dannythomas

Danny Thomas joined Coventry City when he was just 10 years old and made his debut for the club in 1980 at the age of 17. Over the next few seasons the youngster established himself as a regular at the club; the speedy full back offering good runs and passes to go alongside his fine tackling. Surprising considering that Thomas was originally a midfielder and switched to being a full back due to injuries to other players! He made over 100 appearances for Coventry, despite being just 20 years old when he left the club in 1983.

Thomas’s form hadn’t gone unnoticed and in June of 1983 two things happened to him: one was that he was called up to the England squad and played twice for his international side despite his young age. The other was that he transferred to a bigger club – joining Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £250,000 as Spurs snapped up one of the most promising English players around.

The full back immediately slotted into the first team, although injuries occurred a few times during his spell at the club which kept him out quite a bit. When he was fit though Thomas proved a fine player for Spurs and a regular in the first team. His finest moment for the club was in the 1984 UEFA Cup final where his heroics helped Spurs to claim the cup. Thomas missed his penalty in the shootout that decided the game but the Spurs fans were still singing his name after a majestic performance.

Thomas remained at Spurs until 1988 but his last appearance for the club happened in March 1987 – Thomas suffered a severe knee injury whilst playing againt QPR and he announced his retirement in 1988 after being unable to come back from the injury. Thomas was just 26 years old.

Thomas had been the complete full back – he was skilful, fast, could tackle and pass well and had no problems racing up the touchline and crossing the ball into the box. He strongly endeared himself to both Coventry and Spurs fans with his highly-committed displays and determination to help his team out. Although his career didn’t last long, Thomas was still considered a fantastic player by those who witnessed his career.

Compensated for his injury, Thomas decided to use it to take a Masters degree in physiotherapy, specialising in sports injuries given that it was that which had ended his own footballing career. He was named club physio at West Bromwich Albion for a while before retreating to Coventry to open his own Physiotherapy practice which he still runs.

Years after his retirement Thomas often went to Tottenham games and always got an ovation from the Spurs fans who saw him as they hailed a man who could’ve had a cracking career with them were in not for injuries.

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