The move was intended to tighten up the defence and keep a clean-sheet, but three minutes later, Emlyn Hughes popped up with a goal for Liverpool, with the game ending this way.

The next season led to him displacing Larry Lloyd from the side altogether and pushed Tommy Smith across to full back, and he settled into a defensive partnership with club captain Hughes.

1976 was also the year in which he was called up to play for England for the first time, his debut coming on 24 March in a 2–1 win over Wales in a friendly at the Racecourse Ground at Wrexham.

Thompson recovered from his injury and returned to the defence the following season, scoring a goal in Liverpool's victory over Kevin Keegan's Hamburg in the 1977 UEFA Super Cup final.

It was a disappointing evening for Thompson, who committed the foul on Forest midfielder John O'Hare that led to the penalty that won the game for Brian Clough's men.

Liverpool also surrendered the League title to Forest, but managed to retain the European Cup with a win over FC Bruges, a game in which Thompson this time played.

Thompson's proudest moment as Liverpool skipper came in 1981 when he lifted the European Cup after a 1–0 victory over Real Madrid in the Paris final—the club's third success in the competition.

[3] He was sold to Sheffield United but could not settle, so he quit playing at the comparatively early age of 31 and was recruited by new Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish as a coach.

He was with the club in this role for four years, progressing to being Dalglish's right-hand man as the team (still containing, and now captained by, Hansen) won the League in 1988 and 1990 and the FA Cup in 1989.

[citation needed] In late 1993, Thompson was widely linked with the manager vacancy at Nagoya Grampus Eight where he would get the opportunity to work with former England player Gary Lineker who was then playing for that club.

However, Thompson rejected the offer as he felt he could not commit himself to the role due to the long journey to work, the inevitably large number of scouting missions and his unwillingness to uproot his family or live away from them.