Christopher Thompson (24 January 1960 – 5 June 2012) was an English footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Career

Thompson was born in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, West Midlands on 24 January 1960. He started his career at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, signing professional terms with the club in 1977 after impressing in the club youth teams. He made his debut for the club on 25 October 1977 in a League Cup match against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

. His first league appearance for the club came during the 1979–80 season, appearing as a substitute in a 3–1 defeat against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. He made a total of 81 appearances in all competitions for Bolton, scoring 20 goals, before being transferred to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in 1983. During his three-year spell at Blackburn, Thompson made 100 appearances and scored 26 goals before moving to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

in 1986. In his fourth league game for Wigan, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 5–1 win against his hometown club

. He scored nine goals during the 1986–87 season, helping the club reach the inaugural

Football League play-offs The English Football League (EFL) play-offs are a series of play-offs, play-off matches contested by four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic Promotion and relegation, promotion places in the second, third and four ...

. Despite Thompson scoring the opening goal in the first leg of the play-off semi final against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, the club went on to lose the game 3–2, and would ultimately be knocked out by the same scoreline on aggregate. Thompson also played an important role in the club's

1986–87 FA Cup The 1986–87 FA Cup was the 106th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Coventry City, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 3–2, after extra-time, in the final at Wembley Stadium. It was Totte ...

run, scoring in the Second and Third Round against

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and Gillingham. He also scored the opening goal in the Fifth Round match against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, which Wigan went on to win 3–0, reaching the quarter finals for the first time in their history. In 1988, Thompson joined Sam Ellis'

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. In his first season at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

, he made 36 League appearances and scored eight goals. The following season, 1989–90, under Jimmy Mullen, who had taken over with five games remaining of the previous term, Thompson made three appearances before being sold to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. He made only five further League appearances (two for Cardiff and three for

) before retiring from the game in 1991 at the age of 31.

Death

Thompson was found dead at his flat in Anderson Gardens,

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeas ...

, on 5 June 2012. An inquest into his death six months later failed to identify a specific cause of death, but the pathologist had discovered

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

of the liver and due to the decomposed state of his body he may have died several weeks before his body was discovered. His sister, Maureen Bradshaw, told the coroner that he had struggled with depression in later life and was a heavy drinker.

References

External links

Profile
at sporting-heroes.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Chris 1960 births 2012 deaths Footballers from Walsall English men's footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players Lincoln City F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards 20th-century English sportsmen