Danny Thomas (footballer, born 1961)

Daniel Joseph Thomas (born 12 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer who played for Coventry City and Tottenham Hotspur and for the England national team. He was a member of the Tottenham Hotspur team that won the 1983–84 UEFA Cup, despite missing his penalty in the shootout in the final against Anderlecht.

For other people named Danny Thomas, see Danny Thomas (disambiguation).

Daniel Thomas
Personal information
Full name Daniel Joseph Thomas[1]
Date of birth (1961-11-12) 12 November 1961[1]
Place of birth Worksop,[1] Nottinghamshire, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1983 Coventry City 98 (4)
1983–1988 Tottenham Hotspur 87 (1)
National team
1981–1984 England U21 7 (0)
1983 England 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career
Thomas (right) and Johan Cruyff, Feyenoord vs Tottenham during the 1983–84 UEFA Cup competition

Thomas made his debut for Coventry City during the 1979–80 season, making 3 appearances during that season. Over the next three seasons he was a regular for the first team. In June 1983 he was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £250,000. He made his Tottenham league debut on 27 August 1983 in a 3–1 defeat at Ipswich Town. He collected a UEFA Cup winner's medal at the end of the 1983–84 season and made a total of 87 league appearances for the White Hart Lane club, scoring once, before suffering a knee injury in 1987. He retired the following year, having failed to recover from the injury.

Appearances

Coventry City:

  • 1979-1980 Played 3 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
  • 1980-1981 Played 25 Scored 1 goal (Division 1)
  • 1981-1982 Played 39 Scored 1 goal (Division 1)
  • 1982-1983 Played 41 Scored 3 goals (Division 1)

Tottenham:

  • 1983-1984 Played 27 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
  • 1984-1985 Played 16 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
  • 1985-1986 Played 27 Scored 1 goal (Division 1)
  • 1986-1987 Played 17 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
  • 1987-1988 Played 0 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)

International career

He was capped twice by England during the tour of Australia in June 1983, playing 137 minutes for the national side. He is the only English player to win the UEFA Under-21 Championship twice.[3]

Career after football

He completed a degree in physiotherapy after his career came to an end at the age of 26 after a serious injury.[4] With the assistance of the Professional Footballers' Association he completed a master's degree.[5] After a short period as physio with West Bromwich Albion he went on to run his own practice in Coventry before working in Florida.[6]

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

Individual

References
  1. "Danny Thomas". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. "Under-21 Championship final statistics". UEFA.com. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  4. Hugo Steckelmacher (27 February 2008). "Professional Footballers' Association - How The PFA Helps Players". SoccerLens. soccerlens.com. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  5. Alex Hayes (30 September 2001). "Our debt to the PFA: Four beneficiaries of the union's work tell their story". The Independent. independent.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  6. "Sports Injury Clinic west midlands". Return 2 Fitness. return2fitness.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  7. "Hall of Fame". 5 May 2010. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
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