Luke Thomas (footballer, born 1999)

Last updated

Luke Thomas
Personal information
Full name Luke Gerald Michael Thomas [1]
Date of birth (1999-02-19) 19 February 1999 (age 25) [2]
Place of birth Soudley, England
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) [3]
Position(s) Midfielder, forward
Team information
Current team
Bristol Rovers
Number 11
Youth career
West Bromwich Albion
0000–2015 Cheltenham Town
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2015–2016 Cheltenham Town 0 (0)
2016–2019 Derby County 2 (0)
2017Gloucester City (loan) 15 (1)
2018–2019Coventry City (loan) 43 (4)
2019–2023 Barnsley 86 (3)
2021Ipswich Town (loan) 5 (0)
2021–2022Bristol Rovers (loan) 28 (0)
2023– Bristol Rovers 37 (5)
International career
2019–2020 England U20 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:29, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:32, 9 September 2019 (UTC)

Luke Gerald Michael Thomas (born 19 February 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for EFL League One club Bristol Rovers

Contents

Thomas began his career with Cheltenham Town, before later playing for Derby County and Barnsley. He has also featured on loan for Gloucester City, Coventry City and Ipswich Town.

Club career

Thomas began his career with National League club Cheltenham Town, making his only first team appearance against Chelmsford City in the FA Trophy. [4] He had a trial with Portuguese club Benfica in 2015. He joined Derby County in January 2016 for an undisclosed transfer fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year professional contract. [5] He had a loan spell with National League North club Gloucester City during the 2016–17 season. [6]

Thomas was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award in September 2017 as a result of his performances for Derby County's under-23 team. [7] He signed a new three-year contract with Derby in October 2017. [8] He was first named in a first team matchday squad on 31 October 2017 against Leeds United, [9] and made his league debut on 21 November 2017, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Tom Lawrence in a 2–0 win over Queens Park Rangers. [10]

Thomas signed a new four-year contract with Derby in August 2018. [11] Later that month, he joined League One Coventry City on a half-season loan until the start of 2019. [12] In January 2019, the loan was extended for the rest of the season. [13]

Barnsley

In June 2019, he joined Barnsley for an undisclosed fee. [14] On his debut he scored the winning goal for Barnsley in a 1–0 win against Fulham. [15]

In January 2021, Thomas joined Ipswich Town on loan for the remainder of the season. [16] On 8 April 2021, Thomas announced on social media that he had cut his loan move with Ipswich short for personal reasons and he returned to Barnsley. [17]

Bristol Rovers (loan)

On 10 July 2021, Thomas joined League Two side Bristol Rovers on a season-long loan deal. [18] On 13 October, he scored his first goal for the club when he opened the scoring in a 2–1 EFL Trophy defeat to Chelsea U21s. [19] On 23 November 2021, Thomas came off the bench in a 1–1 draw against nine-men Salford City, missing a great chance to put Rovers two ahead before the home side eventually equalised. [20] After the match, Thomas' manager Joey Barton criticised Thomas claiming that he "thinks the world owes him a favour" and that "if he doesn't get his finger out, this opportunity at Rovers is going to pass him by". [21] Barton continued with his criticism of Thomas the following day, claiming that the club had tried to terminate his loan in the summer, the same window in which Thomas had been signed after the player had stormed out of training a number of times in frustration. [22] In January 2022, Thomas admitted that he deserved the criticism and had let people down. [23] The season ended with Rovers getting promoted on the final day of the season, moving into the automatic promotion spots on goals scored. [24]

Return to Barnsley

After speculation surrounding Thomas and a permanent return to Bristol Rovers, [25] he found himself in the first team picture under new manager Michael Duff and scored the only goal in the second match of the season as Duff was given his first win in charge over Thomas' former club Cheltenham Town. [26] On 8 October 2022, it was confirmed that Thomas had suffered a broken leg in training that would see the winger out of action for at least four months. [27] Following defeat in the play-off final, he was offered a new contract at the end of the 2022–23 season. [28]

Bristol Rovers

On 24 June 2023, Thomas' return to Bristol Rovers was confirmed, signing a three-year deal. [29] He scored his first league goal for the club on his second debut, an opening day draw with Portsmouth. [30] On 30 September 2023, Thomas suffered a tight hamstring during half-time of a 2–0 defeat to Peterborough United, failing to tell the club's medical staff until the end of the half-time break, with the opposition going on to score early in to the second period. Following the match, manager Joey Barton launched an angry tirade toward the player, blaming him for the second goal and criticising his character, demanding that the player should be fined by the club and threatening his future at the club. [31] It was later revealed that he would miss a number of weeks with a hamstring injury. [32] Following the appointment of new manager Matt Taylor in December 2023, Thomas saw himself switched to a more unfamiliar right wing-back position. He impressed from this new role, considered as one of his side's best players over the busy Christmas period, notably scoring a last-minute winner against leaders Portsmouth on Boxing Day. [33] [34]

International career

Thomas made his youth international debut on 6 September 2019 with England U20, coming on as an 80th minute substitute for Luke Bolton in a 0–0 draw against Netherlands U20 at New Meadow. [35]

Career statistics

As of end of 2023–24 season
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague FA Cup League Cup OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cheltenham Town 2015–16 [36] National League 00002 [lower-alpha 1] 020
Derby County 2015–16 [37] Championship 0000000000
2016–17 [38] Championship00000000
2017–18 [39] Championship2000000020
2018–19 [40] Championship0000000000
Total2000000020
Gloucester City (loan) 2016–17 National League North 1510000151
Coventry City (loan) 2018–19 [40] League One 434110000445
Barnsley 2019–20 [41] Championship3912110422
2020–21 [42] Championship1901020220
2021–22 [43] Championship0000000000
2022–23 [44] League One27200202 [lower-alpha 2] 0312
Total843315020944
Ipswich Town (loan) 2020–21 [42] League One5000000050
Bristol Rovers (loan) 2021–22 [43] League Two 28020101 [lower-alpha 3] 1321
Bristol Rovers 2023–24 [45] League One37541104 [lower-alpha 3] 1467
Total655612052788
Career total21513103709224118
  1. Appearances in FA Trophy
  2. Appearance(s) in EFL League One play-offs
  3. 1 2 Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Bristol Rovers

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References

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