| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Paul Thompson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 12 October 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Republic of Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Mansfield Town | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rivervalley Rangers | |||
| Home Farm | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2007 | Nottingham Forest | 129 | (7) |
| 2006 | → Tranmere Rovers (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2007 | → Tranmere Rovers (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Oldham Athletic | 7 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | → Notts County (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Notts County | 87 | (2) |
| 2011- | Mansfield Town | 1 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2002–2003 | Republic of Ireland U21 | ? | (?) |
| 2003 | Republic of Ireland | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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John Paul Thompson (born 12 October 1981) is an Irish footballer who plays for Mansfield Town. He is a tough-tackling versatile defender, although he is equally comfortable in midfield. He is a full Irish International who has also played for Nottingham Forest, Tranmere Rovers, Oldham Athletic, and latterly, Notts County.
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Born in Dublin, Thompson started his career playing for his local team Rivervalley Rangers. At 14 he joined top Dublin schoolboy club Home Farm. While at the Dublin club he represented the Republic of Ireland Under-15 team on 15 occasions. He progressed to the Republic Under-16 team and won the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in Scotland in 1998, playing right-back against Italy in the final.[2]
He signed for Nottingham Forest at the age of 17 and progressed through the Forest Youth Academy under the guidance of Paul Hart and captained the Nottingham Forest Under-19 team to the Premier Academy League Title in 2000. It was a youth side which was also made up of Andy Reid, Jermaine Jenas and Michael Dawson.
He made his full debut for Nottingham Forest against Sheffield United in 2002 at Bramall Lane in a 0–0 draw, with a man of the match performance . The following season he made 25 appearances in a season where Forest narrowly missed out on the Premier League through the Championship Play-Offs. He went on to make over 150 appearances for Forest, scoring 8 goals, under such managers as Joe Kinnear, Gary Megson and Colin Calderwood. In his time at Forest he played with many top players such as Des Walker, Ricky Scimeca and David Johnson.
He also made his full International debut for the Republic of Ireland national football team in November 2003 coming on a substitute against Canada at Lansdowne Road.[3] He gained three caps. He had previously captained Republic of Ireland under-21 national football team under Don Givens. He is one of only a few Irish players to represent his country at every level.
In 2006 he joined Tranmere Rovers on loan and worked under Ronnie Moore where he made 14 appearances in two successful loan periods. In the summer of 2007 he joined Oldham Athletic but injuries limited his first team chances there and he made only ten appearances before linking up with former Forest academy coach Ian McParland at Notts County in October 2008 on an initial loan deal.
In January 2009 he signed permanently for Notts County, where he has also worked under coaches Hans Backe, Ian McParland and Steve Cotterill and former Director of Football Sven-Goran Eriksson. He scored his first and second goal for Notts on the 2 May 2009 against Wycombe Wanderers with two spectacular long range efforts. Thompson is the current Notts County Club Captain.
On April 27, 2010, Notts County successfully beat Darlington F.C. 5–0 to secure the Football League Two title, and promotion to Football League One. Thompson also played a vital part in the Notts County's defence which kept a record breaking 26 clean sheets out of 46 league games.
Thompson made 25 appearances for Notts County in the 2010/2011 season under manager Martin Allen. On the 10th May 2011, Martin Allen announced that he would not be offering Thompson a new contract at the current time but has invited him back to the club in pre-season to train with a possibility of earning a new deal. [4]
Thompson was announced as Mansfield Town's latest signing in the early hours of 16 July 2011. On the 19th November 2011 he made his debut in the starting 11 against AFC Telford,the game ended 0-0 [5] Thompson became another of the unique band of players to have represented all three Nottinghamshire senior sides, three others being Darren Ward, Jason Lee and Colin Calderwood.
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