Boro’ put some money on the table in summer 2023 and that was enough to convince Peterborough United to let us have Ben Thompson; the midfielder signing for an undisclosed fee after one season at London Road. We never shall know how much wonga changed hands to land the player. But the fact we were prepare to spend cash to seal a deal speaks volumes enough. And what it ultimately meant was that we landed ourselves a guy with at least 200 Football League appearances to his name. Not bad…

The type of player we got? Well, a former manager of his – Neil Harris – called him a “top player” with “ball carrying ability, tenaciousness and aggression”. The theory was we had ourselves a useful player going into the the 2023-4 League One campaign. The reality? Well, it never seemed to quite land for Thompson – either under Steve Evans or Alex Revell. He fell out of favour under the latter – and went out on loan to League Two side Bromley for the 2024-5 season. In the end, the deal was made permanent and the midfielder got his fresh start elsewhere.

Ben Thompson: Before Boro’

Thompson signed for Peterborough United in June 2022 on a two-year deal – along with an option to extend to a third year. That’d be why we had to pay a fee to secure his services. In his only year at London Road, the midfielder played more than 30 times – scoring once.

In actual fact, 2022 was a calendar year in which the lad turned out for three teams. He started it at boyhood side Millwall, where he’d spent eight years after turning pro and made well over 100 appearances. But then it looked as if first team opportunities were at a premium as the 2021-2 season progressed. As such, he would be allowed to leave at the end of January 2022 by mutual consent. His next move was to join up with former Lions boss Neil Harris at Gillingham, where he’d see out the remainder of the campaign.

Thompson also spent time on loan at Portsmouth during his time at The Den.