Researching Andrew Thompson

Thompson was recruited in the 1996 AFL Draft at pick no 62 and was picked up from the VAFA club Old Melburnians. At the time of his recruitment Thompson was 24 years of age, relatively old for an AFL footballer to begin his career. Thompson later said that being recruited at a late age allowed him to become more travelled and worldly than other footballers who begin their careers at 17 or 18 years of age.

Thompson quickly established himself in the St Kilda line-up in 1997, missing only two games (in Rounds 2 and 3) and playing every game from Round 4 onwards, including St Kilda's loss in the Grand Final.

Thompson played in 20 of 22 matches in the 1997 AFL Premiership Season home and away rounds in which St Kilda Football Club qualified in first position for the 1997 AFL Finals Series, winning the club's 2nd Minor Premiership and 1st McClelland Trophy.

Thompson was noted for his hard work ethic and consistency and this led to him winning the 1999 Channel 7 Player of the Year Award. His outstanding and consistent form also earned him a Trevor Barker Award for St Kilda's Best and Fairest player in 2000. Despite a dismal year for the Saints, when they finished last, Thompson continued toiling and was a shining light in an otherwise disappointing side.

Thompson played in St Kilda's 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup winning side – St Kilda's second AFL Cup win.

Thompson signed a one-year contract with the Saints for the 2006 season and was part of a veteran group with Justin Peckett and Stephen Powell who signed on for one last shot at a premiership. He made a solid contribution for the season, and new coach Ross Lyon signed him up for one last time at the beginning of the 2007 year.

In his last season, Thompson battled injury and fitness issues, but managed 10 matches for the Saints. He farwelled the football world on 1 September, playing his final game on the MCG against Richmond. Fellow Saint Fraser Gehrig also announced his retirement, and both players were chaired off the ground.

Thompson has worked part-time in the finance and business world since 2004.

Thompson was born in Seneca Township and raised at Ruthven Park Estate, now designated as Ruthven Park National Historic Site; located just north of Cayuga, Ontario. His father, David Thompson was a businessman and political figure who sat in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada and then the House of Commons of Canada. His grandfather, also named David, had sat in the 1st and 2nd Legislative Assemblies for the United Province of Canada representing Haldimand County.

A lawyer and editor, he was elected to the House of Commons as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Haldimand and Monck in the 1900 federal election defeating former Conservative cabinet minister Walter Humphries Montague by less than 150 votes.

Due to redistribution, Thompson's riding was abolished and in the 1904 federal election, he ran for re-election in the redrawn district of Haldimand but was defeated by his Conservative opponent by less than 300 votes.

During World War I, Thompson was lieutenant colonel of the 114th Regiment composed of white and First Nations soldiers from Thompson's home region of the Haldimand County area.

In 1923, he was chosen by the deputy superintendent general of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to lead a one-man inquiry into the disturbances on a Six Nations reserve and the demands by Cayuga nation hereditary chief Deskaheh for recognition of the rights of his people after he threatened to take his complaints to the League of Nations along with demands for an independent state under Article 17 of the League's Covenant. As Thompson had commanded Iroquois soldiers during World War I he was seen as a mediator who could be trusted by both sides. However, Thompson's Commission to Investigate and Report upon the Affairs of the Six Nations Indians issued a report that recommended that the hereditary council that governed the reserve be replaced by an elected council thus depriving Deskaheh of his right to speak for the Six Nations. The new council was elected in October 1924.