David Watkin John Thomas (6 July 1917 – 30 March 1991) was an English

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 as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

and Gillingham, scoring 112 goals in 259 appearances. He also played non-league football for

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

and Sittingbourne. His brother,

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

, played in the Football League for several clubs as an inside forward.

Life and career

Born in Stepney, Thomas began his career in non-league football with

. He joined

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

club

in 1938, as manager

Jack Tresadern John Tresadern (26 September 1890 – 26 December 1959) was an English professional footballer and football manager. He played twice for the England national side. Playing career Tresadern, a left-half, began his career with non-league Wanstead, ...

's first signing, and established himself as the club's first choice centre forward after

Bill Hullett William Alexander Hullett (19 December 1915 - 1982) was a professional footballer who played in the Football League for New Brighton, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City and Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association ...

was transferred to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He made 23 appearances in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

put an end to competitive football in September 1939. He continued to play for Argyle in the

South West Regional League South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

until December, scoring five goals in six matches, before guesting for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, Gillingham, Grimsby Town and West Ham United during the course of the war. Thomas returned to Plymouth Argyle after the war had finished to take part in the 1945–46

Football League South The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created temporarily for the League to continue through the Second World War while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The leagues star ...

. Towards the end of the campaign, his brother

joined the club from

and the pair scored 36 goals between them in the 1946–47 season. Thomas lost his place in the team to

Maurice Tadman Maurice Roy Tadman (28 June 1921 – 26 November 1994) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. He began his career in non-league football with Bexleyheath & Welling before playing alongside his older brother George at Char ...

at the beginning of the 1947–48 campaign. He made his final appearance for Argyle in January 1948 before being transferred to

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

club

. Thomas spent three seasons with Watford and was the club's leading goalscorer twice. He scored 41 league goals in 105 appearances before joining Gillingham in 1950, where he continued to score regularly. He was Gillingham's leading goalscorer in his first season with the club and was tied with Derek Lewis in the 1951–52 campaign. He left the club in 1953 and finished his career back in non-league football with Sittingbourne. He later managed

Chatham Town Chatham Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Chatham, Kent. It currently plays in the and is nicknamed "The Chats”. Former Premier League club Portsmouth and current Premier League club West Ham United played ...

and acted as trainer for Gravesend & Northfleet. Thomas died in Dovercourt on 30 March 1991 at the age of 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Dave 1917 births 1991 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Stepney English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Romford F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Watford F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Sittingbourne F.C. players English Football League players Brentford F.C. wartime guest players Clapton Orient F.C. wartime guest players Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Gillingham F.C. wartime guest players Chatham Town F.C. managers English football managers