Steve Thompson (footballer, born 1989)

Steve Thompson (footballer, born 1989)
Stephen Thompson (born 15 April 1989) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for club Stockton Town.
Unable to make the first team at Middlesbrough, he signed with Port Vale in May 2008. He left Vale Park by mutual consent in October 2009, at which point he joined Telford United. He spent one season with Telford before joining Durham City. He signed with Darlington in September 2012, and helped the club to the Northern Football League title in 2012–13, promotion out of the Northern Premier League Division One North via the play-offs in 2015, and then Premier Division title in 2015–16. He was named as the club's Player of the Year for the 2017–18 season and equalled their goalscoring record of 100 goals in December 2019. Thompson left Darlington at the end of the 2019–20 season and signed for another National League North club, Spennymoor Town, where he stayed for two years, which included a loan spell at Marske United where he won the Northern Premier League Division One East play-offs. He signed for Stockton Town in May 2022.
Career
Port Vale
Born in Peterlee, County Durham, Thompson began his career at Middlesbrough in the academy and youth team and he signed for the club at the start of the 2007–08 season but did not play a game for the first-team. Released at the end of the season, he had a successful trial with Port Vale and signed with the club in May 2008, citing manager Lee Sinnott's style of play as a reason for joining the club.
He spent four months working off a hamstring injury, before making his debut as a 74th minute substitute on 6 December 2008 against Grimsby Town. His first league start came two weeks later in a 1–0 defeat to Chesterfield at Vale Park, he was taken off in the 53rd minute, despite the protestations of the home crowd. His first goal came against Rochdale on 28 December, as he hit a 90th-minute winner for a Vale side reduced to 10-men. Described by Ian Brightwell as "probably the best finisher we have at the club", he was dropped from the first team in February 2009. He worked hard at the end of the season to put himself back in contention and made eight further appearances under Dean Glover before the season's end.
During a 2009–10 pre-season friendly with Nantwich Town, Thompson was dismissed for violent conduct, shoulder-barging an opposition player in an off the ball incident. Manager Micky Adams promised to punish Thompson in some way for his lack of discipline. Two days later Adams placed him on the transfer list, along with five other youngsters. Early the next month local Conference North side Stafford Rangers enquired about Thompson's availability, after fellow Vale youngster Ross Davidson performed well in his loan spell. A one-month loan deal was quickly agreed. His contract with Port Vale was cancelled by mutual consent in October 2009, Thompson aimed to find first team football elsewhere.
Telford and Durham
The day after his release from Port Vale, Thompson signed with Telford United of the Conference North. He spent one season with Telford, but had issues with the long distances he was travelling to the club from his home. Thompson subsequently joined Northern Premier League Division One North side Durham City, and was described by the club's website as "a quick thinking classic playmaker who has pace, good feet and excellent passing ability which mean he is equally at home both scoring and making goals for others." Durham finished 17th in 2010–11, but resigned from the league at the end of 2011–12 to join the Northern League.
Darlington
He signed with Northern League side Darlington in September 2012. He scored his first goal in his fourth appearance for the club in a 4–1 victory over Penrith, he struck the ball from out on a mud-filled pitch. Darlington won promotion as champions in 2012–13. The "Quakers" reached the play-offs in the Northern Premier League Division One North in 2013–14, where they were knocked out by Ramsbottom United; Thompson scored 27 goals during the campaign. He scored his 50th goal in his 100th appearance for Darlington against Mossley. In 2015, Darlington beat Bamber Bridge 2–0 in the Division One North play-off final to secure promotion into the Premier Division. A second successive promotion was achieved as Darlington won the Premier Division title with a game to spare of the 2015–16 season. Darlington finished fifth in the National League North in 2016–17, but were denied a place in the play-offs due to Blackwell Meadows's lack of seating. He scored 11 goals in 38 league games during the 2017–18 season as "Darlo" finished in 12th place. He was named as the club's Player of the Year for 2018. Having been assigned to play right-back for much of the campaign, he still went on to score ten goals in 43 appearances in the 2018–19 season, with Darlington posting a 16th-place finish.
On 26 December 2019, Thompson's 72nd-minute penalty gave his side a 2–1 win at home to Spennymoor Town and completed his century of goals for Darlington, equalling Alan Walsh's club record that had stood for 35 years. His tally included four hat-tricks: against Leamington, Sunderland Ryhope Community Association, Burscough and Wakefield. He scored six goals in 36 appearances in the 2019–20 season, which was permanently suspended on 26 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, with Darlington in eleventh place. After eight years with the club, he chose not to accept Darlington's offer of a new contract and left at the end of the 2019–20 season.
Spennymoor Town
Thompson signed for another National League North club, Spennymoor Town, on 20 May 2020. He made 12 appearances, scoring twice, before the 2020–21 season was curtailed early due to the ongoing pandemic. In his second season, he made 14 appearances before joining Northern Premier League Division One East club Marske United in February 2022 on loan for a month. The loan was extended to the end of the season, and Thompson produced a man of the match performance in the semi-final to help Marske reach and win promotion via the play-off final. He made one final substitute appearance for Spennymoor before leaving at the end of the season.
Stockton Town
Thompson signed for Stockton Town, Marske United's play-off final opponents, in May 2022. He scored eight goals from 41 games in the 2022–23 campaign, including an appearance in the play-off final defeat to Long Eaton United.
Career statistics
Honours
Individual
Darlington Player of the Year: 2017–18
Darlington
Northern Football League Division One: 2012–13
Northern Premier League Division One North play-offs: 2015
Northern Premier League Premier Division: 2015–16
Marske United
Northern Premier League Division One East play-offs: 2022
References
1989 births
Living people
People from Peterlee
Footballers from County Durham
English men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
Stafford Rangers F.C. players
AFC Telford United players
Durham City A.F.C. players
Darlington F.C. players
Spennymoor Town F.C. players
Marske United F.C. players
Stockton Town F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Northern Premier League players
Northern Football League players