Josh Thomas (footballer, born 2002)

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Josh Thomas
Personal information
Full name Joshua John Thomas[1]
Date of birth (2002-09-24) 24 September 2002 (age 21)[2]
Place of birth Bridgend, Wales[3]
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Swansea City
Number 44
Youth career
2014–2020 Swansea City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Swansea City 0 (0)
2021 → Cardiff Met (loan) 4 (0)
2023–2024 → Port Vale (loan) 11 (0)
International career‡
2017 Wales U15
2018 Wales U16 1 (0)
2018 Wales U17 5 (1)
2019 Wales U19 5 (1)
2020 Wales U20 1 (0)
2023– Wales U21 7 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:03, 29 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:00, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

Joshua John Thomas (born 24 September 2002) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Swansea City and the Wales under-21 national team.

A pacey forward capped by Wales up to under-21 level, Thomas turned professional at Swansea City in 2020. He joined Cardiff Metropolitan University (Cardiff Met) on loan in January 2021, though suffered a serious injury later in the year. He was loaned to Port Vale for the first half of the 2023–24 season.

Early life[edit]

Josh Thomas was born in Bridgend on 24 September 2002. He only started playing football at the age of ten, having previously played rugby union.[4]

Club career[edit]

Thomas joined the youth system at Swansea City at the age of 12 and went on to sign a scholarship in 2019, having scored in the under-19's FAW Welsh Youth Cup final victory over The New Saints.[5][3] He was nominated for the October 2019 Premier League 2 Player of the Month award.[6] He signed professional terms with the club after scoring a hat-trick for the under-23 team in 2020.[3] On 31 January 2021, he joined Cymru Premier club Cardiff Metropolitan University (Cardiff Met) on loan for the rest of the 2020–21 season, alongside Matthew Blake.[7] However, he was then sidelined for 18 months due to injury, having suffered an ankle deltoid ligament injury in a car accident.[8] He signed an 18-month contract extension in September 2022 after starting the season on a short-term deal.[9] He managed to regain good form for the under-21 team during the 2022–23 campaign, scoring 23 goals.[10]

On 2 August 2023, he joined EFL League One club Port Vale on loan for the 2023–24 season after scoring five goals for the Swans senior team in pre-season.[10] He made his debut three days later, coming on as a 56th-minute substitute for Gavin Massey in a 7–0 defeat at Barnsley.[11] He scored his first senior goal on his home debut at Vale Park, a 3–2 victory over Fleetwood Town in the EFL Cup on 8 August.[12] He tore a muscle on international duty in November 2023, which kept him out of action for close to four weeks.[13] He suffered setbacks on the injury and also became ill over Christmas, causing him to miss an extra month of action.[14] He was recalled by Swansea from his loan spell on 4 January 2024, with Port Vale's director of football David Flitcroft blaming international call-ups and injuries for restricting the player's gametime to 15 appearances in all competitions, during which he scored three goals and created two assists.[15]

International career[edit]

Thomas has been capped by Wales up to under-21 level.[16]

Style of play[edit]

Thomas is a pacey forward.[17]

Career statistics[edit]

As of match played 7 November 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Swansea City 2020–21[18] EFL Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021–22[19] EFL Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022–23[20] EFL Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023–24[21] EFL Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cardiff Met (loan) 2020–21[2] Cymru Premier 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Port Vale (loan) 2023–24[21] EFL League One 11 0 0 0 3 2 1[a] 1 15 3
Career total 15 0 0 0 3 2 1 1 19 3
  1. ^ Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Club List of Registered Players" (PDF). EFL. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b Josh Thomas at Soccerway
  3. ^ a b c "Josh Thomas". Swansea. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Thomas learning from mentor Trundle | Swansea". www.swanseacity.com. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Swansea City greats helping drive Josh Thomas' development | Swansea". www.swanseacity.com. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Josh Thomas "gobsmacked" by PL2 Player of the Month nomination | Swansea". www.swanseacity.com. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Swansea City Under-23s duo join Cardiff Met on loan | Swansea". www.swanseacity.com. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Josh Thomas | Watching from the sidelines was tough, but it made me realise how much I want this | Swansea". www.swanseacity.com. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Swansea City striker Josh Thomas signs contract extension through to 2024 | Swansea". www.swanseacity.com. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Swansea City striker Josh Thomas seals loan move to Port Vale | Swansea". www.swanseacity.com. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Rampant Barnsley put seven past Port Vale". BBC Sport. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  12. ^ Youlson, Clive (9 August 2023). "Port Vale bounce back from opening day mauling to secure cup win". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  13. ^ Baggaley, Mike (20 November 2023). "Vale Park tour, plans and Railway questions answered". Valiant's Substack. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  14. ^ Baggaley, Mike (4 January 2024). "Injury and transfer window update as Port Vale prepare for Charlton". Valiant's Substack. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Josh Thomas Returns to Swansea City". Port Vale F.C. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  16. ^ Williams, Aled (17 November 2023). "Ten-man Wales U21s return to top of group with win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Josh Thomas Joins the Valiants on a Season-Long Loan". Port Vale F.C. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Games played by Josh Thomas in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Games played by Josh Thomas in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Games played by Josh Thomas in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Games played by Josh Thomas in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
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