Daniel Joseph Thomas (born 12 November 1961) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played for Coventry City and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and for the England national team. He was a member of the Tottenham Hotspur team that won the

1983–84 UEFA Cup The 1983–84 UEFA Cup was the 13th season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The final was played over two legs at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brus ...

, despite missing his penalty in the shootout in the final against

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

Club career

Thomas made his debut for Coventry City during the 1979–80 season, making 3 appearances during that season. Over the next three seasons he was a regular for the first team. In June 1983 he was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £250,000. He made his Tottenham league debut on 27 August 1983 in a 3–1 defeat at Ipswich Town. He collected a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

winner's medal at the end of the 1983–84 season and made a total of 87 league appearances for the

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

club, scoring once, before suffering a knee injury in 1987 following a tackle by Gavin Maguire He retired the following year, having failed to recover from the injury.

Appearances

Coventry City: * 1979-1980 Played 3 Scored 0 goals (Division 1) * 1980-1981 Played 25 Scored 1 goal (Division 1) * 1981-1982 Played 39 Scored 1 goal (Division 1) * 1982-1983 Played 41 Scored 3 goals (Division 1) Tottenham: * 1983-1984 Played 27 Scored 0 goals (Division 1) * 1984-1985 Played 16 Scored 0 goals (Division 1) * 1985-1986 Played 27 Scored 1 goal (Division 1) * 1986-1987 Played 17 Scored 0 goals (Division 1) * 1987-1988 Played 0 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)

International career

He was capped twice by England during the tour of Australia in June 1983, playing 137 minutes for the national side. To date Thomas is the only English Player to win the UEFA Under-21 Championship twice.

Career after football

He completed a degree in

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

after his career came to an end at the age of 26 after a serious injury. With the assistance of the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...

he completed a master's degree. After a short period as physio with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

he went on to run his own practice in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

before working in Florida.

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur *

winner:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

.England Under 21 Uefa Under 21 European Championship. 1982,1984 Individual * Coventry City Hall of Fame

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Danny 1961 births Living people Footballers from Worksop English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players English Football League players UEFA Europa League–winning players Association football physiotherapists British physiotherapists