Barrie Thomas is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 former professional footballer who played as an centre forward. Over the course of his career, Thomas made a total of 338 appearances in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 for five clubs over a period of fourteen years, scoring 211 goals.

Career

Thomas began his career as a youth player with Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

. His senior career began with Leicester City as a seventeen-year-old in 1954, but over the next three seasons, Thomas only managed to play in seven league games, scoring three league goals in the process. Thomas moved to Mansfield Town

Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...

 in 1957, and spent two seasons with the club, scoring 48 league goals in 72 league games. Thomas' next club was Scunthorpe United

Scunthorpe United F.C.

Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

, moving there in 1959. Thomas' form in the 1961-62 season saw him score 30 league goals in 22 league games by Christmas 1961, and a total of 31 goals in 24 games in all competitions. Thomas' goalscoring record attracted attention from First Division clubs including Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

, Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

 and Fulham

Fulham F.C.

Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

. Leeds United

Leeds United A.F.C.

Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

 had a bid of £30,000 rejected by the Scunthorpe United Board of Directors. However, Thomas was eventually sold to Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

 in January 1962 in a part-exchange deal, which saw Jack McGuigan moving in the opposite direction. Newcastle also paid Scunthorpe either £35,000, or £45,000. In his three seasons at Scunthorpe, Thomas scored 67 league goals in 91 league games. Thomas' exit had a detrimental effect on Scunthorpe United's season; attendances at their home matches fell by 20% after Thomas left, and the club dropped from 1st to 4th in the League. Thomas spent two years at Newcastle United, scoring 48 goals in 73 games, before returning to Scunthorpe in 1964. Thomas spent a further two years at Scunthorpe, scoring 26 goals in 52 games in his second spell with the club. Thomas' final club was Barnsley

Barnsley F.C.

Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

, where he scored 19 goals in 43 games over two years, before retiring in 1968 because of injury.