Shavar Thomas (born 29 January 1981) is a retired Jamaican

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 ...

and current assistant coach of FC Cincinnati 2 of

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

Career

Amateur and college

Thomas played as a youth for Hazard United in Jamaica and at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He played college soccer at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. He played two seasons, 2001 and 2002, and was named an

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

second team All-American his second year.

Professional

After that year, Thomas entered the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, where he was selected 10th overall by

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Thomas struggled in his first year, often appearing raw, but finished the season with 14 starts and 1252 minutes for the Burn. In the offseason, Thomas was traded to

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

in exchange for Eric Quill and Carey Talley. In his second year, Thomas established himself as a solid defender, playing center back for one of the league's best defensive teams. He finished the season with 1880 minutes in 22 starts. Thomas continued as a starter in 2005 and 2006. On 23 March 2007, Thomas was traded to

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

for a conditional second-round draft pick. On 3 May 2007, he was traded to

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

for a second-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. Thomas was selected by

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

in the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft on 25 November 2009. He was traded to his former club

on 30 June 2010 in exchange for two

MLS SuperDraft The MLS SuperDraft is an annual Draft (sports), college draft for teams of Major League Soccer in the United States and Canada in which MLS clubs take turns selecting from a pool of eligible amateur players. These drafted players usually come f ...

picks and allocation money. Thomas remained with Kansas City through the 2011 season. At season's end, the club declined his 2012 contract option and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Thomas was not selected in the draft and became a free agent. Thomas signed with new MLS franchise Montreal Impact on 20 January 2012. On 2 November 2012 Montreal announced that Thomas would not be returning to the club in 2013. He entered the

2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 7, 2012 (Stage 1), and December 14, 2012 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs were eligible to participate. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as th ...

and became a free agent after going undrafted in both rounds of the draft. In 2013, Thomas was invited to D.C. United's training camp as a trialist, but wasn't offered a contract. It was announced on 11 March 2013 that Thomas signed with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers for the NASL's Spring season. After leaving Fort Lauderdale, Thomas went on trial with Brunei DPMM of the S.League in November 2013.

International

Thomas appeared for the Jamaican U-20's in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina and looked poised to break into a major role with the Jamaica national team, while captaining the 2004 Olympic squad. He currently has 49 caps, and has represented the team at every level. He captained the Jamaica national team to the 2010 Caribbean Championship in Martinique.

Management

Portmore United

In August 2017, Thomas was named coach of Portmore United F.C. of the Red Stripe Premier League. Thomas's first season leading Portmore was a great success finishing first in the table, 15 points clear of second place Arnett Gardens. After two successive runners-up finishes in prior seasons, Thomas's Portmore won the final, beating Waterhouse F.C. in penalties, earning the club's sixth title overall, and first since 2012. Thomas's Portmore saw continued success during the 2018–19 season, finishing top of the table and winning the final for the club's seventh title and Thomas's second. The 2017-18 title earned Portmore qualification to the 2019 Caribbean Club Championship. Going undefeated through the tournament, Thomas's Portmore secured the 2019 Caribbean Club Championship, earning the club's second title from the competition, and first since 2005.

Turks and Caicos

Thomas left Portmore at the conclusion of the 2019 season of competition to join coaching staff in Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association.

FC Cincinnati 2

In 2022, Thomas joined FC Cincinnati 2 as an assistant coach.

Achievements

Club

CD Chivas USA

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

**Runners-up (1): 2007 *

MLS Western Conference The Western Conference is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Eastern Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with club ...

**Winners (Regular Season) (1): 2007

Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC

* Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

Western Conference Championship (1):

Jamaica

* Caribbean Cup Winner (2):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Managerial

Portmore United

National Premier League The Jamaica Premier League (formerly the National Premier League), commonly abbreviated as JPL and officially known as the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the ...

Winner (2): 2017–18, 2018–19 * Caribbean Club Championship Winner (1):

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Shavar 1981 births Living people Hotchkiss School alumni University of Connecticut alumni Men's association football defenders Jamaica men's youth international footballers Jamaica men's international footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Portmore United F.C. players Jamaican men's footballers 21st-century Jamaican sportsmen FC Dallas players Sporting Kansas City players LA Galaxy players Chivas USA players Philadelphia Union players CF Montréal players Fort Lauderdale Strikers players Footballers from Kingston, Jamaica UConn Huskies men's soccer players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Major League Soccer players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players FC Dallas draft picks