Eddie Thomas (footballer, born 1931)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Edwin Henry Charles Thomas | ||
| Date of birth | 9 November 1931 | ||
| Place of birth | Swindon, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Swindon Railway Works XI | |||
| 1949–1950 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1950–1953 | Southampton | 8 | (0) |
| 1956 | Salisbury | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Edwin Henry Charles "Eddie" Thomas (born 9 November 1931) is an English retired footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Southampton in the early 1950s.
Thomas was born in Swindon, Wiltshire where he became an apprentice engineer with British Rail at the Swindon Works. Whilst playing for the works team, he caught the eye of a scout from Southampton of the Football League Second Division, joining them as an amateur in 1949.
He made his reserve team debut on 17 December 1949, displacing Len Stansbridge, and over the next year, he and Stansbridge vied for the role of second choice 'keeper behind Scottish international Ian Black. Black moved to Fulham in July 1950, with Northern Irish international Hugh Kelly joining the Saints in exchange. On 7 October 1950, Kelly was called into the Northern Irish team for a match against England and manager Sid Cann promoted Thomas to the first-team for a match against Birmingham City. At a month before his 18th birthday, Thomas thus became Southampton's youngest-ever first-team goalkeeper, until the debut of Bob Charles in 1959. Although the match was lost 2–0, Thomas was not deemed to be at fault for either of the goals.
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