Mitchell Thomas (born 2 October 1964) is an English former

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 defender. While at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

he started in the

1987 FA Cup Final The 1987 FA Cup Final between Coventry City and Tottenham Hotspur on 16 May 1987 at Wembley Stadium, London, England was the 106th Final of the FA Cup, English football's primary cup competition. It was the third final for Tottenham Hotspur in s ...

Playing career

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as ma ...

brought Thomas into the

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

side from

Limbury Limbury is a suburb of Luton, in the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, and was formerly a village before Luton expanded around it. The area is roughly bounded by Bramingham Road to the north, Marsh Road to the so ...

boys club in 1982. In 1985/86 Thomas played three games for England U21s in the European U21 championships. He played in a qualifier and one leg each of the quarter and semi finals, with two of his Luton Town colleagues

Tim Breacker Timothy Sean Breacker (born 2 July 1965) is an English football coach and former player, who is chief scout at Bolton Wanderers. As a player, he was a right-back who notably played in the Premier League for West Ham United, where he made 240 ...

and Mike Newell. He was sold to

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

in July 1986 for a fee of £275,000, following the same movement of manager

. After his spell at Tottenham during which he played in the

, Thomas moved to West Ham Utd in August 1991 for £500,000 joining former Luton teammate

. On transfer deadline day in March 1994, he returned to

on a free transfer, and he stayed there until the club went into receivership over the summer of 1999 and were forced to sell many players.

Stan Ternent Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won thre ...

signed Thomas, for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, for the start of the 1999-2000 season, which they ended by winning promotion. He remained at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

until retiring as a player in 2002.

Since Retirement

Since retirement from playing, Thomas has played a part in the transfer of several players. His role was controversial resulting in investigations into the transfers of

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team. Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...

to Tottenham Hotspur and

Shaun Wright-Phillips Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 25 October 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He played in the Premier League and Football League for Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, in Major L ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Thomas was also embroiled in a controversy of this type when he was transferred to Tottenham.

References

External sources

*
Luton sell Mitchell."Goodbye to Mitchell" from Clarets-Mad.Mitchell Thomas at Clarets-Mad.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Mitchell 1964 births Living people English footballers Association football fullbacks Luton Town F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Footballers from Luton England under-21 international footballers English Football League players Black British sportsmen FA Cup Final players