Now retired and forging a new career in media and motivational talking, he spent most of his playing career with Carabao Cup opponents, Rochdale, the club he made his professional debut for in 2006. When he returned there in 2016, after four years away playing for the likes of Tranmere Rovers, Bury and Carlisle United, Joe did so as a survivor of Hodgkin's lymphoma, a rare form of cancer.
Thompson would eventually have to beat the life-threatening condition for a second time, before making a successful return to the pitch for Rochdale and scoring the goal that saved the League One club from relegation on the final day of the 2017/18 season.