John Thomas (footballer born 1958)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John William Thomas | ||
| Date of birth | 5 August 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Wednesbury, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1974–1976 | Everton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1980 | Everton | 0 | (0) |
| 1979 | → Tranmere Rovers (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 1980 | → Halifax Town (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1980–1982 | Bolton Wanderers | 22 | (6) |
| 1982–1983 | Chester City | 44 | (20) |
| 1983–1985 | Lincoln City | 67 | (18) |
| 1985–1987 | Preston North End | 78 | (38) |
| 1987–1989 | Bolton Wanderers | 73 | (31) |
| 1989–1990 | West Bromwich Albion | 19 | (1) |
| 1990–1992 | Preston North End | 27 | (5) |
| 1992 | Hartlepool United | 7 | (1) |
| 1992–1993 | Halifax Town | 12 | (0) |
| 1993–1994 | Bamber Bridge | ? | (?) |
| Total | 365 | (123) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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John William Thomas (born 5 August 1958) is an English former professional footballer who scored 123 goals from 364 appearances in the Football League playing for Tranmere Rovers, Halifax Town, Bolton Wanderers, Chester City, Lincoln City, Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers and Hartlepool United.
Born in Wednesbury, upon leaving school in 1974 Thomas signed for Everton as a trainee but in six years with the club failed to make a single appearance although two loan spells with Tranmere Rovers (11 games 2 goals) in 1978-79 and also with Halifax Town (5 games 0 goals) the following season showed that John was no doubt capable of playing in the lower reaches of the league.
After Everton released him at the end of the 1979-80 season John signed for newly relegated Bolton Wanderers hoping to cement a regular place in the starting line-up and thus kick starting his career.His two years at Burnden Park were however rather stop-start with John struggling to hold a regular place down in the team.He did though in his time at the club manage to play 22 league games scoring 6 goals.
After Bolton gave John a free transfer he signed in July 1982 for fourth division Chester City. In his only season at Sealand Road John became a real favourite with the fans, comfortably finishing as the club's top scorer with 20 goals in 44 league games. He was also unsurprisingly voted Chester's player of the season. It was however a shock to the club's fans when the cash strapped club were forced to sell their prize asset to Division Three side Lincoln City for £22,000 after just one season.
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