Embattled footy star Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson’s desperate plea for help

FALLEN footy great Mark “Bomber” Thompson pleaded with former Essendon chairman David Evans to “save my life” in a desperate email.

Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Could Bomber head North?

FALLEN footy great Mark “Bomber” Thompson pleaded with former Essendon chairman David Evans to “save my life” in a desperate email.

The email — sent to Evans days after James Hird’s drug overdose in January 2017 — reveals that neither ex-coach Hird, his former assistant Thompson nor the players were coping, five years after the club’s doping scandal erupted.

Evans quit his Essendon post in July 2013 — days after revelations he was allegedly “tipped off” by then AFL boss Andrew Demetriou about the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s investigation.

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In his email, obtained by the ­Herald Sun, Thompson told Evans both their lives had been “changed forever” by the scandal. He wrote: “I think it’s time you stepped up to be the man we thought you were.

“It’s time to start fighting for the truth for all our sakes, and most importantly for the players’ sake. They deserve to know everything we know about this fiasco. It’s time we all stood up and right the wrong.

Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson leaves Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. Picture: Alex Coppel

“James will die if you continue to let the world bully him. Your former best friend will die fighting for the cause ... You need to save my life and that of James Hird, Danny Corcoran, Dr Bruce Reid and 34 current and past players.

“You would save the game in many ways. It’s been a cover-up from the start. And like Watergate, the cover-up is worse than the crime.”

Thompson, 54, was charged on May 1 with seven counts of drug trafficking and possession, after police alleged they found illicit substances including ice, ecstasy, LSD and ephedrine during a raid on his Port Melbourne home in January. He strongly denies all the charges.

Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson at his home in Port Melbourne. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

Thompson continued in his email: “He (Hird), like me, cannot get over the fact we have been used as scapegoats, never given the chance for natural justice, reputations slandered publicly and our souls destroyed by an organisation you have agreed to support all this time.”

Thompson is on bail on the drug charges and returns to court next Friday. His outlaw bikie housemates, Bandido-linked Karl “Bang Bang” Holt and Rebels associate Thomas Windsor, have also been charged with serious drug offences.

James Hird with Dr Bruce Reid. Picture: Michael Klein

Friends of the double premiership-winning coach at Geelong — and a flag winner as a Bombers player — say the doping saga and his “bitterness” at perceived injustices have contributed to his downfall. Hird has been among those to reach out to him recently.

Thompson told Evans in the January 2017 email: “Unless the truth comes out and the general public demand the Australian Football League rid itself of this behaviour, then we will allow this style of management to exist in the future and people will end up hating the game.

“The AFL needs to stand up and take responsibility. They need to say sorry and they need to tell the players what they know.

“They should fight for the 34 players who have been found guilty by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a fair and correct verdict, or else sack WADA and ASADA because everybody believes it was a joke to suspend these players in these circumstances.

“How can you honestly let all this happen knowing the AFL have deliberately created this situation and allowed players to be suspended as drug cheats?

“That’s what is killing James Hird and it sits really poorly with me. The players hate Essendon and hate the Australian Football League. Please help and I bet you will feel better yourself.

“Hope ... that you care enough to help the Essendon players so we can all start living again — Regards and cheers, Mark Thompson.”

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Originally published as Embattled footy star Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson’s desperate plea for help