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 le ...

who played for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

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). It was won by English club Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Belgian side Anderlecht ...

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

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 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, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

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 Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. He collected a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

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. He 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 one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

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 association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

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

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

he went on to run his own practice in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

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 Southeast A ...

Individual * Coventry City Hall of Fame

References

External links

englandstats.com
- England profile {{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 Cup winning players Association football physiotherapists