Trevor Thompson
Date of birth: 21.5.55
Born: North Shields, Tyne & Wear
Height: 5ft 9in
Position: Right back
City appearances
League:80, goals: 1
FA Cup: 2
League Cup: 8
Football League Group Cup: 3
Total: 93, goals: 1
John Trevor Thompson, known by his middle name, started his career on the books of West Bromwich Albion, first on schoolboy terms then as an apprentice. He turned professional at the age of 19 in 1974 after making his first team debut for the second tier club in a 2-2 draw at home to Bristol City in February 1974. He deputised for regular left back Ray Wilson for a further game then returned to play in the last six games of the season, the last two at right back as he now deputised for right back Gordon Nisbet.
In the 1974/75 season Thompson was again the cover for Wilson at left back, deputising on seven occasions, and the pattern continued for the 1975/76 season under new manager, former Leeds United star Johnny Giles as West Bromwich finished third to win promotion to the First Division. Thompson’s appearances again totalled just seven, including two in League Cup games, three saw him at left back in place of Wilson, and four at right back after Nisbet was dropped and before the arrival of new signing Irish international Paddy Mulligan. With the regular left back at the time Len Cantello suspended Thompson was close to selection for the visit of Lincoln City in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup but a 19-year-old Bryan Robson was chosen instead.
Thompson spent the summer of 1976 playing for Washington Diplomats in the North American Soccer League, making 18 appearances and scoring one goal as he found himself in opposition to players such as Pele.
He returned to West Bromwich but made no first team appearances during the following two First Division seasons and in July 1978 at the age of 23 was sold to Fourth Division Newport County for £7,500.
For Newport, Thompson was a regular starter in midfield before losing his first team place to new signing Neil Bailey in mid-February and making a handful of further appearances later in the season. In all, during the 1978/79 season, he made a total of 35 league and cup appearances, including two as substitute, scoring one goal.
He started the 1979/80 season making three appearances off the bench before filling in as a central defender for six games, scoring one goal. He then lost his place again at the end of September, his last game for Newport coming in a 1-1 draw at home to Lincoln City.
After relegation the previous season the Imps had made a reasonably good start to the season but had slipped to ninth place with manager Colin Murphy starting on something of a mid-season rebuilding. Promising centre half Mick Smith had not been in the first team picture since suffering from cartilage trouble at the start of the season and was now sold to Wimbledon for £12,500 with £10,000 of this paid out immediately to sign Trevor Thompson from Newport. The player was described by Murphy as “quick and aggressive, a utility defender who will give us steel at the back which has been missing in recent weeks” This may have been a veiled reference to regular right back Brendan Guest who had just given a poor display in a 3-3 draw at home to Hartlepool. Thompson forthwith took Guest’s place for the visit to Halifax on 8th December and although City went down 1-0 the conceding of only one goal was at least an improvement after letting in 14 in the previous five games.
After three games Thompson was suspended for a home game with Torquay, but was first choice right back for the remainder of the season giving some solid performances, including being rated man of the match on more than one occasion. He also played one game on the right wing filling in for the injured Gordon Hobson as he totalled 25 appearances.
For the 1980/81 season there was real hope that a promotion challenge could be mounted, and although the season opened with a disappointing home draw with Peterborough City hit top spot at the end of August and apart from two brief drops to third place during the following month were never out of the top two places.
Thompson played a full part in the season appearing in 43 league and six cup games, only missing two games towards the end of October (one of them being an 8-0 win over Northampton) due to a groin strain, and one at the end of March due to being suspended. He was named as man of the match three times by Lincolnshire Echo reporter Maurice Burton, one of these being a 1-0 away win at Wimbledon “a truly brilliant performance…in my view he has never played better.” Another occasion came when he scored what was to be his only goal for the club when he sealed a 2-0 win over Tranmere Rovers with a ‘goal of the season’ long range shot after running from the half way line. One blot on his copybook, however, was to put a back pass into his own net against Mansfield in front of the Match of the Day cameras, but David Carr later equalised for City.
City finished as runners-up to Southend to make a return to the Third Division with Thompson continuing as first choice right back at the start of the 1981/82 season, featuring in the side that knocked First Division Notts County out of the League Cup. The second leg of that tie turned out to be his last appearance for the Imps as although suffering an injury during the game he was then left out of the side as City occupied a place just outside the relegation zone. Thompson was first replaced by new loan signing Wayne Turner (“Life is all about competition”, said Colin Murphy, “and I have introduced competition throughout every part of the team.”) and when his niggling injury had cleared up found young midfielder Phil Turner keeping him out of the side. Shortly afterwards David Carr was switched to right back from central defence to be a key part of Colin Murphy’s successful lineup with Thompson confined to the reserves for the remainder of the season in which he totalled 19 league and cup games.
Released on a free transfer at the end of the 1981/82 season Thompson joined Northern Premier League side Gainsborough Trinity. He then had a spell in the same league with Worksop Town before in February 1987 at the age of 31 becoming player-manager of Boston FC in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division. Switched at the end of the season to the Central Midlands League, Thompson retired as manager through ill health during the following December. Having settled in Lincoln and working as a postman he spent time as player/manager of Lincoln Moorlands from the summer of 1990 until finishing in 1993. He died at the early age of 66 in December 2021.
Trevor Thompson made a total of 141 appearances in the Football League, scoring 3 goals.
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