Kwame Blair Thomas (born 28 September 1995) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for club

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

. Born in England, he represents the

Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team The Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team is the national team of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and is controlled by the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association. They are affiliated to the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF. The team has n ...

. A tall and physical player, he represented England at under-16, under-17 and under-20 level and was part of England's

Under-20 Four Nations Tournament Under-20 Four Nations Tournament (; ) was an annual under-20 football tournament, contested by the four Alps, Alpine nations: Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, from the 2003–04 edition until the 2009–10 edition. In 2011, Poland replaced ...

success in October 2014. At club level he came through the

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

Academy to make his professional debut in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in November 2014. He spent time on loan at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, before leaving Derby for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

in July 2016. He spent the first half of the 2016–17 season injured and Coventry went on to be relegated out of

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

. He spent the next season on loan at

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

sides

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

and

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

, before he was allowed to join Solihull on a permanent basis in February 2018. He was released by the Moors at the end of the 2018–19 campaign, following a brief loan spell at

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

Club career

Derby County

Having made progress through

academy following his two years as a scholar, Thomas signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2014, just months after receiving the club's Under-21s Player of the Year award. On 29 November 2014, Thomas made his debut as a 66th-minute substitute in a

defeat to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, missing a good chance to score with ten minutes left to play. On 12 January 2015, Thomas joined

club

on a one-month youth loan. On 20 January, he was sent off for a second bookable offence in a 0–0 draw at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

after showing a delayed response to being substituted – "Magpies" manager

Shaun Derry Shaun Peter Derry (born 6 December 1977) is an English former professional footballer and manager. He previously managed Notts County and Cambridge United, and played for Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers among other clubs. D ...

was also dismissed for protesting the decision; assistant manager

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...

theorised that referee Richard Clark had not realised Thomas had already been booked when he initially showed the yellow card. He made his return to Derby after one month at

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane is a football (soccer), football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County F.C., Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 201 ...

as "Rams" striker

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

was injured and manager

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Jamaica national team. McClaren began his coaching career with Oxford United, before joining Derby County in 1995. In 1999 ...

needed cover up front. On 29 July 2015, Thomas joined League One side

on a six-month loan deal. He made 22 appearances for the "Tangerines", which included six starts. He was recalled early from his loan in November, much to "Pool" manager Neil McDonald's disappointment, despite Thomas's failure to score at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

. Back with Derby he helped

Rory Delap Rory John Delap (born 6 July 1976) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in England, he made 11 appearances for the Republic of Ireland national team. Delap started his career at Carlisle United and impressed en ...

's under-21 side to win the 2015–16

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

2 title, but left

Pride Park Pride Park is a business park on the southern outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. It covers 80 hectares of contaminated former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines, and was developed between the 1990s and ear ...

after he was released in the summer.

Coventry City

On 1 July 2016, Thomas signed a two-year contract with

. Manager

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

said that "he has a lot of assets and it's a question of moulding him in the right way because I think he's got the potential to be a really good footballer". However he was hit with an abdominal injury five minutes into his second substitute appearance for the "Sky Blues" and spent the next six months in recovery. He marked his recovery with his first goal for

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English former professional football manager and coach. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional sports coaching with Notts County in 1993. He briefly took ...

's side in a 3–2 defeat at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

on 11 February. Seven days later he proved to be a "revelation" after helping Coventry to record their first win in 16 games, as he and namesake George Thomas shared City's two goals in a 2–1 victory over Gillingham at the

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currentl ...

. He ended the 2016–17 season with three goals in 14 games as Coventry were relegated out of League One. Having struggled again with injury problems in the 2017–18 pre-season, he found himself low down on new manager

Mark Robins Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Stoke City. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier League with Manchester United, Norw ...

's pecking order following the arrivals of

Duckens Nazon Duckens Moïse Nazon (born 7 April 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Kayserispor. Born in France, he plays for the Haiti national team. Early life Nazon was born in Châtenay-Malabry, in the southe ...

and

Tony Andreu Anthony Andreu (born 22 May 1988) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He began his career as a youth player at Monaco, before playing in Switzerland with CS Chênois and Stade Nyonnais. He moved to Scotland in 2012, in ...

, and was limited to a single start in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

. Robins said that "he has got to go out and try to get some football because his history at the moment is he hasn't played enough games and he breaks down with injuries". On 8 September, he joined

side

on a one-month loan deal. However the loan spell at

Gander Green Lane Gander Green Lane, currently known as the VBS Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Sutton, South London, and is the home ground of Sutton United Football Club and Crystal Palace Women. The record attendance for ...

was described as a "disappointing" one as he was limited to just two league starts, featuring in the full 90 minutes only once.

Solihull Moors

Thomas returned to the National League on a one-month loan at

on 17 November 2017. He scored on his Moors debut on 18 November, to salvage a 1–1 draw at Maidstone United in Mark Yates's first game as manager; assistant manager

Tim Flowers Timothy David Flowers (born 3 February 1967) is an English football manager and former player who manages Alvechurch. He played as a goalkeeper from 1984 until 2003, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers where he was part of the s ...

said that Thomas was "unplayable" and well worthy of his one-yard tap-in goal. The loan deal was extended by a further month on 5 January. He left Coventry after his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 1 February 2018. He made an immediate return to

Damson Park Damson Park (known as the ARMCO Arena for sponsorship reasons) is an association football stadium in Solihull, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It was the new home of Solihull Borough F.C., Solihull Borough following their depart ...

and ended the 2017–18 campaign with four goals in 27 appearances for Solihull. He failed to score in 19 matches throughout the 2018–19 campaign and was sent off during a 5–0 win over

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

on 22 September. On 15 March, he joined

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

side

on loan. He started one game for the Harriers, making four further substitute appearances, before being recalled early from his loan spell at

Aggborough Aggborough Stadium is a football stadium in Kidderminster, England. It is the home ground of Kidderminster Harriers, and has a capacity of 7,000, of which 3,140 can be seated. The ground was also the home of Worcester City between 2013 and 2 ...

by Solihull manager Tim Flowers. He left the club upon the expiry of his contract in the summer.

Doncaster Rovers

After having trials at

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

in July 2019, Thomas was signed by

on 4 October 2019 on a short-term contract till January 2020. On 22 October 2019 he scored his first two goals for the club in a 1–7 win over Southend.

Burton Albion

On 4 February 2020, Thomas signed for

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

on a six-month deal.

Wrexham

Kwame signed for Wrexham on 29 August 2020 on a one-year deal. After a ruptured achilles injury ended his 2020/2021 season, he was retained by Wrexham who stood by Thomas with another one-year deal. He returned in mid-December 2021, scoring on his return.

Sutton United

On 1 July 2022, Thomas joined League Two club Sutton United following his release from Wrexham, returning to the club having played four matches on loan in 2017. He was released by Sutton at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Dundee (loan)

On 19 January 2023, Thomas joined

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

on loan until the end of the season. He would make his debut for the ''Dark Blues'' coming off the bench against St Mirren in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

. He was able to make the line-up the following week, but would remain out for the next few weeks. Thomas made his return to the pitch on 1 April, coming off the bench and scoring his first Dundee goal in a 7–0 demolition of

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

. Thomas would score a brace against Morton a few weeks later, including a last-minute equaliser. Thomas would come on as a substitute in Dundee's 3–5 away win over Queen's Park which clinched the side the

title.

Aldershot Town

On 17 July 2023, Thomas agreed to return to the National League and join

signing a one-year deal. On 28 August, Thomas would play part of a league game away to

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

after ''Shots'' goalie Jordi van Stappershoef was sent off. Thomas scored his first goal for Aldershot on 30 September, netting a late winner over

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

Ebbsfleet United

On 19 July 2024, Thomas joined

club

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1946 from the merger ...

. He made his debut from the bench in the league opener away to

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

. Thomas scored his first goal for the ''Fleet'' on 26 October, netting a last-minute equaliser at home against

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

Aldershot Town return

On 27 March 2025, Thomas returned to his previous club

on loan for the remainder of the season. On 5 April, Thomas made his second debut for the ''Shots'' off the bench in an

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

semi-final victory over rivals

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

which sent Thomas and Aldershot to

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

for the final. On 12 April, Thomas netted the first goal of his second stint with the ''Shots'' in a heavy defeat away to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

. On 11 May, Thomas came on as a substitute in the

2025 FA Trophy final The 2025 FA Trophy final was an association football match played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 11 May 2025. It was the 56th FA Trophy final and was contested between Aldershot Town and Spennymoor Town. It was both teams's first final in the co ...

in a 3–0 win over Spennymoor Town which saw Aldershot win their first ever

. On 24 June 2025, Thomas returned to Aldershot Town on a permanent basis following his departure from Ebbsfleet United.

International career

Born in England, Thomas is of Kittitian and Ghanaian descent. Thomas has represented England at under-16, under-17, and under-20 levels. He scored two goals for the under-20s, in friendlies against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He played in all three of England's games in the

in October 2014, which England won after finishing ahead of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He was named in

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who was most recently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he ...

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

2015 Toulon Tournament The 2015 Toulon Tournament was the 43rd edition of the Toulon Tournament. The competition began on 27 May and ended on 7 June 2015. Participants AFC * * CAF * * CONCACAF * * * UEFA * * * Source: Squads Venues Group stage Group A ...

in France and was an unused substitute up until the third-place play-off match at

Stade Mayol The Stade Mayol is a multi-purpose stadium in Toulon, France. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home stadium of RC Toulonnais. The stadium is able to hold 17,500 people. It is one of the few French stadiums to be emb ...

, which he started; England finished fourth after losing 2–1 to the United States. Thomas was called up to the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team on 21 March 2024. Thomas made his debut for the ''Sugar Boyz'' on 24 March 2024, starting in their international friendly against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

in Serravalle.

Style of play

A powerful

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, he is a threat in the air and on the ground. Former Derby youth coach

Darren Wassall Darren Paul James Wassall (born 27 June 1968) is an English football coach and former player who played as a defender. He was the academy director of Derby County from 2009 until 2023; he was also the club's head coach on a temporary basis duri ...

described him as a "model professional". Before being released by Coventry, Academy coach Jason Farndon said that "his physicality has always been his main threat but now everyone is catching up with his physicality so he has got to reinvent himself."

Personal life

Thomas grew up supporting

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and idolizing

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (; born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, sports broadcaster and former player. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time and widely regarded as the greatest player in Premi ...

. He is a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. He went to school with

Offrande Zanzala Offrande Jolynold Serge Zanzala (born 13 December 1997) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a forward for National League North club Chester FC. Career Zanzala emigrated with his family from the Republic of the Congo to Austria ...

and the two remained good friends into adulthood.

Career statistics

Honours

Dundee *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Aldershot Town *

: 2024–25 ; ;England U20 *

: October 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Kwame Living people 1995 births English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers English people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent English people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Black British sportsmen Footballers from Nottingham English Christians Men's association football forwards Derby County F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Solihull Moors F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players Saint Kitts and Nevis men's international footballers Saint Kitts and Nevis men's footballers Saint Kitts and Nevis expatriate men's footballers 21st-century English sportsmen