V ’12: The one to watch: Benji Thompson

**How do you feel about this, the most prestige of accolades – The Boar’s ‘One To Watch’ at Varsity?**

I’m very honoured to be the ‘One To Watch’ this year. I got a bit of stick from the boys because they didn’t really want to give it to me as they knew that a few comments would be made about them!

**What’s your form been like this season, both as an individual and as a team?**

We were top of the Midlands 1A League until we got beaten yesterday (29 Feb) but we’re still hoping to win the title. We had a great season last year and got promoted, so originally our aim was to stay in the league this year, but as it happens our form’s been so good that we’re now pushing to get promoted to the BUCS Premiership which has never happened before for a Warwick side. Individually, this season’s probably the best I’ve ever played. In my first year I got a knee injury so it took me about a year to get back to proper form, and this year I’ve started every game, my knee’s better, I don’t have to wear a brace anymore and I’ve just been scoring goals. This is the best Warwick team I have played in, and it’s been a lot down to captain Joe Bloomfield and our coach James Ellis who has come in and been a complete revelation. He won five championships as director of football at Loughborough and now as Deputy Director of Warwick PE and Sport he’s been a fantastic manager for us. We’d never had a coach before really. In the first year we had Terry Angers who couldn’t come to all our games and it was more coached by the captain, but James has reinvented our style of play, so we play a lot more on the deck which you should watch out for at Varsity!

**Are you renowned for anything around the club: I’ve heard about your Ronaldo-esque finger-wagging celebration and do you really get that much stick for your dress sense?**

Last year at the club I got the ‘Jean Paul Gaultier Award’ for worst dress sense which I thought was a bit unfair! I accepted some of the criticisms so this year I came back with a new wardrobe: a few new pairs of jeans, a couple of t-shirts and a jumper. I still wear the tracksuit around campus sometimes but I think I’m slightly more trendy than I was last year and I’m definitely not in the running for it this year. Around the club I get a lot of stick for having a big head, because of my uncontrollable hair and because I win quite a lot of headers in the air. I also get called a Peter Crouch lookalike around the club, for some strange reason. At Varsity I’ve said to some people as a joke that if I score I’ll go and celebrate in front of the Cov. fans but I think in all seriousness I’ll run over to the Warwick fans because I think we’ll do them over this year. I might go into the crowd and risk a booking or something. When I was younger I did the Robbie Keane flip and shoot which worked a treat until I was about 13!

**Which players would you liken yourself most to in the modern game?**

As a fresher I started out in a three-man centre midfield in the first team, then last year I played as a striker, this year I started out as the number 9 but got moved to left-wing, so now I’d like to link myself to Gareth Bale but I don’t think I can! In terms of who I admire, it’s Steven Gerrard. He’s up and down the pitch and has the ability to change a game on its head, so I try and base my game on him. As a Newcastle fan I’d like to be known as a Hatem Ben Arfa but I’m not sure if I’ve got that in my locker all the time.

**What can you say about your fellow teammates? Who are the players to look out for?**

This year as opposed to the last two years, we’ve got a big international feel within our squad. Andrew Amato’s our Maltese international. He was called up to their Under-21s squad last season and almost signed for Bolton when he was younger. If he plays we have Nick Meulenbroek who’s Dutch and Lewis Treacy’s from Preston which is basically international! Javier Hernandez (again, no relation to the Javier Hernandez) is our Spaniard who used to play for Valencia. I’d say he’s my ‘One To Watch’ because I give him a lot of stick but he’s a very skilful player. We play a 4-2-3-1 formation this year and we’ve got a very solid spine with two defensive midfielders. Our captain Joe Bloomfield who was at Ipswich and Sam Longden, who’s from Malawi, do a great job sitting in there. Lewis, the club captain, is a right-sided player who’s up-and-down and puts in the big tackles so he’s one you should really get behind at Varsity. Gareth Roberts will want me to give him a shout out too. He’s huge, plays at the back, you won’t miss him at Varsity. He’s a very good technical player but we give him a bit for stick for being a bit slow on the turn, very much like Per Mertesacker! Up top Tom Newman-Sanders is a good player as is goalkeeper Rich Alford, who played in the 4s last year and went straight up into the 1s this season after being recommended to us. He’s been incredible this year.

**How did you do last year at Varsity, did you enjoy it, and what did you take from the experience?**

I loved the experience. Playing in front of any crowd no matter what the size is always something to get up for. At one point, to get the crowd on my side, I took out their skilful but very lairy left winger right in front of the Cov. fans. I think I got a yellow card but I loved the Coventry crowd on my back and it got all the Warwick fans shouting back at them so that’s what it’s all about! He’ll be playing this year so watch out for that confrontation again. Varsity is about playing when you can and still getting the big hits in. It was at the Butts Arena Stadium which was a rugby pitch, so was very bobbly. Not a lot of football was played on the ground and the weather wasn’t great and so what I want to emphasise is that a lot of people would have gone away from that 0-0 draw (which we won on penalties) thinking there’s no point going again because it was a load of rubbish last year, but this year we’re playing at a Championship-quality stadium, the Ricoh Arena, and the weather’s gorgeous at the moment. We went to the pitch the other week and it’s a carpet at the moment so it will be much more of a spectacle this time around. Considering the form we’re in at the moment, hopefully it will be a high-scoring, entertaining game too.

**You’ve touched upon your rivalry there, does that make it the biggest game of the season for the lads?**

Our coach does stress that BUCS is massive for us, especially this year, but Varsity’s the one that everyone looks forward to towards the end of the season. You can’t beat it; everyone has their eye on it. It’s an extra incentive to play well; you’re always thinking that you don’t want to get injured for Varsity. For the 2s, 3s, and 4s it’s such a massive game too. I personally love going down to Cryfield or Westwood where Coventry play and going to watch their games. In terms of Varsity and our rivalry, it’s our Cup Final and derby rolled into one. In my first year there was a red card for them for a horrible tackle on our then captain Timi Dorgu, I got booked last year and kicked in the head at one point and Shaun Birch, who’s now left, broke his nose so it’s certainly feisty, everyone will be up for it and we’ll all be putting in challenges like they’re our worst enemy.

**You mentioned how it was a tough game last time around and how we only just sneaked it on penalties, so how do you rate the Coventry side?**

We’ve played against them twice this year in the MUL (Midlands University League) which is a Saturday League, nothing compared to BUCS on a Wednesday. The first game game we were 4-2 up at home and ended up drawing but we knew we should have won comfortably. With it not being as serious as BUCS and being on a Saturday some don’t play, or those that do take it too casually and maybe don’t have a good night’s sleep the day before so you’re going to get people not playing to their potential. We then played them away the following Wednesday, which was a rearranged game, and we drew 2-2 partly due to the club social we had the night before! Again it doesn’t reflect how we can play and I think their team are actually worse than last year. They lost a lot of talented players this year but they’ve still got their captain and the guy I chopped down last year, Dimi, who’s one to look out for.

**What will be going through your head five minutes before kick-off in the tunnel at the Ricoh Arena?**

Just nerves, I get butterflies before every match! I sometimes feel a bit sick and I remember last year I was sitting in the Varsity dressing room with so much nervous excitement. It’s not being scared or not up for it but just an eagerness to impress. Going through my head will just be me thinking this could be the last ever game I play for Warwick University, so yeah – tension, but very much looking forward to it.

**Finally, what are your expectations and predictions for the match?**

I definitely think we’re favourites. Last year we were a bit more focused on making sure the other team doesn’t score, being happy with the narrow 1-0 wins but this year we’ve scored a lot of goals. From the last two games we’ve played against them I expect goals, and I think we’ve got the flair and attacking ability with these international players to really go at them – I would guess a 3-1 win. I’m top goalscorer with six goals in seven or eight BUCs games which is alright for a left-winger so I’m hoping for my name to be on the scoresheet.