Geoff Thompson has decided to prioritize his health and family life by selling South Shields. Photo: Telegraph/Mark Pinder
A move, a routine check-up with a new doctor, and then heartbreaking news that changed Geoff Thompson's world forever. A six letter word that shatters so many lives. He had cancer.
The 61-year-old has been chairman of South Shield's since 2015, saving the club from extinction by building them a new home in a seaside town on the south bank of the River Tyne, turning crowds from about 200 people at a regular gate. more than 2000.
But after surgery and a terrible diagnosis that he might die, Thompson had to evaluate everything and put his family above his childhood obsession. Reluctantly, South Shields is up for sale.
“I do this with a heavy heart,” said Thompson, who gave the interview not because he wants people to feel sorry for him, but because he wants to find someone to finish what he started.
“We have made good progress in advertising and investment in infrastructure, but unfortunately last year I was diagnosed with cancer out of the blue.
“I had surgery in March. I'm not completely out of the woods. I hope the surgery was successful, but I am still being tested and there is always a risk of recurrence. I hope not…»
Thompson once dreamed of bringing his hometown club back into the Football League, and after four promotions in nine years the Mariners rose to the National League North, two tiers below the English Football League. This is the same division as Scunthorpe, Darlington, Scarborough and Blyth Spartans.
They won their latest promotion under former Sunderland and England striker Kevin Phillips and currently sit eighth in the table. Former Sunderland and Middlesbrough star Julio Arca was on the bench but was sacked on Wednesday after one win in his last seven league games.
In the proud city, home of the Sand Dancers (as they are fondly known) its inhabitants), which, like many others, was often ignored and forgotten, the football club was a beacon of light among the darkness of oblivion. Thompson won't let it die. If he cannot continue to be her benefactor and figurehead, he will remain her protector.
“It scares you when you hear that word, cancer, absolutely,” he continued, the memory of that day making him look down and turn away to gather his strength. “I had an operation in London, and at the first consultation I told the surgeon how afraid I was of the operation.
“ He said: “Don't worry, if something goes wrong, she will cry (pointing to my wife ), we will all be very upset, but you won’t know anything about it because you will die.”
“To be honest, it wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. But he added: “You have a high-grade cancer, the tumor is still encapsulated, and hopefully we can get a handle on it.”
“I haven't seen a doctor in six years, but I moved to be closer to her father, who had already passed away, and therefore changed the operation. I was called in for a routine examination and blood test. This is my prostate.
“I had no symptoms other than getting up in the middle of the night and needing to urinate, which I attributed to my love of a glass of wine and the fact that I was over 60. I took the test on Tuesday, and on Thursday the doctor called me and said that my PSA is going through the roof. That's it, various tests, scans and it was cancer.»
Routine tests after the move led to Thompson's cancer diagnosis . Photo: Telegraph/Mark Pinder
Anyone who heard these words knows what happened next. There were a lot of emotions. His family was traumatized. Confronted with his own sense of mortality and knowing that time was precious, Thompson had to make some changes. Make sure he doesn't just devote his remaining time to the non-league football club.
“We've had four promotions. we saved the club from oblivion,” Thompson said without a hint of bragging. “We have invested in infrastructure. We have a 3G site, a separate training site, and a new stand has been built. Emotionally and financially, I was fully invested.
“I guess it's about that cliché. I am a local businessman who has done quite well and I wanted to give something back to the local community. Unfortunately, the rug was pulled out from under me. I'd like to think we have a club worth buying.
“I need to recalibrate and rethink how I spend my time and what my priorities are. I hope that I will be cured, but you don't know for sure. I think it made me reconsider my life.
“I feel my health and my age, I will soon be 62 years old, it’s time to pass the baton to someone else.
< p>Like many others, South Shields is not only home to Thompson, who founded energy consultancy Utilitywise. where he came from determined who he was. The same applies to the football club.
“I’m a South Shields boy, I was educated in the North East,” he explained. “I studied at the University of Sunderland and Newcastle University and all my business interests were in the North East.
“I still live in South Tyneside, my family still lives in and around South Shields. My late father took me to our old playground in Simonside with my late uncle. When I heard the team's predicament in 2015, they were homeless, exiled to play our games in front of 200 people in Peterlee, 30 miles south. The club was on the verge of extinction. I couldn't stand by and let this happen.»
And he can't let that happen again. He is looking for a buyer and has shown some preliminary interest from America. But unlike Wrexham, which was bought by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and turned into a world-famous soap opera thanks to a Disney documentary, it is difficult to find the right people or person here.
“Here we are on the line between Sunderland and Newcastle,” Thompson said proudly. “In fact, I would say that watching the South Shields game is the only place where Newcastle and Sunderland fans are standing shoulder to shoulder and there is no hint of any problems.
< p>“We have three Academy teams, We have an international academy in conjunction with the University of Sunderland where international students can come here and play football while studying. We are no longer in survival mode.
“If you look at the history of the club, it goes back to the late 1920s. South Shields played in the old Second Division, beating the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United. Unfortunately the club went bankrupt in 1930 and moved to Gateshead. It was reformed in 1936 and unfortunately went bankrupt again in 1974. I was just trying to make sure it didn't happen a third time.
“If it weren’t for my health, I would try to keep moving forward. We have a city with a population of about 100,000 people. South Tyneside is home to 150,000 residents. I always believed that the club belonged to at least the National League and possibly the English Football League. This wasn't some blind ambition or ego push, it's about getting to where I think we belong.
“I'd give it a few more years, but I have to be faithful to his wife Andrea. , my children and my eight grandchildren.»
Thompson believes South Shields is strong enough not to require huge investment . Author: Telegraph/Mark Pinder
But what happened at Wrexham could be an even bigger hindrance because people have unrealistic expectations of what a club like South Shields needs.
“We've had a number of approaches,” Thompson continued. “But what happened at a club like Wrexham made the headlines.”
“Unfortunately, I'm not talking about Ryan Reynolds, but there is a lot of interest in English football clubs in America. . But no, we're not talking about Beyonce or Taylor Swift, although we'd be more than happy to do that. That would be great.
“I was thinking about all the famous sand dancers and the first name that came to mind was Sir Ridley Scott. But he didn't talk on the phone. I'll have to reach out…
“The risk is that people think you need Hollywood money to do it, but you don't. I did a lot of prep work, one-off work. The ground is suitable for the National League and there is a small step towards promotion to the EFL league. We don’t need to spend huge sums, we just need an owner who can develop what we started.”
The search continues.
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