Ryan Jared Thomas (born 20 December 1994) is a New Zealand 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

in the

Eerste divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

and the New Zealand national team. Thomas played for various clubs across the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region of New Zealand, before signing professional terms with

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

in 2013. Since then, Thomas has spent his footballing career in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, signing for reigning champions

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

in 2018. Thomas is additionally a regular for the New Zealand national team, featuring in the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 20 ...

Club career

New Zealand

Thomas was born in

Te Puke Te Puke is a town located 18 kilometres southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty of New Zealand. It is particularly well-known for the cultivation of Kiwifruit. Te Puke is close to Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa, and Maketu, whi ...

, New Zealand, attended Tauranga Boys' College and played his youth football at Mount Maunganui

Tauranga City AFC Tauranga City AFC is a football club based in Tauranga, New Zealand. The men's and women's teams currently both compete in the NRFL Championship. Club history Tauranga City AFC was formed in 1964, in 2000 they changed their name to Tauranga Cit ...

and

club

Melville United Melville United AFC is an amateur football club in Melville, Hamilton, New Zealand. It competes in the Northern League. History The club was formed in 1996 from the merger of Melville AFC (founded 1972) and Waikato United (founded 1988). The ...

in the

NRFL Premier The Northern League is a semi-professional New Zealand association football competition. It is a top-tier competition during the winter season, and sits at step two overall. The Northern League includes football clubs located in the northern pa ...

. He made his debut off the bench on 30 July 2011, alongside fellow current professional

Jesse Edge Jesse Marshall Thompson Edge (born 26 February 1995) is an amateur New Zealand football player who plays in the Swedish amateur Division 1 Norra for IFK Berga. Besides New Zealand, he has played in Sweden, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Italy ...

, and scored in the 3–1 win against Forrest Hill Milford. Thomas was announced as part of the squad for

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

side Waikato FC at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, joining other future New Zealand international Tyler Boyd. Thomas was later convinced by his previous Waikato FC manager,

Declan Edge Declan John Edge (born 18 September 1965 in Malacca Town, Malaysia) is a former professional footballer who is the current manager of Swedish club Torslanda IK. Born in Malaysia to English parents, Edge represented the New Zealand national footba ...

, to leave his current side to join the Olé Football Academy in Wellington, along with several other Waikato players. During this time, Thomas played for the Olé Academy-affiliated club Western Suburbs. Noting Thomas' exceptional talent, Edge organised a trial for the 18-year-old at

club

PEC Zwolle

Following a successful trial period in the Netherlands, Thomas signed for

in September 2013, and made his debut for the club on 30 October 2013 against amateur side Wilhelmina '08 in the third round of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

, scoring the first goal in a 4–0 win. He quickly became a key winger for the club; his successful debut season culminated in winning the

, with Thomas scoring two goals in the final in a 5–1 win over

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

. Thomas continued to impress for PEC Zwolle in the following seasons following his transition to a

holding midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, with his rise being compared to that of Dutch legend

Arjen Robben Arjen Robben (; born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (football), winger. He was known for his Dribbling#Association football, dribbling skills, speed, ball control and long ...

by former manager

Ron Jans Ron Jans (, born 29 September 1958) is a Dutch football coach and former player, he currently is the head coach of Twente. Coaching career FC Groningen Born in Zwolle, Overijssel, Ron Jans joined FC Groningen on 2002, and was the longest-serv ...

. In a 2017 interview, Jans stated that "it would not surprise me if he ended up at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

PSV

On 10 August 2018, Thomas joined reigning

champions PSV for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract. The move was described by former New Zealand and Eredivisie footballer

Ivan Vicelich Ivan Robert Vicelich ( hr, Vicelić, ; ; born 3 September 1976) is a former New Zealand professional footballer who is currently assistant coach at Auckland City FC in the ASB Premiership. He is his country and Oceania's most-capped interna ...

as one of the biggest deals ever by a New Zealander. Just days after signing, however, Thomas sustained a knee injury in training; originally thought to be only a minor sprain, it was later discovered to be a serious

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

tear, meaning Thomas spent the rest of the season sidelined. As part of his rehabilitation, Thomas spent time working with

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

swimming champion

Pieter van den Hoogenband Pieter Cornelis Martijn van den Hoogenband (; born 14 March 1978) is a Dutch retired swimmer. He is a triple Olympic champion and former world record holder. Early life Born in Maastricht, Limburg, he is the son of Cees-Rein van den Hoogenband ...

. On 6 October 2019, after 14 months out injured, Thomas finally made his debut for PSV as an 85th minute substitute for

Érick Gutiérrez Érick Gabriel Gutiérrez Galaviz (born 15 June 1995) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven and the Mexico national team. He began both his youth and senior career at Pachuca, managin ...

in a 4−1 win over

VVV Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following ...

. After four injury-riddled seasons, during which he had four surgeries on his knee in total, Thomas was released by PSV in June 2022.

Return to PEC Zwolle

On 26 October 2022, Dutch side

now playing in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

announced that they had re-signed Thomas.

International career

Thomas made his international debut for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

when he played in a 2–4 friendly loss to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in March 2014. He scored his first international goals on 28 March 2017, netting a brace in a 2–0 win over

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Waikato FC * NZF Cup runner-up: 2011–12 PEC Zwolle *

: 2013–14; runner-up 2014–15 *

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

International

OFC U-20 Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual

Oceania Footballer of the Year The Oceania Footballer of the Year award is presented each year to the best football (soccer) player from the Oceania region, as chosen by a panel of football journalists. The award was dominated by Australian players until that nation became part ...

, 2015 * IFFHS OFC Men's Team of the Decade 2011–2020 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Oceania Men's Team of All Time: 2021

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Ryan 1994 births Living people People from Te Puke Men's association football midfielders Sportspeople from the Bay of Plenty Region New Zealand men's association footballers PEC Zwolle players PSV Eindhoven players Eredivisie players New Zealand men's under-20 international footballers New Zealand men's international footballers 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands