IT’S JUNE 9 and Adam Thompson has just been sprayed with champagne by his brother.
Rotherham have been promoted to the Championship after the League One season was finished early due to the spread of coronavirus.
Rotherham star Adam Thompson has lifted the lid on an emotional past yearCredit: Rex Features
The achievement should have called for mad celebration for the Millers defender – seven years after last gracing England’s second tier with boyhood club Watford.
But instead, Thompson, 27 – soaked in bubbly – leaves his family, goes into the toilet and sobs, still mourning the tragic and sudden loss of his father Mark just four months earlier.
“It was the first big moment in my career that he wasn’t there for,” he says.
“There was such a relief and joy that I had made him proud by getting to the Championship, but there was also a numbness that he wasn’t there.”
The past twelve months have seen Thompson go from jobless to powerless to fatherless.
It began back in January 2019 at Thompson’s former club Bury – whose League Two status was on the line thanks to financial ruin under the reign of owner Steve Dale.
Thompson admits Dale “drove the club into the ground”, and only the fighting spirit of the squad saw them earn promotion against the odds – and without wages since February.
“It wasn’t a normal promotion,” he admits. “It was a really tough one mentally, not being paid and seeing lads struggling to pay mortgages and families struggling.”
Thompson was one of a handful of players to return that pre-season – in hope rather than confidence after a wage-less summer – but the early signs were despairing.
He recalls: “Because of what we had achieved the previous season I didn’t want it to be all for nothing; that was the biggest fear.
“But we still had no manager or staff. The kit man ended up taking us for boxing sessions in the gym because we had no injury insurance to take us out onto the pitch.”
Even for a loyal Thompson, enough was enough – and he entered free agent-life with a confidence his previous campaign would have clubs queueing up for his signature.
They weren’t – summer business in tiers three and four had been done early and Thompson was left stranded. Only a financially-struggling Bolton offered an unappealing trial.
‘FELL TO THE GROUND IN TEARS’
Finally, with the season underway, two clubs in Stevenage and Rotherham throw out a lifeline – but something is wrong.
“I was keeping fit with my dad, who was my personal trainer and had been all my career, helping me with speed work and fitness work,” he explains.
“But over the course of July he started forgetting things like his phone number and address, which isn’t like him. He was a very clever man, but he suddenly couldn’t say normal words.”
Thompson and his family took his father to St John’s walk-in clinic in London on August 5 for a brain scan – which coincided with Adam visiting Stevenage’s training ground.
On rushing back to the hospital, it was bad news: “He had a tumour on the brain. Stage 4 Glioblastoma multiforme – a rare form of cancer.
Thompson’s Rotherham side have been promoted to the Championship after the League One season was finished earlyCredit: Rex Features
“At this point me and mum are trying not to break down completely and panic in front of dad. We then went outside, burst into tears and fell to the ground.”
A week later, and Thompson has been sold on Rotherham after meeting Paul Warne, but the fear of being away from his family sees him confess major doubts.
“Stevenage was 10 minutes away from my family home in north London while Rotherham was two hours,” he says.
“Dad had overheard our conversation and I told him I wanted to go to Stevenage to care and be there for him but he wasn’t going to let me do it.
“He said it would be the biggest disappointment to him and would upset him too much not to further my career. He was adamant.”
An uncharacteristic injury for Thompson early in his Rotherham career was a “blessing in disguise”, using the time to travel back down to London to take his dad to hospital appointments.
But two weeks after his original diagnosis, Mark Thompson was told he had, at most, 18 months to live.
“We were all completely shattered,” Thompson says. “There was no hope any more. We tried to stay positive and be that miracle that survives it.
“But he deteriorated a lot quicker than we thought and he ended up passing on February 16 aged 57.
“He still came to every one of my matches right up until the week before he passed away.
We were all completely shattered. There was no hope any more
“He was in and out of hospital but refused to stay in for match days. That says a lot about the man he was. He never made a fuss about what must have been so tiring and painful.
“I still remember to this day the last game he saw me play. We beat Burton at home 3-2.
“I look up and I saw his massive smile. Towards the end there wasn’t a lot of smiles but he did that day.”
Thompson went into his shell after the passing, torn between being a “broken” man and wanting to do his father’s legacy proud on the pitch.
Thompson last graced the Championship with boyhood club WatfordCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But manager Paul Warne – who also lost his father in pre-season – and the squad were the relatable and personable support systems he needed most.
“All managers have high pressure to get promoted,” Thompson says. “The benefit for their own families can see them become selfish to get over the lines.
“We were first or second with 10 games left, but instead of pushing me, he said: ‘No, take as much time as you want.’
“Paul was even giving me advice on funeral songs. There is no one quite like him.”
Thompson added: “There is a lot of grief in our team this year. We know what it looks like and we have all been there for each other. It would have broken a lot of teams.”
Thompson’s return to action turned out to be Rotherham’s last of the season before lockdown – a 3-1 defeat to Rochdale, but the result was insignificant.
“In the 57th minute the fans chanted ‘There’s only one Mark Thompson’. That brought me to tears on the bench. Paul was right – I wasn’t ready to play,” he admits.
‘WHY DID IT HAPPEN?’
Another blessing in disguise Thompson pains to admit has been the coronavirus: “It has given my family the chance be together so we can grieve, talk and cry for hours on end.
“I really think I would have packed it all in had it not been for my family.”
Thompson is currently at a low point in his grieving process; going through memory boxes, staring at old pictures and weeping.
Despite this, he is eager to pass on his knowledge and pain to fellow footballers who unfortunately find themselves in his shoes.
He pauses: “Mentally, you aren’t sure if anyone is in the same boat. Am I the only one that’s weak? Do other footballers get this bad?
“But because, as a family, we were all crying and feeling numb it was like: ‘Okay, this is normal’. Take time out to grieve. Let it out.
“The biggest advice I can give, however, is not to the person grieving but to his teammates; be patient with them. Don’t force anything.
“You will get a better player as a result of that. They may never be the same again.
“I used to believe that everything happens for a reason. Now, my view on that is confused. Why did it happen? Why can’t he be here celebrating?
“I would like to think it has made me stronger instead of breaking me. My focus now is to keep on making him proud by playing my heart out next season.”
League One and Two playoffs set for this month with Championship set for end of July
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
