Martha Ellen Thomas (born 31 May 1996) is a 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 a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for

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 ...

in the

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

. Thomas played four years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for Charlotte 49ers before playing professionally with French

Division 2 Féminine The Division 2 Féminine, shortened as D2 Féminine, is the second division of women's football in France. Run by the French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governi ...

club

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

and West Ham United of the English Women's Super League, moving to Manchester United in 2021. Born in England and raised mainly in the United States, she represents

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at international level.

Early life

Thomas was born in

Malmesbury, Wiltshire Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, to a Scottish mother, Christine, and English father, Andrew. She grew up in Dorchester until 2001 when the family moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, when her father got a job in the United States. They briefly returned to Dorchester in 2003 where Thomas played for

Dorchester Town Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the . The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...

for a season before once again relocating to the States, this time to Weston, Florida, at the age of six. While in Weston, she played for youth club

Weston FC Weston FC is a soccer club in Weston, Florida competing in the USL League Two. They are also one of the largest soccer clubs in the country for youth soccer. The club was founded in 1998 as a youth soccer club. They have approximately 1,100 pla ...

Charlotte 49ers

Thomas played

for Charlotte 49ers, captaining the team for two seasons. In her first year, Thomas led the team in goals with 11 and was voted

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

Freshman of the Year. The following three years, Thomas was selected to the All-Conference USA First Team as well as being voted as the league's Offensive Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017. Upon leaving, Thomas ranked as the school's all-time leading goalscorer with 47. She was also named team MVP in each of her four seasons.

Club career

Le Havre

Thomas had hoped to enter the

2018 NWSL College Draft The 2018 NWSL College Draft was the sixth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 18, 2018 at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

in January 2018, but suffered an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

in her final appearance for the 49ers in November 2017. Having rehabbed, Thomas belatedly began her professional career with Le Havre AC in the French Division 2, signing for the club in August 2018. She made her debut on 21 October 2018, starting in a 1–0 defeat to

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional association football, football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2017–18 Ligue 2, 2018. ...

. She scored 6 goals in 13 league appearances as Le Havre finished second.

West Ham United

On 16 July 2019, Thomas signed for West Ham United of the

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

, taking the number 9 shirt following the departure of Jane Ross. Thomas started and scored on her debut, the season opener as West Ham lost 2–1 away to reigning champions

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 8 September 2019. She scored her first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

during the first half of a 5–0 win against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

on 3 April 2021. On 21 May 2021, it was confirmed Thomas would leave West Ham after two seasons following the expiration of her contract.

Manchester United

On 28 July 2021, Thomas signed for

on a two-year deal with the option of an additional year.

International career

Thomas represented the United States at youth level, playing for the under-23 team in 2019 at the Portland Thorns Spring Invitational preseason tournament. She had not yet acquired

American citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

, however, making her ineligible to represent the senior team. Thomas was eligible to represent both England and Scotland at the senior level. In September 2019 she attended a training camp with the Scotland national team. She subsequently received her first call-up to the Scotland squad on 25 October 2019 but was forced to withdraw through injury. She was again selected by Scotland for the

2020 Pinatar Cup The 2020 Pinatar Cup was the inaugural edition of the Pinatar Cup, an international women's association football, football tournament, consisting of a series of Exhibition game, friendly games. It was held in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain from 4 t ...

and scored two goals as she made her international debut in a 3–0 win against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

on 4 March 2020. Thomas scored another brace in her seventh appearance for Scotland on 19 February 2021 during a 10–0 victory over

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

as part of UEFA Euro 2022 qualifying, the first time Scotland had hit double figures since 2015. Despite the emphatic victory, Scotland had already been mathematically eliminated from qualification in December 2020.

Personal life

Thomas' great uncle, Jim Kirkland, also played football professionally for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in the Scottish top-flight. She is in a relationship with fellow footballer Ellie Leek. The two met while both playing for

. She has been a vocal supporter of Stonewall's Rainbow Laces campaign.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Statistics accurate as of match played 21 February 2023.''

International goals

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Thomas goal''.

Honours

College

Charlotte 49ers * Conference USA Women's Soccer Tournament:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Individual

Offensive Player of the Year: 2016, 2017

References

External links

* * *
Martha Thomas
at Charlotte 49ers {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Martha 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Malmesbury Footballers from Wiltshire Scottish women's footballers Scotland women's international footballers English women's footballers English people of Scottish descent Charlotte 49ers women's soccer players West Ham United F.C. Women players Manchester United W.F.C. players Women's Super League players Women's association football forwards Scottish expatriate women's footballers English expatriate footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate women's footballers in France Lesbian sportswomen English LGBT sportspeople