Viral dad ecstatic as Declan Thompson's Sheffield Wednesday future is confirmed
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The 19-year-old defender, who signed for the club in 2018 having overcome a childhood disease that left him in a wheelchair, will continue on into the 2020/21 season.
The fairytale news was revealed by The Star last week but has since been confirmed by both Thompson and his former footballer dad Lee on social media.
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Hide AdLee tasted 15 minutes of fame in January alongside his son when a video of him watching Declan’s appearance from the bench in an FA Cup tie at Exeter City went viral.
Speaking to The Star, the school teacher spoke of his pride in his son’s progress and offered a simple message; the hard work starts now.
“He’s ecstatic obviously, he’s Sheffield Wednesday through and through and he loves that club to bits,” Lee said. “He now desperately wants to prove himself.
“They’re turning into men now. You look at what Liam Shaw did last season and Dec is going to be Liam’s age when the season starts again. It can be done and you never know how the season is going to progress.”
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Hide AdWednesday’s relegation means that they will play in the Papa John’s Trophy next season, a competition that could be used to give more opportunities to some of the club’s younger players.
But the Thompsons aren’t getting ahead of themselves.
“It’s all he wanted to do and the chance for someone to play for their boyhood club is what dreams are made of,” Lee said.
“He just wants to give everything he can to the club.
“We’ve spoken to club about what he needs to do in the off-season and he needs to come back fitter and stronger than how he has been and hit the ground running.
“He has to prove to everybody he is worth the deal and earn some first team game time, but at the end of the day that’s for him to prove how much he wants it.”