Steve Thompson (footballer born 1955)

Infobox Football biography
playername = Steve Thompson


fullname = Stephen Paul Thompson
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1955|7|28
cityofbirth = Sheffield
countryofbirth = England
height = 6' 1"
weight =
nickname =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Centre-Half
youthyears =
youthclubs = Sheffield United
years = -1980
1980-1985
1985-1988
1988
1988-1989
1989-1990
clubs = Boston United
Lincoln City
Charlton Athletic
Leicester City
Sheffield United
Lincoln City
caps(goals) =
154 (8)
95 (0)
0 (0)
20 (1)
27 (0)
manageryears = 1990-1993
1995
1998
2004-2005
2006-2007
managerclubs = Lincoln City
Southend United
Sheffield United
Cambridge United
Notts County
pcupdate = November 27, 2006

Steven Paul Thompson (born July 28, 1955) is an English football manager and former player. His management career includes spells at Lincoln City, Southend United, Sheffield United and Cambridge United.

Playing career

Thompson was born in Sheffield and began his career with Sheffield United. On failing to make the grade he joined non-league Boston United where he remained until April 1980 when he was sold to Colin Murphy's Lincoln City for a fee of £15,000.

In August 1985, after playing over 150 games for Lincoln, Thompson moved to Charlton Athletic. He became captain of Charlton and led them to promotion to the First Division and the Simod Cup final.

He moved to Leicester City in July 1988 for a fee of £40,000, but failed to establish himself and moved to Sheffield United in November the same year for a fee of £20,000. In August 1989 he returned to Lincoln City where he finished his playing career.

Coaching and managerial career

He took over as manager of Lincoln in November 1990, with Lincoln near the bottom of the Fourth Division. Under his leadership, Lincoln lost only three of the last 18 games that season and finished comfortably in mid-table, avoiding a second relegation to the Conference. He resigned in May 1993, with one game of the season remaining, after the Lincoln board had decided not to renew his contract.

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.

County made the play-offs in their first season in charge, but struggled badly the following year in a season that would see the Magpies relegated to Division Three. Both Murphy and Thompson were sacked before the season finished. Thompson then joined Nigel Spackman's coaching staff at Sheffield United. However Spackman resigned in March 1998 and Thompson was made acting-manager. He guided the blades to the play-offs and the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but was replaced on July 2, 1998 by Steve Bruce.

In late December 2004 Thompson was appointed as manager of struggling League Two side Cambridge United, but was made redundant the following summer having failed to prevent Cambridge's relegation to the Conference.cite news
title = Manager Thompson leaves Cambridge
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cambridge_utd/4533575.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2005-05-10
accessdate = 2007-04-05]

He then worked as a summariser for BBC Radio Lincolnshire. On June 12, 2006 he was appointed manager of Notts County on a three year deal which was extended by one year in May 2007 , the appointment was an unpopular decision among many County fans because of his association with the Colin Murphy era.cite news
title = A big welcome to Steve Thompson
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2006/06/13/notes_on_notts_130606_feature.shtml
publisher = BBC Nottingham
date = 2006-06-13
accessdate = 2007-04-05] In spite of this, County initially showed signs of improving substantially in their first season under the new order, but struggled to maintain a consistent run of good form as the season drew to a close. Thompson was sacked at the start of the 2007-08 season after a poor start that saw the Magpies languishing near the bottom of the table. [cite news
title = Notts County boss Thompson sacked
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/notts_county/7047584.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-10-16
accessdate = 2007-10-16]

Managerial stats

References

External links

*soccerbase (manager)|id=1158|name=Steve Thompson
* [http://www.leaguemanagers.com/manager/profile-1178.html Steve Thompson's profile at the League Managers' Association]