Dominic William Thomas (born 23 November 1995) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was forced to retire from professional football due to injury after spending 5 years at

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Thomas started his career at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

before signing a scholarship at

. Thomas won the league and cup double for the Under-18s during the 2012-13 campaign. He then went on to sign his first professional contract in 2014 with

at the age of 18.

Career

Charlton Athletic

Thomas joined

at 7 years old, where he then signed for their academy at the age of 9. He played there for 7 years until he was released at the age of 16 years. He then signed for

Bristol Rovers

Thomas signed a scholarship at

at the age of 16. In his first year as a scholar, he won the league and cup double for the Under-18s during the 2012-13 campaign. During this campaign, there was speculation that Thomas could be on his way to

Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

. He captained the U-18s in his second year scholar & after a strong campaign was promoted to the

first team before the end of the season. On 21 April,

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player who played in the English Football League. He is the manager of club Port Vale. A box-to-box midfielder, Clarke began his career with ...

named Thomas on the bench for the first team against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

but was an unused substitute. Rovers lost the game 2–1, which contributed towards their eventual relegation from 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 ...

- the first time since their acceptance in 1920. On 3 May, Thomas was again named on the bench for the first team for the ultimate game of the season at home to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

, where he was an unused substitute. Rovers lost 0-1 confirming their relegation from the

. In July 2014, Thomas signed his first professional contract with

. In October 2014, Thomas made his professional debut in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

against Dorchester Town where he replaced Lee Mansell in the 84th minute.

won the game 7–1. Later that season, Thomas was part of the squad who were successful in the play off final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, promoting Rovers back into the Football League 2 at the first time of asking. In August 2015, Thomas joined

Paulton Rovers Paulton Rovers Football Club is an English football club based at the First 4 Pools Stadium on Winterfield Road in the growing village of Paulton near Bristol. They were established in 1881 and currently play in the Southern Football League Div ...

on loan. Just a month later, on 26 September 2015, Thomas suffered a serious knee injury which ruled him out for the rest of the campaign. He then spent the full 2016/17 season on the sidelines while recovering from the injury. In the 2015/16 season, Bristol Rovers would finish third in League Two, earning them back-to-back promotions and a place in

On 26 July 2017, Thomas returned to the

first team squad for the first time in 22 months in a pre-season friendly against

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

after suffering a career threatening injury.

Retirement

Thomas announced his retirement from professional football on 1 October 2017 via his Twitter account due to not being able to overcome his knee/leg injury sustained in September 2015. He thanked his club doctor Tim Jenkins and surgeon

Jonathan Webb Jonathan Mark Webb (born 24 August 1963 in London, England) is a specialist knee surgeon and former English rugby union fullback. Webb played for the England national team from 1987 to 1993, reaching the 1991 World Cup Final and winning two F ...

for helping him throughout the injury.

Personal life

He is the brother of

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

player Jordan Thomas.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Dominic 1995 births Living people Footballers from Greater London Men's association football midfielders Bristol Rovers F.C. players English footballers