[2] Happily, after a year out injured, Thompson did recover and found that his remedial exercises helped develop his physique.
[3] Thompson duly joined the Pilgrims making his Northern Premier League debut for them in the 1–1 draw at Wigan Athletic on 21 August 1976.
In his last game for Lincoln he was to witness a nightmare when 56 spectators were killed in a horrendous stand fire while playing Bradford City.
After leaving Sincil Bank he then joined Kevin Keegan's coaching staff at Newcastle United before spending three months as assistant manager at Doncaster Rovers.
From there he became Director of Football at Southend United, taking over as manager when Peter Taylor left with the club deep in relegation trouble.
Thompson led them to 13th place at the end of the season and despite agreeing to stay at the club, left to join Colin Murphy as assistant manager at Notts County in June 1995 without having signed a contract.
Since leaving Notts County Thompson is yet to make a return in football within any capacity, however in the Summer of 2009, he went public with his interest for the Port Vale job – which later went to Micky Adams.
[7] However he was forced to undergo some training by BBC Radio Lincolnshire in late 2020 for repeatedly using offensive phrases on air.