Peter Thomas (20 November 1944 – 19 January 2023) was an English

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

in England, Ireland and United States. Born in England, he made two international appearances for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

Club career

In 1962, Thomas joined Coventry G.E.C., playing with them until 1966. That year, he played one game for

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 ...

. He went on loan to

Waterford F.C. Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

in 1967 where he made thirteen appearances. Coventry City transferred him to Waterford in the summer of 1967 and he stayed with the Blues until 1975. Thomas is associated with bringing a new style of goalkeeping to the League of Ireland. He rarely kicked the ball on the offensive, throwing when possible with great accuracy. He also represented the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

and won five league medals and a

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

medal and played in twelve European Cup matches for Waterford. In 1975, he moved to the United States where he played for the

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. Arm ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. In 1976, he moved to the Utah Golden Spikers of the American Soccer League. He returned to the NASL in 1977 with the

Las Vegas Quicksilvers The Las Vegas Quicksilvers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1977 season. The team was based in Las Vegas, Nevada and played their home games at Las Vegas Stadium. After the 19 ...

. The Diplomats had traded the rights to Thomas and Gerry Ingram to the Quicksilver in exchange for Peter Silvester in November 1976. He finished his North American career with the Sacramento Gold of the ASL in 1978. In the fall of 1978, he returned to Ireland where he rejoined

International career

Born in England, Thomas earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the

after becoming an Irish citizen. He made his debut in 1973 against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, keeping a clean sheet but having to come off at half time due to a pulled muscle in his stomach. His second cap came against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 1974. He was back down in the ASL in 1975, this time with the Sacramento Gold.

Managerial career

Thomas took over as manager of

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

in August 1988 but resigned in December due to work pressures. www.irishtimes.com
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Honours

Waterford United *

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

: 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73 *

: 1980 Individual * SWAI Personality of the Year: 1969–70

References

External links