It started like all the other matchdays before it for goalkeeper Tony Thompson.Beans on toast for breakfast, a 40-minute drive to Warrington Town’s Cantilever Park, a laugh and a catch-up with team-mates in the home dressing room before the nitty-gritty on the pitch.Warrington were hosting Northern Premier League Premier Division rivals Guiseley in the second round of the FA Trophy.A big game for both part-time clubs, with the winning team inching a step closer to the final at Wembley.By the end of the day, Thompson – who was on Liverpool’s books growing up – was ready to walk away from the game he loved after an incident that “knocked me sick”.Early in the second half, with the tie goalless, Thompson reached for the drinks bottle by his net and took a gulp of what he thought was water.Unbeknown to him, a Guiseley fan behind his goal had climbed over the pitchside barrier and swapped bottles while Thompson was concentrating on the game.Instead of water, the keeper said the bottle he had drank from was filled with urine.The incident was filmed by other fans and viewed more than two million times on social media.”At first I wanted to be sick,” says Thompson, 30.”I turned round to confront whoever had done it and there was a lad stood there who said ‘it’s me, what are you going to do about it?'”My head was completely gone. It got a bit heated. “I gripped the lad and emptied the bottle near him or on him. I threw the bottle away in anger and told him ‘that’s disgusting’.”Thompson was sent off for his reaction and Warrington lost the tie 1-0, with the goalkeeper receiving a three-match ban, later reduced to one., externalAfter driving home from the match, Thompson wrote on social media:, external “Today I fell out of love with the game. To be told I wasn’t allowed to react because I’m a player is outrageous. That person has put me [and] my family’s health at risk, and knocked me sick.”The post went viral, receiving 41,000 likes.”It was mad for a few days afterwards,” he adds. “I was getting requests for interviews but I want to be known for being a good goalkeeper – not famous because someone urinated in my bottle!”Three years on, Thompson is able to talk about the incident that almost made him quit.
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FA Cup 2025: Bootle keeper Tony Thompson ‘almost quit football after disgusting urine prank’
