Published: Thursday, 14th May, 2009 10:25am

Wilson and Thomson wave farewell

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Scott Wilson

SCOTT Wilson may struggle with his Australian road maps but the defender"s relishing a new challenge Down Under after waving goodbye to the Pars.

The big defender is leaving after seven years at East End Park and got a rude awakening when he realised just how far his new home is from the airport.

Wilson laughed, 'I didn"t realise how big Australia actually is.

'We fly into Brisbane and when I looked on the map for the distance to Townsville, where we"re going to stay, I thought it"d be maybe an hour and a half but it"s like driving from here to Paris!

'However I"m going to be see parts of the world I thought I"d never see so it should be good.'

Wilson has played around 250 games for the Pars since signing in August 2002 but said it"s the right time to go.

He said, 'The financial stuff at the club has probably restricted the gaffer"s choices and I wouldn"t wish his job for anything.

'It"s difficult enough as it is but next season will be really tough and that"s why they"ve taken action.

'You never know though, Hamilton got promoted on a shoestring budget.'

Injury prevented the club captain leading Pars out one last time at East End Park on Saturday but there"ll be at least one Wilson there after the summer.

'There"s no swansong but I"ll be up to Legends to say cheerio to everyone as I"ve had seven great years here,' he said. 'My dad"s loved coming here to watch me too, in fact he"s enjoyed it so much he"s going to come next season too. It just shows you how good the fans have been that he"s going to continue doing that.'

Reflecting on his Pars career, Wilson said, 'There"s been a lot of highs and lows.

'Since we"ve been down in the first division, that"s been really hard going and I think the semi final with Falkirk was one of the lowest moments as, after doing so well to get there and having a great chance, we didn"t turn up. Getting relegated was bad too. The bus trip back from Inverness was horrible. There"s been a lot of highs though. Getting to cup finals, although we got beat, being involved was brilliant.'

Although he"s 32, you won"t get Wilson wishing he was just starting out in football.

'In a way I"m glad to be coming to the end of my career as it"s very difficult now,' he admitted.

'There"s not the same amount of cash and although people say footballers get paid too much, it"s a very short career.

'Outwith the Old Firm, the majority of players are doing a job they love but they"re not getting well paid for it.

'It"s a business and if it"s not making money then the pay and rewards aren"t going to be as good as they used to be.'

Scott Thomson has no hard feelings about leaving the club after 11 years and said it was an 'honour' to lead the Pars.

The 37-year-old faces a summer of waiting for the phone to ring after boss Jim McIntyre told him he wouldn"t be offered another contract.

Ex-skipper Thomson, who has played in more than 300 games for Dunfermline since joining in 1998, said, 'Being captain of this club for five years was a major honour for me and I loved every minute of it.

'It"s unbelievable how much the club has changed since I joined. There"s only really Greg Shields, who left and came back, and people like Mo Hutton and Joe Nelson from that time. I was just talking to Scott Wilson earlier too and we were saying that"s 18 years at this club between us. It"ll be sad not to see people like that every day.'

Winger Kevin Harper, back-up keeper Callum Reidford and under-19s defender Stuart Dearden were also told they can go.

'I thought I"d maybe done enough to get offered a deal,' Thomson said. 'With Scott Wilson away to Australia, most of the boys thought I"d get a year but money"s really tight and the gaffer said he couldn"t afford to keep me.

'The club"s trying to get back up to the SPL but I don"t think they"ve got the money as they"d banked on going up in the last couple of years and the parachute money is away.'

He continued, 'That"s football. I"ve had 11 great years at the club so I"m not bitter about it in any way.

'I"ve played 60-odd games in the last two seasons and I still want to play on but I understand where Dunfermline and the gaffer are coming from.'

Thomson said he"s not ready to wind down his career and said he"ll look to two 40-something ex-team-mates for inspiration.

'I don"t know if I"ll last as long as Andy Millen and Craig Brewster, both of whom I"ve played with, but I made 28 starts and came on as sub seven times this season and I don"t think I let anyone down or made a fool of myself,' Thomson reasoned. 'As long as I"m fit and able I"ll keep going.'

He"s unsure of his next move but with old pal Stevie Crawford at East Fife, who are short of a centre half, and Raith Rovers strengthening after promotion could he be playing close to home after the summer?

'No-one knows,' he shrugged. 'I"ll just have to weigh up my options.

'My agent, Blair Morgan, has been in touch and a few clubs have been in touch with him.

'He says I"ve had a good season, with a good run of games so he thinks I"ll get an offer or two.

'It"s just a case of waiting by the phone to see what happens.'

With over a decade of memories to look back on with the Pars, Thomson picked out the win over Aberdeen as this season"s high point while last year"s testimonial against Manchester United was an obvious stand-out.

'That was brilliant,' he recalled. 'I loved that as all my family were down and it"s hard to get them all in one place at the same time!

'There"s lots of highlights really, you"ll need a whole page.

'Finishing fourth in the SPL and challenging with Hearts to be the third best in Scotland were good times.

'I had chances to leave around that time, when Jimmy Calderwood left, but I thought at the time we were, along with Hearts, the third best at that time and I saw no reason to leave.'

Thomson wasn"t able to play against Clyde in the last game of the season but said, 'I"ll definitely be going into Legends to say cheerio and when football finishes I"ll always look forward to going back to East End Park as it"s been a big part of my life.'