By Mark Heys
November 28 2007

Former Bolton Wanderers midfielder David Thompson has been forced to retire after a long standing knee injury failed to clear up and a recent trial with Championship side Sheffield United came to nothing.

The 30-year old began his career at Liverpool in 1996 and won the FA Youth Cup and just over half a dozen England U21 caps during his time at Anfield before moving onto Coventry City via a loan spell with Swindon Town.

He couldn't prevent the Sky Blues from being relegated from the Premier League in 2001 but did win Player of the Year during his time at Highfield Road where he developed a reputation as a goalscoring midfielder.

In 2002 the Birkenhead-born player made the move to Blackburn Rovers and was called up to Sven Goran Eriksson's England squad in the same year without ever making an appearance.

His time at Ewood Park was injury hit but he did manage to appear in 64 games during the Graeme Souness and Mark Hughes era prior to moving on to Wigan Athletic in January 2006.

After just a few months with the Latics he joined Portsmouth but couldn't settle on the South Coast and spent the remainder of the season and his career back in his native North West with Bolton.

Helping the Wanderers into the UEFA Cup for the second time in their history, during his eight appearances at the Reebok, the tough tackler was released by former Wanderers manager Sammy Lee last summer and aside from his short training stint with Sheffield he has been unable to recover from recent injuries.

WALKING DOWN THE MANNY ROAD WOULD LIKE TO WISH DAVID ALL THE BEST IN HIS FUTURE.