The Wee Man : Billy Thompson Stands Tall on Soccer Field as Sparkplug Star Midfielder for L. A. Heat

You can spot the Wee Man on the soccer field at West Torrance High School’s Warrior Stadium--but don’t go looking under toadstools or four-leaf clovers.

Just look for No. 3 in the red-and-white Los Angeles Heat jersey. You won’t find a leprechaun--just Billy (The Wee Man) Thompson, the Heat’s star midfielder, who is leading a charmed life.

At 5-foot-5 and 135 pounds, Thompson isn’t cut in the classic mold of an attacking midfielder. But this season Thompson--the Western Soccer Assn.’s leading scorer and also its smallest--has punched in four goals and logged two assists, and that’s no wee achievement.

Despite his height, Thompson is a hard man to miss. He buzzes around the ball, and his dynamic play has helped the Heat (4-3) into playoff contention in the WSA--and earned himself his sobriquet.

Heat Coach John Britton explained the nickname: “It’s a Scottish tradition--in all of Britain, actually--to call any little player that’s got great spirit and determination the Wee Man. It’s quite complimentary.”

Britton, an expatriate Scot who came to the Heat via El Camino College and Cal State Dominguez Hills, had other praise for Thompson.

Words like jinky and dipsy-doodle or nippy little player .

What those accolades mount up to is that few teams in the league have found a secret for marking the 20-year-old Thompson, whose 10 points lead all WSA scorers (Mario Gonzales of the San Diego Nomads trails Thompson with 8). As a sophomore forward last fall, Thompson was UCLA’s highest scorer with 21 points.

“Billy’s in perpetual motion,” Britton said. “That’s why he’s impossible to stop. He’s a human dynamo. He is frightened of nobody.”

He’ll need that fearless attitude tonight at 7:30 when the third-place Heat meets the San Jose Earthquakes at Warrior Stadium. The Heat has never beaten San Jose.

But this year the Heat impact players are Thompson, Jeff Hooker, Ray Fernandez and Will Steadman, all from the UCLA team that reached the NCAA Final Eight last year.

And the addition of forward and assistant coach Justin Fashanu, a veteran of the English First Division, has given the Heat a striker of international caliber--and an injection of field discipline and leadership.

“There’s no question that the presence of Fashanu up front has made other teams key on him,” Britton said. “That gives Billy more space to operate.”

And more room to showcase his talents. In a preseason exhibition against the U.S. national team, Thompson cut loose with a dazzling display of defense and play-making. The Heat dominated and won 2-0 over an experienced team that is basically the squad that has qualified for the Olympic Games in Seoul.

That team will make the trip without Thompson, however. Although he played for the national team on tours of Texas and Florida, Thompson was passed over this year when the squad made its West Coast swing.

Thompson wouldn’t exactly call his performance against the national team a vendetta, but he admitted he was eager to have a strong showing. He set up the Heat’s first goal when fouled by a fullback on a one-on-one breakaway in the box. Fashanu drilled home the penalty kick.

“I guess I just wanted to show the national team what they gave up,” Thompson said. “I wanted to show them that even though I wasn’t playing for them, maybe I should have been.”

Britton also thought Thompson should have been kept on the Olympic team.

“Against the national team he was probably the best man in the park,” Britton said. “The American coaches must be blind. I thought the way he played should have earned him another chance with the national team. But I don’t want to slag them off too much because we’re all compatriots.”

Thompson has that same attitude. He’ll rejoin the national team Tuesday for a match against Costa Rica in the Proctor and Gamble Games. Then he’ll hook up again with the Heat for its home match June 18 against the second-place F. C. Seattle Storm.

The Heat will need punch out of Thompson from midfield against San Jose and Seattle to keep intact its unblemished record at Warrior Stadium. With two first-class forwards in Fashanu and Hooker, the Heat has relished Thompson’s long shots:

* Thompson scored his first goal at San Diego. Fashanu had intercepted a cross pass and dropped the ball back to the top of the box. Thompson volleyed it into the corner past the frozen Nomad goalkeeper to give the Heat its 2-1 winning margin.

* Thompson burned his old UCLA teammate, goalkeeper Anton Nistl, at Tom Bradley Stadium in Van Nuys against the California Kickers. Pressure from the Heat’s forwards had forced a bad pass from a defender. Thompson corraled the ball, tapped it once, then launched a low rocket past Nistl for the Heat’s first score.

* Thompson struck from long range a week later against the Vancouver 86ers of the professional Canadian Soccer League. With the score 1-1 with 10 minutes left, Thompson took the ball at midfield, turned it up-field and spotted Fashanu open in the middle. But then he smashed a low volley from far out into the goal past the keeper, who had anticipated a cross to Fashanu. The Heat won, 2-1.

* Two weeks ago, the Heat was deadlocked 1-1 with F. C. Portland in the second half. After a corner kick, Thompson lurked at the far post until Fernandez connected with him for a quick cross. Thompson volleyed it on contact, skipping the ball on one hop past the post into the goal. The Heat went on to a 4-1 rout.

“One of the criticisms of American players in the past has been that they don’t shoot enough,” Thompson said. “So now I’m cracking the ball every chance I get.”

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Thompson’s ability to score is that he does it against consistently bigger opponents. But he doesn’t cringe.

“I’d actually rather go up against a bigger guy, because then I can use my quickness and speed. When two big men tangle, the stronger one will win. But I’ve got to go into tackles. I can’t let the other guy have it.”

Thompson, who starred for two years at St. Francis High in Mountain View, said he’d like a future in soccer in an American pro outdoor league if one develops or in the Major Indoor Soccer League. Until then, he’ll finish his final two years at UCLA, play for the Heat and make cameo appearances for the national team.

It was during a regional camp for the national team in 1986 that Thompson was branded with the Wee Man tag. Billy McNichol, a former Scottish player and an evaluator at the camp, slapped Thompson with the moniker. After three weeks, the nickname stuck and UCLA Coach Ziggy Schmidt took it back from camp with him.

Thompson said he doesn’t mind.

“I guess it’s all right since I’m usually the shortest guy in the park.”

Regardless of height, the other players on the Heat respond to Thompson’s gung-ho performance. They also get a kick out of The Wee Man’s big-league goals, even if they’re made with Lilliputian-sized shoes.

When Heat General Manager Mike Hogue ordered soccer cleats from Puma for the team before the season, he specified the smallest available--size 5--for Thompson. Hogue was surprised when Thompson wouldn’t wear them.

“They were too big,” Hogue said. “So we had to order Puma’s largest children’s shoe for Billy. And that’s what he wears.”

Britton doesn’t care what shoe size Thompson wears.

“Sure, he’s got little shoes,” Britton said. “But it’s not his feet that count. It’s his heart.”