HIS business collapsed and within weeks so did he.
Stephen Thompson declared himself bankrupt and was soon slumped on the side of the road after suffering a minor stroke.
Almost a year on and the former Dundee United chairman is back on his feet in one sense, and aiming to make a full recovery in the other.
Crippling debts of more than £800,000 brought his grocery venture to a halt.
And that led to a serious health scare which had the 59-year-old fearing for his life as he was being rushed to hospital in the back of an ambulance.
Thompson now has a renewed outlook on his personal life with the target of battling his way back professionally.
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He told SunSport: “It’s been a challenging few months but I still feel I’ve got something to offer.
“I have a lot of experience but does anyone want me, I don’t know?
“The health issue was a rude awakening It was scary having a TIA – a mini stroke – at the turn of the year.
“When something like that happens you reassess your whole life.
“The doctor, afterwards, asked me about my mental health because a lot of people suffer from depression after it.
“I certainly had a low mood for a while but my two younger kids kept me going.
“It was a horrible thing to happen and it was probably brought on by stress around that time, being declared bankrupt just two weeks beforehand.
“I was maybe lucky it wasn’t a full stroke.
“I was out on my own in Broughty Ferry, just walking down the main street, and I had an awful feeling like a GHOST was going through me
“I thought that was it, I thought I was dead.
“My right leg just stopped working, I fell into a parked car on my left and my head was spinning. I managed to stagger into Boots and I ended up being blue-lighted up to Ninewells Hospital.
“Thankfully I’ve made a full recovery but it definitely changed me. I don’t stress about things any more. I just don’t worry and it feels like a reset of my life.
“But I’m a battler and I’d like to get involved in football again.
“I’ve been through the good, the bad and the ugly. I’ve been successful and also been through the crap.
“In America they respect people who have been through failure because it’s not just been success all the time.
“I know the pitfalls and feel I’m far more rounded in business than I’ve ever been.”
It’s been six years since Thompson sold his shareholding in Dundee United.
And he knows there aren’t many of the club’s supporters who were unhappy to see the back of him.
He only need to nip out for a quiet pint down his local boozer to hear it.
The Arabs adored his dad, Eddie Thompson, who ploughed the family millions into Tannadice before sadly losing his battle with prostrate cancer in 2008.
But they have a low opinion of his son because he brought costs down after taking over.
What the punters don’t know is that their club was almost closed by the bank for the debts that had mounted up.
Stephen added: “We had around £7m of debt and they almost shut us twice.
“It was back in 2008 when there was the crash and they were demanding money back.
“My father passed away around the same time and the whole world changed.
“It was tough because there really was a lot of pressure put on us by the bank to sell players and bring money in.
“We won the Scottish Cup in 2010 and reached a lot of semi-finals and finals, finishing third in the league and playing in Europe three times.
“But it all started to go pear-shaped in the summer of 2015 when we didn’t sign the right players and got relegated. That was the worst night of my life, absolutely horrendous.
“By the end, it wasn’t great, it was tough living in the city and I eventually decided to get out.”
Thompson reluctantly sold up in 2018, adding: “I had nine and a half years as chairman – 17 years on the board – and that’s a long time, but by then the fans didn’t want me there any more.
“It’s now seven years since I left and I miss it. I’ve only been to a few United games. I’ve been sworn at just waking down the street. It went from people wanting a picture taken with me to people trying to physically hit me.
“That’s hard to deal with, especially when you’re in a pub and people have had a few beers.”
Thompson would dearly love to turn the clock back. Especially when it comes to his beloved father, Eddie, who put Dundee United before his own life.
He added: “My dad found out he had cancer a year after he took the club on.
“He started radiotherapy which had a one in five chance of failing, and he was the one in five. So he had a limited time.
“But he wouldn’t even talk about it.
“I feel quite annoyed that my dad took the shortest time away from work rather than thinking about his own health first.”
United named one of the Tannadice stands after Eddie Thompson. But sadly Stephen doesn’t feel welcome at the club any more.
He added: “I find it a bit weird that my family spent millions upon millions of pounds on United and I can’t ever get a ticket for a game.
“Listen, I don’t mind paying to get into a game.
“But my family put a lot into the club, it’s not up to me to reach out to anybody.”
Thompson – speaking in an exclusive video interview with SunSport that can be seen on our YouTube channel – also talks about his battle with Rangers during his time as United chairman.
But incredibly, despite the anger towards him from Ibrox, he was once offered a job at Ibrox.
Thompson added: “I think was around the time the Easdales were there.
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“I was chairman of United at the time and someone approached me and asked if I’d be interested in the CEO position at Rangers.
“I think I would have lasted even less than their last manager!”
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