potts he was very persuasive and when my wife found out Burnley was halfway between London and Glasgow, she said 'sign immediately!'

Chelsea did draw the Derby game and Dave Sexton phoned to tell me to get back straight away. He wasn't best pleased when I told him I was now a Burnley player!"

Thommo spent 13 eventful years at Turf Moor. He was a very under-rated player and didn't get the headlines or plaudits some of the other players did during that time. Yet he was a model of consistency and a very popular member of the side which won the Second Division championship in 1973.

He was an ever-present, playing all 42 league games, and his relationship with Colin Waldron at the heart of the defence became the bedrock on which the team prospered.

"They were super times," he recalled. "Colin had spent a season down at Chelsea with me so when I moved to Burnley it was an easy transition.

"All the lads used to get on well together both on and off the pitch and we developed a great camaraderie and team spirit.

"Probably one of the reasons was that chairman Bob Lord insisted that the players would live within a few miles of Turf Moor.

"We all looked after each other and it's been no surprise that we keep in touch with each other even now."

At the end of his career a testimonial was intimated, but frustratingly never materialised.

Jim recalled: "I had lined up some attractive opposition - either Manchester United, Manchester City or Notts Forest - but whenever I tried to fix a date Bob Lord put the knockers on it.

"Either the time wasn't right or the pitch needed re-seeding or he made some other excuse - like the fans only have so much money. Eventually I missed out.

"Then I got a phone call from Morecambe. I went there for three months and after one training session I was called into a board meeting on a Thursday night, where they offered me the manager's position.

"I wanted some time to think about it, but they wanted an answer straight away and were waiting to make an announcement. So again I said yes."

Sadly, Jim's management position certainly didn't last as long as Dario Gradi's 20-year reign at Crewe. It ended after two days!

"We played Mossley on the Saturday and lost 1-0 and when we got back to Morecambe I handed in my resignation. I had been notified the previous day that I had got a sales job I'd applied for," explained Jim, who is now sales manager at a local brewery and still lives in the Burnley area with his family.

"I did come back to the Turf for a spell as commercial manager when Brian Miller was manager - and what a disaster that was.

"We had no money so I couldn't order anything we needed for the kitchens or bar areas or even programmes for match days. The final game, the one we had to win to stay in the league, proved to be nerve-racking.

"I was outside the ground with the chairman Frank Teasdale just before kick off and there were around 6,000 fans still milling around. I told him that if we didn't delay the kick off there would be a riot. I spoke to Brian and he thought I was kidding, and then I had words with the referee.

"He told me his hands were tied and couldn't do anything without police authority. I managed to get hold of a police inspector on the telephone and he gave the go-ahead for the game to be delayed for 20 minutes, so I feel we avoided a potentially explosive situation and thankfully, the day ended happily".