Steven Howard Thompson (born 14 October 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played for Dundee United, Rangers, Cardiff City, Burnley and St Mirren. He was also a Scotland international between 2002 and 2004. Club career Dundee United Born in Paisley, he started his career at Dundee United in 1996 and made his début as a substitute in a league match against Hearts in 1997. With United he won the SFL Youth League in 1997. By season 1998–1999 he had become a regular in the Dundee United team and in October 2002 began talks on a new contract, insisting a week later they were "going well". Amidst speculation that Rangers were interested in signing Thompson, talks resumed in mid-November, only for the move to Rangers to all but be confirmed before the end of the month. Following talks on a new contract broken down, it announced that Dundee United had placed Thompson on a transfer list. Rangers On Boxing Day 2002, Thompson moved to Rangers for £200,000 with Billy Dodds having returned to Tannadice twenty-four hours earlier, though Sky Sports reported the move was completed on 31 December 2002. Thompson scored on his debut in the 3–1 win over Dundee. After suffering knee ligament damage in September 2003, Thompson missed most of the season, undergoing surgery which was successful and returning in March. Later in the 2003–04 season, Thompson would go on to score six goals in the remaining matches, which included a 2–1 loss in an Old Firm game on 28 March 2004. Thompson played in the majority of matches the following season and despite having played in nearly every match of 2005–06, Thompson would score his first Champions League goal, in a 2–2 draw against Petržalka 1898, in Matchday Four, on 1 November 2005. Thompson's goals were usually accompanied by what appeared to be extreme anger as Thompson vented to all and sundry. By the end of December, Thompson was allowed to move to Cardiff City for a fee of £250,000 in January 2006. He was previously linked with a move to SPL rivals Aberdeen. Cardiff City During his first year at Ninian Park, he scored twice on his debut, on 14 January 2006, in a 3–0 win over Burnley. Since his debut, he was a regular first team member and spent the year forming a partnership with fellow striker Michael Chopra. He played a total of