At an age when most professional footballers begin to reach their peak performance, Tottenham Hotspur full-back Danny Thomas’ promising career was over. After suffering a dreadful knee injury, whilst playing for Spurs against London neighbours Queens Park Rangers, Thomas was unable to make a successful comeback and had to hang up his boots.

The year was 1988 and the England international was a 26-year-old whose playing days never got into full swing. In all, he made fewer than 200 career appearances – a dreadful shame for someone considered to be one of the finest defenders of his generation.

The Worksop-born full-back made his career debut at Coventry City at the age of 17 in 1980. He made quite an impact at Highfield Road during his four seasons there, showing plenty of pace and poise. Not only was he a good defender but he was not afraid to show his attacking ability by getting to the by-line and fizzing in a cross.

1983 was a big year for Thomas as he made his England debut during the summer tour of Australia and also secured a move to Tottenham Hotspur for £250,000, after making 108 appearances for the Sky Blues.

His finest moment for Spurs was the following year when the club won the UEFA Cup after beating Anderlecht in the final. It went to a penalty shoot-out, in which Thomas missed his spot kick but the White Hart Lane faithful were still enamoured with the speedy full-back’s impressive performance.

Disaster struck in March 1987 though, in the fateful game against QPR, as Thomas made his final appearance for the North London club. It was a dreadful end for a player who showed not only great tackling ability but also a good touch and awareness along with terrific passing ability. But for injuries he had the potential to go on and represent his country on many more occasions than the two times he did. Within a year he had retired from the game.

With assistance from the Professional Footballers’ Association, Danny took a Masters degree in Physiotherapy following his retirement and specialised in sports injuries. This landed him the head Physio position at West Bromwich Albion. Now he can be found back in Coventry after he set up his own Physiotherapy practice in the midlands city.

It is heart warming to see a player so unlucky with injuries himself is now helping others return to the sporting arena.