Luke Gerald Michael Thomas (born 19 February 1999) 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 le ...
who plays as an attacking midfielder for club
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 ...
Thomas began his career with
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
, before later playing for
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
&
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
. He has also featured on loan for
Gloucester City,
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
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 ...
.
Club career
Thomas began his career with
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
club
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
, making his only first team appearance against
Chelmsford City
Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium.
History Chelmsford
Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members o ...
in the
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
. He had a trial with Portuguese club
Benfica in 2015. He joined
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
in January 2016 for an undisclosed transfer fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year professional contract. He had a loan spell with
National League North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
club
Gloucester City during the 2016–17 season.
Thomas was nominated for the
Premier League 2
The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...
Player of the Month award in September 2017 as a result of his performances for
Derby County's under-23 team. He signed a new three-year contract with Derby in October 2017. He was first named in a first team matchday squad on 31 October 2017 against
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
,
and made his league debut on 21 November 2017, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for
Tom Lawrence
Thomas Morris Lawrence (born 13 January 1994) is a Welsh professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Scottish Premiership club Rangers F.C., Rangers and the Wales national football te ...
in a 2–0 win over
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
.
Thomas signed a new four-year contract with Derby in August 2018. Later that month, he joined
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 ...
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 ...
on a half-season loan until the start of 2019.
In January 2019, the loan was extended for the rest of the season.
Barnsley
In June 2019, he joined
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
for an undisclosed fee.
On his debut he scored the winning goal for Barnsley in a 1–0 win against
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 ...
.
In January 2021, Thomas joined
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 ...
on loan for the remainder of the season. On 8 April 2021, Thomas announced on social media that he had cut his loan move with Ipswich short due to personal reasons and he returned to Barnsley.
Bristol Rovers (loan)
On 10 July 2021, Thomas joined
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
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 ...
on a season-long loan deal. On 13 October, he scored his first goal for the club when he opened the scoring in a 2–1
EFL Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
defeat to
Chelsea U21s. On 23 November 2021, Thomas came off the bench in a 1–1 draw against nine-men
Salford City, missing a great chance to put Rovers two ahead before the home side eventually equalised. After the match, Thomas' manager
Joey Barton
Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City. He is currently the man ...
criticised Thomas claiming that he "thinks the world owes him a favour" and that "if he doesn't get his finger out, this opportunity at Rovers is going to pass him by". Barton continued with his criticism of Thomas the following day, claiming that the club had tried to terminate his loan in the summer, the same window in which Thomas had been signed after the player had stormed out of training a number of times in frustration. In January 2022, Thomas admitted that he deserved the criticism and had let people down. The season ended with Rovers getting promoted on the final day of the season, moving into the automatic promotion spots on goals scored.
Return to Barnsley
After speculation surrounding Thomas and a permanent return to Bristol Rovers, he found himself in the first team picture under new manager
Michael Duff and scored the only goal in the second match of the season as Duff was given his first win in charge over Thomas' former club Cheltenham Town. On 8 October 2022, it was confirmed that Thomas had suffered a broken leg in training that would see the winger out of action for at least four months. Following defeat in the play-off final, he was offered a new contract at the end of the
2022–23 season.
Bristol Rovers
On 24 June 2023, Thomas' return to Bristol Rovers was confirmed, signing a three-year deal. He scored his first league goal for the club on his second debut, an opening day draw with
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. On 30 September 2023, Thomas suffered a tight hamstring during half-time of a 2–0 defeat to
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
, failing to tell the club's medical staff until the end of the half-time break, with the opposition going on to score early in to the second period. Following the match, manager Joey Barton launched an angry tirade toward the player, blaming him for the second goal and criticising his character, demanding that the player should be fined by the club and threatening his future at the club. It was later revealed that he would miss a number of weeks with a hamstring injury.
International career
Thomas made his youth international debut on 6 September 2019 with
England U20
England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in Eng ...
, coming on as an 80th minute substitute for
Luke Bolton in a 0–0 draw against
Netherlands U20 at
New Meadow
New Meadow, also known as Montgomery Waters Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5 road (Great Britain) ...
.
Career statistics
Honours
Bristol Rovers
*
EFL League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
third-place promotion:
2021–22[ ]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Luke
1999 births
Living people
People from Forest of Dean District
English men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Cheltenham Town F.C. players
Derby County F.C. players
Gloucester City A.F.C. players
Coventry City F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Bristol Rovers F.C. players
National League (English football) players
English Football League players
England men's youth international footballers
Footballers from Gloucestershire