The former Big V striker played in 15 Derbies until he hung up the boots in 2016 and has conceded the Sydney Derby has now upstaged the Victory-City clash.

Thompson was part of many iconic moments for Victory including three championships and he said the buzz at games was different to when he played.

“I’m going off what I’ve seen over the last few games with the atmosphere, I don’t think it compares to the early days,” Thompson told FourFourTwo.

“The Sydney Derbies are good, I did say that being at one of them, it felt like it eclipsed because of the amount of singing with the Western Sydney Wanderers fans. In saying that, Victory are the ones who set the benchmark.

“They definitely sing more in Sydney, that being said when the Northern Terrace was buzzing, we all sang together.

"The South End sang to the North Terrace and it was bloody electric. We just don’t have that now.”

Thompson said he enjoyed the atmosphere when Victory entertained rivals Adelaide United at home in Round 10 when 16,778 people turned up to Etihad Stadium – the club’s lowest home attendance of the season.

He said the atmosphere reminded him of the A-League when it was just fresh.

The 2017 Christmas Derby is set to be played on Saturday night at AAMI Park as a third-placed City locks horns with Victory who sit fifth.

The 39-year-old urged the fans to pack out the Derby on Saturday.

“Maybe sometimes the players take it for granted,” he said. “I think that’s what’s missing and hopefully they bring the heat on Saturday. I don’t think the supporters realise how much of a lift they give the teams.

“I’m just not feeling it, it’s sad because they really built something great and unfortunately it came down to the politics of everything.

“You have to look at the safety and the idiots who ruin it for everyone, it was always a minority issue. It’s sad because they’ve taken a bit of the essence of what Victory are when it comes to any match.

“Sometimes what’s on the pitch isn’t going to live up to the hype. The atmosphere is a substitute for that.”

Thompson believed the issues in the past two years with the FFA’s governance, the ceased coordinated support in the active area and repetitiveness with fixtures were all linked with the lack of buzz.

“I thought the atmosphere was great before there was all this turmoil between the terraces, the club and the federation,” Thompson said.

“It just stems from everything, you’ve got the issues with the federation and all the energy and focus is being used on one thing.

“There was a lot of talk now about how maybe expansion should’ve happened earlier, because it felt like there was a bit of complacency. 

“Then you see the league start to stagnate, you have to keep evolving and still look at things to try and pump it up. We let it get a bit stale.”

Thompson also believed the quality of players were better back when the A-League was established.

He also said the game had evolved to the point where the salary cap has become obsolete.

“Money is the biggest issue, Bozza (Mark Bosnich) always brings it up and it’s a good point – why don’t we scrap the salary cap? It doesn’t seem to work,” Thompson said.

“Look at the gap between the top and the bottom, it’s huge and it doesn’t work now.

“We talk about structures and playing a better style of football, in the early days it wasn’t, but the quality of players are just not what it used to be. 

“We all still want this game to grow.  It’s still massive at grassroots level, we just need to capitalise on it.”