He was once England's most capped hooker, [2] and has played for the British and Irish Lions. Formerly Steve Walter, born 15 July in Hemel Hempstead , he started playing rugby at 15 at the Northampton School for Boys and went on to play for Northampton Old Scouts alongside Ben Cohen in a very successful [ citation needed ] youth team.
He also trained with the youth section of Saints and, at 18, was selected for the apprentice scheme at the club's academy as a back row forward. Thompson continued to develop as a player and became co-captain of Northampton Saints. At Northampton he was a replacement in the victorious Heineken Cup Final as they defeated Munster.
On 15 April Thompson announced his immediate retirement from rugby due to a career ending neck injury that he had suffered during the closing Heineken Cup pool match against Biarritz at Franklin's Gardens in January But on 22 October , Thompson announced he would be returning to the game after consulting medical staff.
Thompson represented the club in three Top 14 campaigns. On 31 May Thompson finally agreed a 2-year deal with Leeds Carnegie after a lot of speculation.
This saw him join up with former International team mate Neil Back who was head coach at Leeds. Leeds were relegated from the β11 Aviva Premiership.
