'Ciarán always pushed himself, we knew he'd be wearing the county jersey' - Thompson

In togging out for the Donegal Masters at right-half back against Tyrone on Saturday afternoon in Letterkenny, Aaron Thompson became the latest and final brother to don the green and gold of Donegal. 

Following in the footsteps of younger brother Anthony, Leon, and Ciarán, the eldest Thompson brother made his county senior debut for the Over 40s team who fell to the Tyrone Masters in Coláiste Ailigh on a 2-19 to 0-9 point scoreline. 

Being the oldest of the four, Aaron probably didn’t think his first time playing for his county would be in the 40-age mark, but it was a day he said he enjoyed and will take serious learnings from, despite the result.  

“I think when you get to 40 you think it’s time to start hanging the boots up, but I enjoyed it today, it’s a good team to be a part of and we have a good management,” said Thompson.  

“It was a great day to play, and look, all we can do is try to right the wrongs for the next day and put the best foot forward. 

“Tyrone are a good side and we’ll definitely take a lot of learning for the next day. There are a lot of debutants out there today like myself, so we’re all learning, and we’ll take whatever we can from the game like individual errors, etc, but all we’ll do is go again, train harder, and prepare for the Derry game the next day.” 

Like so many families and supporters, Aaron will be in Clones tomorrow afternoon as his brother Ciarán and his Donegal team aim to recapture their first Ulster crown since 2019. 

With Anthony and Leon being mainstays in the panel under McGuinness in the past, there’s not much that the elder Thompson hasn’t seen and can shed greater light than most on the progression of his youngest brother through the years and the player that he is. 

“Ciarán deserves to be where he is, he’s a phenomenal footballer and a real role model for the place,” Aaron admits. “He dedicates everything he has to it and that’s why he is where he is.” 

When complimenting his family’s achievements, Aaron gives massive credit to their home club Naomh Conaill for molding the players and creating an amazing environment for the players to flourish. 

“You could always see that these lads had something in them to be great players. You have to bring that back to the Naomh Conaill club with lads like Martin Regan who got involved and built a professional structure there, which is amazing,” said the current Naomh Conaill ladies' coach.  

“Lads want to come down to the club and play, they want to better themselves and they’re putting in really hard work behind the scenes. 

“I think it’s about what we don’t see from behind the scenes with these boys and the work they’re doing. Ciarán was always pushing himself and I always knew he would be wearing the county jersey.” 

Aaron also admits that he expects a Donegal victory tomorrow but it’s a match that will go down to the wire. 

“There’s a massive boost in Donegal with Jim coming back, we all knew he would bring something to the table, and win, lose, or draw tomorrow, we’re in a good place and probably a wee bit ahead of ourselves anyway,” he said. 

“It’ll be a hard-fought game, probably only two or three points in it and I just hope Donegal will come through the right side of it.”