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Manchester United under-21s will dedicate a pre-season sport to former academy product Joe Thompson.
Thompson’s profession
He spent seven years in United’s academy from 1998-2005 earlier than he moved to Rochdale.
In his first spell on the membership he performed 157 video games in League Two, scoring 17 objectives.
He would later transfer to golf equipment equivalent to Tranmere Rovers, Bury and Carlisle United, earlier than returning as soon as once more to Rochdale in 2016 earlier than retiring in 2019.
Battle with sickness
Throughout his time at Tranmere he “obtained his prognosis of a uncommon type of most cancers referred to as nodular sclerosis Hodgkin lymphoma.”
After therapy he extremely returned to soccer however was recognized for a second time with the identical illness simply three years later.
Thompson remarkably recovered once more and after retirement began a profession in motivational talking. Sadly, he misplaced his third battle with the sickness earlier this yr.
United to pay respect
The Purple Satan youth crew are scheduled to play in an upcoming pleasant in opposition to Thompson’s former aspect Rochdale on Saturday 2nd August.
The membership’s official web site studies that the match shall be “devoted to the previous participant as “each golf equipment are coming collectively in a Recreation for Joe.”
The location explains that “a minute’s applause shall be held beforehand and members of Joe’s household are on account of be in attendance on the Crown Oil Area and are choosing a few of his favorite songs to play within the build-up to the kick-off.”
What’s extra, all future video games performed between the 2 groups can have a particular trophy at stake. The primary one shall be within the Nationwide League Cup match, which is provisionally on account of be staged on twenty first October.”
Award
It has already been introduced that United have created the “Joe Thompson award, which shall be offered annually throughout the Academy to any person who greatest embodies the values he displayed.”
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