Michael Reginald Thomas, born Mochdre, Wales, July 7, 1954. The one and only Mickey Thomas was on the books of a string of clubs during his roller coaster soccer career, including Wrexham, Manchester United, and Brighton and Hove Albion. The talented outside left was also an international for Wales, clocking up 51 senior appearances for his native country in a ten year span between 1976 and 1986.
At Racecourse Ground, Mickey Thomas would play alongside such fine players as Billy Ashcroft, Gareth Davies, Mickey Evans, Arfon Griffiths, Joey Jones, Eddie May, John Roberts, Mel Sutton and Graham Whittle. Under the leadership of former Hull City, Swindon Town, Aston Villa and Southend United defender John Neal, Wrexham had gained promotion back to the English Third Division along with Chesterfield, Swansea City and Port Vale in the 1969–70 campaign, and the ambitious North Wales club was now ready to progress further up the League ladder. Come January 1972, and Thomas was duly given his long awaited Third Division debut in a 4–0 defeat to John Bond´s Bournemouth at Dean Court on New Year´s Day. Thomas the flank engine was the kind of performer who always seemed to rise to the occasion and he would become an important part of the enterprising Racecourse Ground side for the next six years to come. To the uninitiated, playing for Wrexham Football Club in League Division Three in the 1970´s may not have been exactly the top of the world, but back in those days The Dragons were a team to be reckoned with and they were feared both at home and abroad. Under John Neal, Wrexham were regular promotion contenders during most of the decade and the club made it as far as the the FA Cup Quarter Finals during the 1973–74 campaign, losing by a 1–0 score to Jimmy Adamson´s Burnley at Turf Moor in the last eight. The Pride of North Wales also managed to advance to the the European Cup Winners´ Cup Quarter Finals during the unforgettable 1975–76 season, finding themselves up against Le Grand Anderlecht of Brussels, who had well known players like Gilbert Van Binst, Hugo Broos, Ludo Coeck, Jean Dockx, Francois Van der Elst, Arie Haan, Rob Rensenbrink and Peter Ressel in their team. Following a closely contested 1–0 loss against The Purple and White at Emile Versestadion in the first leg in Brussels, Wrexham drew 1–1 with the Belgians in the second leg at Racecourse Ground.
The Welshmen had disposed of Djurgarden and Stal Rzeszow on their march to the quarter finals, while Hans Croon´s players had managed to overcome Rapid Bucuresti and FK Borac Banja Luka to reach the last eight. The Brussels team then went on to knock out BSG Sachsenring Zwickau in the semi finals before they beat English First Division side West Ham United by a score of 4–2 at Heysel Stadium in Brussels in the final. After clinching the Third Division Championship with Wrexham during the 1977–78 campaign, Mickey Thomas was purchased by exhausted and overworked Manchester United Head Coach Dave Sexton for an estimated transfer fee of £300,000 and the wing forward was handed his first Footbal League appearance for the club in a hard fought 1–0 First Division victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the 25th of November 1978. Much was expected from a player like Thomas, but in the end he failed to live up to his abilities and he made his last outing for The Reds in a 1–0 League Division One triumph against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on the 4th of April 1981. Arguably, the pinnacle of his Manchester United career arrived when he gained an FA Cup runners up medal after a 3–2 defeat against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on the 12th of May in 1979. A direct and confident flanker with acceleration and finish, Thomas clocked up over 100 first team apperances for United before a deep and bitter conflict with the management eventually forced him out of the club at the end of the 1980–81 season. He then signed for fellow First Division team Everton in a £450,000 deal, and made his First Division debut for The Toffees in a 3-1 win over Birmingham City at Goodison Park on the 29th of August 1981, but he only managed to feature in ten League games for the club until he was brought to Brighton and Hove Albion midway through the 1981-82 campaign. While at Goldstone Ground, Thomas notched up twenty First Division appearances for The Seagulls before the footballing nomad was transferred to Stoke City for an estimated fee of £200,000 at the beginning of the 1981-82 term, and he was handed his debut for The Potters in a 2-1 First Division triumph over Arsenal at Victoria Ground on the 28th of August 1982.
After netting 14 goals in 57 League Division One apperances for the Staffordshire club, Micky Thomas was sold to ambitious League Division Two side Chelsea for a transfer fee somewhere in the region of £75,000 in the middle of the 1983-84 season. He was given his first team debut for The Blues by his former Wrexham manager John Neal in a fine 2-1 Second Division victory over Derby County at Baseball Ground on the 14th of January 1984, and proceeded to play 43 League matches for the West Londoners, contributing nine goals during the process. From there he moved on to West Bromwich Albion, who paid an estimated transfer fee of £100,000 for him partly into the 1985-86 season. While with The Baggies, Thomas accumulated 20 League appearances for the Black Country club, and he also had a short loan period with Derby County where he appeared in nine League matches. In 1986, the have-boots-will-travel journeyman tried out his luck at Wichita Wings in the United States, before he returned to England two years later to play for Third Division Shrewsbury Town. While in Shropshire, he made 40 Football League appearances for the Gay Meadow team under Scottish manager Ian McNeill. Yet his wandering days were not over. He answered the call of Leeds United at the beginning of the 1989-90 season, but he only managed to make three Second Division apperances for The Peacocks before he teamed up with his former club Stoke City during the summer of 1990. At the beginning of the 1991–92 campaign, however, the maverick footballer returned to the land of song and to Wrexham; and one of his greatest moments in the red shirt came in the 2–1 comeback win over reigning First Division Champions Arsenal in front of a crowd of 15,000 people at Racecourse Ground in the FA Cup Third Round on the 4th of January 1992. England striker Alan Smith handed The Gunners the lead only a couple of minutes before the half-time break, but the home players turned the FA Cup match around courtesy of late second half goals from Mickey Thomas and Steve Watkin in the 82nd and 84th minute of the tussle respectively.
Back at Wrexham, Mickey Thomas would enjoy something of a renaissance at his old club and he was part of the talented team which gained promotion to the Second Division in 1992–93. During his last season, he made ten first team outings for Wrexham and his final match for the club in his heart arrived in a 2–0 Third Division defeat against Scunthorpe United at Racecourse Ground on the 3rd of November 1992. A Welsh international, he received his senior debut for his homeland in a 2–0 friendly match defeat against Helmut Schon´s West Germany at Ninian Park in Cardiff on the 6th of October 1976. The highlight of his international career occured, however, when Wales overcame old arch enemies England to the overwhelming tune of 4–1 at Racecourse Ground in Wrexham in the British Home Championship on the 17th of May 1980. The Welsh starting eleven on that day included the likes of Brian Flynn, Peter Nicholas, Leighton James, Ian Walsh and Terry Yorath, while the England team contained household names such as Peter Barnes, Steve Coppell, Paul Mariner, Glenn Hoddle and Phil Thompson. In front of a crowd of more than 25,000 enthusiastic spectators, Ipswich Town marksman Paul Mariner handed The Three Lions an early 1–0 lead in the Home Championship match, only for Mickey Thomas to equalise for Wales after twenty minutes of fierce action. Ten minutes later in the action packed encounter, frontrunner Ian Walsh put Mike England´s men ahead before flank forward Leighton James made it 3–1 to the rampant home side on sixty-one minutes. Then in the sixty-seventh minute of the battle, unfortunate Liverpool stopper Phil Thompson hit an own goal to make the scoreline 4–1 in favour of the hosts. The Welsh Dragons defended well for the rest of the tie and held out until the final whistle was blown to achieve one of the greatest victories in the history of The Football Association of Wales.
Unfortunately, Mickey Thomas never appeared for the country of his birth in a major international tournament. Mike England´s Wales side came close to qualification in the 1982 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, but a heavy 3–0 defeat against The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in front of a staggering attendance of over 80,000 home supporters at the impressive Boris Paichadze National Stadium in the Georgian city of Tbilisi in their very last fixture meant that they missed out on goal difference. The Welsh National Team were also close to qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, but they were pipped at the post by longtime rivals Scotland. Following a Wales career spanning a decade, Thomas finally decided to retire from the international football stage at the age of thirty-one, and the veteran player made his swan song appearance for his native country when he came off the the substitutes´s bench as a second half replacement for Manchester United midfield player Clayton Blackmore in a 2–1 friendly fixture triumph against Saudi Arabia at the Dhahran Stadium on the 25th of February 1986. Thomas was no doubt an exciting performer with great dribbling skills, and although his professional soccer career probably went through more highs and lows than a manic depressive on cocaine, the ferociously fast flankman still went on to collect a highly respectable total of 51 senior caps for his beloved Wales. A natural born entertainer, Mickey Thomas was always in a proper good Hwyl and he would always give his very best try wherever he played, even though his ambitions were all too often thwarted by personal problems off the football field. Mickey Thomas Playing Career: Wrexham, Manchester United, Everton, Brighton and Hove Albion, Stoke City, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion, Derby County, Wichita Wings, Shrewsbury Town, Leeds United, Stoke City, Wrexham, Porthmadog. Managing Career: Porthmadog.