Louis Thompson and his brother Nathan both progressed through the ranks at Swindon Town to become professional footballers.
The MK Dons midfielder notes the influence his older brother had on his career as recalls the advice he gave him as he looked to make it in the Robins first-team.
The brothers have racked up over 400 Professional Appearances between them, with Louis stressing the importance of sacrificing of socialising in order to make it in the game.
“We literally didn’t stop playing football – we were very rarely in the house,” Thompson told mkdons.com last month. “I think the hours and hours we were playing helped us massively. We were always out with our mates and we didn’t even realise we were practising – naturally, you build your skillset that way. We both had good coaches at Swindon as well and Luke [Williams] certainly played a part in that.”
“My brother is older than me and I always saw him taking that route, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I love watching football and I love playing it – everything I did growing up was based around football.”
He added, “I would say when I was about 10, I really started to think that football was something I wanted to do. You have to make sacrifices to do so and I wasn’t able to enjoy some of the weekends like my mates could at school. It’s all worth it now, though.”
While the Thompson brothers no longer share the same changing room, the Dons midfielder has fond memories of playing alongside Nathan. “I couldn’t be any prouder of him to be honest. I had the pleasure of playing alongside him for a fair few years at Swindon Town and they were thoroughly enjoyable times for me and my family - there is nothing better than playing alongside your brother.
“He’s been very successful in the teams he’s played for – I’m incredibly proud of him.”
