The Real Bobby Dazzler: The Bobby Thomson Story

Author: Simon Goodyear

The Real Bobby Dazzler: The Bobby Thomson Story

This is a story of a typical Scottish lad who, from an early age, excelled in every sport and was born a winner. His football talent shone through at the age of nine, and by the time he was 15 he was spotted by Division One champions Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he eventually spent four long and hard years under the watchful eye of Stan Cullis. Although Cullis thought he had the raw talent to become a great player and saw him as the successor to the great Billy Wright, he only played twice for the first team and was sold to Aston Villa in 1959. Thomson would quickly make his name in that great Villa side and was an integral part of Mercer’s Minors. After four years at Villa Park, he moved across the city to St Andrew's where he would meet up again with the enigmatic Stan Cullis. For the second time in his career, Bobby not surprisingly fell out with his manager and his career moved downwards to Stockport County and eventually had a few successful years in the non-League scene. Bobby eventually retired from the game in the early 1970s, but he amazingly continued to play in charity matches for Aston Villa Old Stars until the age of 72.
Throughout his life, Bobby has always been ‘Mr Popular’ or ‘Mr Fix-it’, especially with the ladies, but he never really understood why. He will call himself 'shy and retiring', but his stories may tell another side to this loveable character. He is most definitely a ‘one off’ in more ways than one, but Bobby can't explain why everyone flocked round him everywhere he went during the hey-day of the 1960s. Even now, people from all generations can’t get enough of his stories from days gone by about his times with the likes of George Best, Mike Summerbee, Bobby Moore, Johnny Prescott and Paddy Crerand, who travelled miles just to be in the company of Bobby Thomson.
Bobby always enjoyed his drink, but very often it caused more harm than good, and in 2002 he took a friend's advice and started the long road to sobriety by joining Alcoholics Anonymous. After losing his way a few times, he eventually gave up the booze a couple of years later and has never looked back since.
Thomson gives an untold behind-the-scenes insight into his public and private life which touches every raw emotion you can think of. In this compelling book he talks about his hard upbringing in Scotland, the many fights he had with some of his managers and teammates, several near-death experiences, the famous ‘sex and booze’ scandal which was revealed in a Sunday newspaper in 1967 and also touches on his own battle with the booze. It also paints Bobby in another light as he has, for many years, raised thousands of pounds for several charities and is always the first to help out others. This is the real Bobby Thomson – The Real Bobby Dazzler in his own words. Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a rollercoaster of a ride.