As a player he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa and in the Scottish Premiership with Celtic.

[1] He began his career at his hometown club Newcastle United, progressing through their youth system before signing a professional contract on 11 March 1991.

[citation needed] He scored for Bolton with a spectacular shot from just inside the opponent's box at Wembley in the 1995 League Cup Final in a 2–1 defeat to Liverpool.

[5] Two years earlier, he had been the scorer of their first ever Premier League goal on the opening day of the 1995–96 season in a 3–2 defeat to Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.

[citation needed] Thompson scored the only goal in the 2005 Scottish Cup Final for Celtic against Dundee United to give the outgoing O'Neill his seventh trophy whilst in charge of the club.

[11] Under Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, Thompson fell out of favour and found first team opportunities very limited, often not even securing a place on the substitutes' bench.

[citation needed] On 12 January 2007, Thompson secured a loan move to Championship club Leeds United until the end of 2006–07 in a bid to play first-team football.

[citation needed] Thompson was made acting assistant manager after the departure of Gus Poyet,[15] but returned to his playing role upon the arrival of Dave Bassett.

[citation needed] In January 2008, he joined another League One club, Hartlepool United, on a one-month loan deal,[16] scoring once against Luton Town.

[26] Thompson's cousin David Longstaff is a former British international ice hockey player, whose sons Sean and Matty are footballers developed at Newcastle United.