David Stuart Lynne Thomas (19 September 1920 – 21 April 1993), known as Lyn or Dai Thomas, was a Welsh 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 as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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 Brighton & Hove Albion.

Life and career

Thomas was born in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

in 1920. He was a schoolboy international, and joined Swansea Town from Abercregan Juniors in 1942. During the Second World War, he made guest appearances for clubs including Accrington Stanley,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, Swindon Town,

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, and Dundee United. He never played first-team football for Swansea, and signed for Brighton & Hove Albion of the

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 ...

in 1947. Although he scored on debut, Thomas soon dropped out of consideration, but came back into the team on the wing, and finished the season with four goals from fourteen appearances. He spent the following season in the reserves, and left the club on a free transfer at the end of it, going on to play for Kent League clubs Folkestone Town and (very briefly)

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. Thomas died in

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

, London, in 1993 at the age of 72.

References

1920 births 1993 deaths Footballers from Swansea Welsh men's footballers Wales men's schools international footballers Men's association football forwards Swansea City A.F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Folkestone F.C. players Margate F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) wartime guest players Blackpool F.C. wartime guest players Swindon Town F.C. wartime guest players Wrexham F.C. wartime guest players Dundee United F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players {{Wales-footy-forward-stub