John William Thomas (date of birth unknown) was a Welsh

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 an

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

Football career

''The Welshman'' (as he was referred to in the local press) was signed by

on 5 May 1891 from

. Gainsborough had just won the

Midland Counties League The Midland Football League was a semi-professional football league in England. It acted as a feeder league to the Football League for many years before merging with the Yorkshire League in 1982 to form the Northern Counties East League. Histor ...

and Thomas was signed to bring added potency to United's attack. Thomas started the first seven of United's games in the 1891–92 season including scoring in their first ever game in the Northern League against

Sunderland Albion Sunderland Albion Football Club was an English association football club based in Sunderland, England, formed in 1888 and disbanded in 1892. The club was reformed in 2020 but has as of 2023 ceased operations again. Summary Sunderland Albion ...

. Despite this he then lost his place to a young

Ernest Needham Ernest Needham (21 January 1873 – 8 March 1936) was an English footballer and cricketer. He played in sixteen international football matches for England and captained the side in 1901. He was an outstanding left half who played for Sheffield ...

and, unable to reclaim his position in the side, Thomas returned to

in December 1891.

References

1920 deaths Welsh footballers Association football outside forwards Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Year of birth unknown Northern Football League players {{Wales-footy-forward-stub