Haley Marie Thomas (born February 18, 1999) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Spokane Zephyr FC Spokane Zephyr FC is an American professional women's soccer club based in Spokane, Washington, that competes in the USL Super League (USLS). Zephyr FC is owned by Aequus Sports, which also operates Spokane Velocity FC of USL League One (USL1). ...

of the

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS), officially known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system, alongside the National Women's Socce ...

. She played college soccer for the

Weber State Wildcats The Weber State Wildcats are the varsity athletic teams representing Weber State University in Ogden, Utah in intercollegiate athletics, sponsoring 16 teams. The Wildcats compete in NCAA Division I FCS and are charter members (1963) of the Big ...

and

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

before starting her professional career with European clubs ÍBV and

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

Early life

Thomas was born in

La Grande, Oregon La Grande () is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Oregon, Union County, Oregon, United States. La Grande is Union County's largest city, with a population of 13,082 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. The La Grande metro population ...

, as one of 5 children born to Marlow and Tyler Thomas. She grew up in

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

, and played youth club soccer for Three Rivers SC. Thomas originally did not plan to play in high school, but she later changed her mind and was a four-year starter at

for Southridge High School. She played a role in multiple playoff runs with Southridge, including a second-place state title run in 2014. Thomas won multiple All-League and All-State honors in her youth career.

College career

Weber State Wildcats

Although she had formerly tabbed

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington, United States. It shares its satellite campus in Spokane, Washington with Washington State University. Founded in 1882, the university is academically divided in ...

as her top university choice, Thomas ended up at

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

. In her first season with the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

, she was a Big Sky All-Conference Honorable Mention after playing in 14 games. She scored her first collegiate goal on August 25, 2017, netting a long-range strike that proved to be the game-winner over

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural Colle ...

. As a sophomore, Thomas started all 18 games and recorded 1 assist. She was named to the All-Conference Second Team, an achievement which was trumped the following year when she was named to the 2019 First Team. In her final year at Weber State, Thomas was once again named to the Big Sky first team and received Co-defensive Big Sky MVP honors. She finished her Wildcat career with 58 appearances (all starts) and as the team leader in minutes in all seasons but one.

Boston College Eagles

After her four seasons at Weber State, Thomas took advantage of the extra year of

NCAA eligibility The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

offered to players due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and played a fifth season with the

. She started all 18 of Boston College's matches and played the second-highest minutes on the team.

Club career

ÍBV

On February 2, 2022, Thomas signed her first professional contract with Icelandic club ÍBV. She quickly rose to prominence on the team and was named

club captain The captain of a football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influ ...

. Thomas scored her first professional goal on June 10, 2022, in a

domestic cup A domestic cup (also known as association cup or national cup) is a type of sports tournament, particularly common in association football. This tournament type is notable for its participation by professional and amateur teams from many levels of ...

defeat to

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan (, ), commonly known as Stjarnan (), is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær. Basketball Men's basketball As of the 2017–2 ...

. She ended the season as team MVP after having played every minute of the

Besta deild kvenna The Besta deild kvenna () is the top-tier women's football league in Iceland. It features 10 teams that play a double round robin to decide the champion, which qualifies for a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League. The 2022 season was the f ...

. Thomas subsequently re-signed with ÍBV, returning to the club for a second season. She built upon her success, playing in 21 games and starting each one. At the end of 2023, Thomas departed from ÍBV.

MSV Duisburg

Thomas joined

of the

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

on January 18, 2024, signing a contract through the second half of the 2023–24 campaign. She made her club debut ten days later, playing 90 minutes in a 2–1 defeat to 1. FC Nürnberg. At the end of the season, Duisburg were relegated to the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga, but instead dropped from the professional ranks and joined the

Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...

due to financial difficulties.

Spokane Zephyr

On June 20, 2024, Thomas signed with

ahead of the inaugural

season. Thomas's move both reunited her with Duisburg teammate Taryn Ries and brought her back to her home state. On September 22, 2024, she scored a game-winning diving header that helped Spokane beat

DC Power FC DC Power Football Club is an American professional women's soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the USL Super League (USLS). History Washington, D.C., was named as one of the eight locations in the USL Super League on May 16, ...

and earn the club's first-ever victory. She also contributed throughout the season defensively and was named to the

USL Super League Team of the Month The USL Super League Team of the Month is a monthly women's soccer Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professi ...

in March 2025 after registering 22 clearances and winning 15 duels.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

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Haley Thomas
at

Haley Thomas
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Haley Living people 1999 births Soccer players from Washington (state) Sportspeople from Kennewick, Washington American women's soccer players Women's association football defenders Weber State Wildcats women's soccer players Boston College Eagles women's soccer players ÍBV women's football players Besta deild kvenna players MSV Duisburg (women) players Frauen-Bundesliga players Spokane Zephyr FC players USL Super League players American expatriate women's soccer players Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland American expatriate women's soccer players in Germany 21st-century American sportswomen