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by Donald Nannestad
Steve Thompson, who has sadly passed away at the age of 70, was one of the key players in the team built by Colin Murphy which came incredibly close to taking the Imps back to second tier football for the first time since 1961. After leaving to play at a higher level he returned to Sincil Bank in August 1989 initially as a player before becoming manager.
Steve was a Sheffielder who was on Sheffield United’s books as an amateur immediately after leaving school. He went on to play for Worksop and then had four years at Boston United combining his football with working as an advertising sales rep for Sheffield Newspapers.
Colin Murphy signed him in April 1980 and at the age of 25 he was given his senior debut in the opening game of the 1980-81 season when City defeated Hull 5-0 in a League Cup tie at Sincil Bank.
He was initially played in midfield but during the second half of 1980-81 was switched to form a solid partnership at centre back with Trevor Peake. City won promotion from the old Fourth Division that season conceding just 25 goals in their 46 games. Steve missed the first couple of months of the following season through injury and when he returned the Imps were 20th in the table, only outside the relegation zone on goal difference. Steve’s return sparked a change in fortune and City were left needing a win at Fulham in their final game to win promotion. Unfortunately, the game ended in a 1-1 draw with Steve being sent off and it was Fulham who went up. The consolation for Steve was that he was voted the club’s Player of the season.
Steve continued to be first choice for the Imps although he missed much of 1983-84 through injury. He returned for the following season but departed after the tragic final game at Bradford when 56 fans lost their lives as fire swept through the main stand. Steve was sold to Charlton and later moved on to Leicester City and Sheffield United before returning to City in August 1989 as club captain. In total he made 217 league and cup appearances for City plus one games as a substitute and scored 11 goals.
In November 1990 he was appointed manager following the departure of Allan Clarke and successfully took the team away from the bottom of the table. In 1991-92, after a poor start, the team lost only one in the last 17 games finishing 10th and were one of the favourites for promotion in 1992-93. However, the team missed out and Steve’s contract was not renewed. He was later director of football at Southend and subsequently was on the coaching staff at Notts County and Sheffield United. While at Bramall Lane he was appointed caretaker manager in March 1998 and led the Blades to the play-offs and into the FA Cup semi-final. He went on to be manager at Cambridge and Notts County before working as a match summariser for BBC Radio Lincolnshire for many years.
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