Arthur Thomas (1938 – 8 November 2007)
was born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and signed for
Linfield F.C.
Linfield Football Club is a Northern Irish professional football club based in south Belfast which plays in the NIFL Premiership – the highest level of the Northern Ireland Football League. The fourth-oldest club on the island of Ireland, Li ...
from
Ballymena United F.C.
Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional association football, football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds wh ...
in November 1965. He made his Linfield debut in a 2–0 defeat by
Glentoran
Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882.
History
Early history
In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...
on 6 November 1965. In that 1965–66 season he won a Co. Antrim Shield winners medal against Ballymena United and it was a season in which he scored 16 goals in his 31 Linfield appearances.
He was one of the stars of the Linfield team in the 1966–67 season when the club reached the Quarter Final of the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
, before losing narrowly on aggregate to
CSKA Sofia of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. Arthur scored three goals in the European tie against
Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Howard, Former President of the Jamai ...
of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
that season and his final tally of five European goals is still a club record held jointly with Phil Scott and current star striker,
Glenn Ferguson
Glenn Ferguson (born 10 July 1969) is a Northern Irish former football player and manager.
Ferguson amassed over 1,000 domestic appearances in a career where he played for Ards, Glenavon, Linfield and Lisburn Distillery, and scored a tota ...
.
A former schoolteacher at St. James Secondary Modern
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
in
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
, Arthur joined
New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.:
Australia
* New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores
Canada
* New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood
* New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...
on the
Wirral from Linfield in September 1967 and around 45 years ago he emigrated to
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia.
Arthur died in Sydney on 8 November 2007.
1938 births
2007 deaths
Linfield F.C. players
Republic of Ireland men's association footballers
Men's association football inside forwards
{{Ireland-footy-bio-stub