Former Wycombe Wanderers midfielder Curtis Thompson has recounted his time at the club following his exit this summer.

The 30-year-old spent five-and-a-half years at the Adams Park side where he played 152 times and scored six goals, where he was part of two promotion-winning squads in 2018 and 2020 respectively.

He departed the Chairboys following an injury-hit 2022/23 campaign, where he only played six times which included just one start.

His injury issues began in February last year when he suffered a medial knee ligament problem in the 5-5 draw against his now employers, Cheltenham Town, which kept him on the sidelines for 10 months.

During that time, he opted not to have surgery in a bid to play a part in Wycombe’s play-off campaign, but was not considered for selection.

READ MORE: Wycombe Wanderers midfielder Curtis Thompson wins the Players' Player of the Year award

Hoping for a fresh start, he came back to pre-season in 2022 with a relapse of the issue, which then required an operation.

Thompson’s comeback was against Bristol Rovers on Boxing Day that year.

Speaking about his final few months at Wycombe, Thompson told Gloucestershire Live: “I started one game against Plymouth [in December 2022] who were flying high, played 90 minutes and that was the first and last 90 minutes I played that season.

“The manager [Gareth Ainsworth] went to QPR and Matt Bloomfield, who I had lived with for most of my time at Wycombe took over.

“I pulled my hamstring in his first training session, which set me back another six weeks, so it was a disappointing end to my time at Wycombe, but it was then time for a change after five years there.”

Whilst his time in Buckinghamshire came to an unfortunate end, Thompson reminisced on the more positive periods which included winning promotion to League One in 2018, winning the club’s Players’ Player of the Year award in 2019, and achieving play-off success in 2020.

READ MORE: WANDERERS: Midfielder Curtis Thompson signs new deal at Adams Park

The ex-Notts County man continued to tell Gloucestershire Live: “Kevin Nolan [Notts County’s manager in 2018], never really believed in me at Notts, so it was time for a different environment.

“The standard of the players’ professionalism was a lot higher at Wycombe and I started doing things right and it was the perfect move.”

Agreeing to sign for Wanderers in January 2018 on loan from Notts County, Thompson was left in limbo that summer after an initial deal to join the Chairboys had been withdrawn.

And thanks to an intervention from club legend Adebayo Akinfenwa, a deal was confirmed.

He said: “He [Akinfenwa] called me and said ‘Curt! Where are you? It’s pre-season!’, so I explained there wasn’t an offer on the table and he told me to leave it with him.

“Next day, the manager calls me and invites me to a pre-season training camp in Wales - I did well and was offered a five-month contract.

READ MORE: Wycombe's Curtis Thompson on his goal last-minute against Morecambe

“Akinfenwa said to me ‘if there is not enough money to sign you, it can come out of my wages’, which shows what type of guy he is.

After two years as a permanent Wanderer, Thompson was part of the team that defeated Oxford United in the 2020 League One play-off final, securing a place in the Championship for the first time.

Wycombe would finish their maiden year in England’s second one point off safety, being relegated on the final day despite a 3-0 victory away at ex-Premier League side, Middlesborough.

Thompson said: “I remember one game against Birmingham we won despite the officials being awful, which we felt was a theme of the season because we were such underdogs.

READ MORE: Wycombe Wanderers' Curtis Thompson is back after 10 months out

“We got in a huddle after the game and the manager said ‘we are playing against the officials as well as another team, but we find a way, it’s what we do’ and it gave me goosebumps.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it, there was no bad blood at all and it felt more like family than a team.”

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