Jerome Thomas

Jerome William Thomas (born 23 March 1983) is an English former footballer who is the head of academy recruitment at club Brighton & Hove Albion.

During his playing career, he played predominantly as a left-winger and scored 25 goals in 292 league and cup appearances throughout a 16-year professional career in the English Football League and Premier League.

He began his career with Arsenal, but never broke into the first team despite winning two FA Youth Cup titles with the youth team and being capped up to England under-21 level.

These victories came in 2000 against Coventry City and in 2001, where he scored a goal in the final over Blackburn Rovers.

He was loaned out to Second Division side Queens Park Rangers in the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons.

He made his debut in the English Football League on 30 March 2002, in a 3–2 win over Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park.

He scored his first professional goal on 6 April, the only goal of the game against Swindon Town at the County Ground in a 1–0 win for QPR.

During his second loan spell in October 2002, he scored long-distance goals away at Cheltenham Town and against Oldham Athletic at Loftus Road.

However, he found it difficult to break into the first team at Highbury with Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires at the peak of their powers, and Thomas made just three appearances in the 2003–04 season – all in the League Cup.

He played just 45 minutes for the "Addicks" in the 2003–04 season, coming on for Paul Konchesky at half-time during a 2–2 home draw that relegated opponents Leicester City.

He scored his first top-flight goal in a 3–2 win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 6 November, a game in which he was described as "a constant outlet on the left" and also provided Shaun Bartlett with an assist.

He had two loan spells with Queens Park Rangers, before he was sold on to Charlton Athletic for £100,000 in February 2004.

After Arsène Wenger signed José Antonio Reyes in January 2004, Thomas turned down a new one-year contract with the "Gunners" and decided it was best to look for first team football elsewhere.

Thomas was signed by Premier League club Charlton Athletic on a two-and-a-half-year contract for a £100,000 fee in February 2004.

He had been spotted by manager Alan Curbishley playing for Arsenal reserves.

He scored with a curling shot from 23 yd out in the return game against Spurs on 16 March, which gave Charlton a 2–0 victory and finished the 2004–05 season with three goals in 24 league appearances.

He made 31 league and cup appearances in the 2005–06 campaign, though scored just one goal, again against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, though this time it was a consolation goal in a 3–1 defeat.

He played 70 Premier League games for the club before Charlton were relegated at the end of the 2006–07 campaign.

He signed a new three-year contract after Iain Dowie was installed as manager in summer 2006, and defended Dowie after the club's poor start to the season, saying "I laugh at people when they talk about relegation. There's no way we will go down."

Dowie was sacked in November 2006, and new manager Les Reed told Thomas he was not needed at The Valley.

However, Reed's reign would prove even shorter than Dowie's, and new manager Alan Pardew returned Thomas to the starting eleven but could not steer the club away from relegation at the end of the 2006–07 season.

He featured 33 times in the 2007–08 campaign as Charlton finished 11th in the Championship.

He was sold on to Portsmouth in August 2008, but only played three first-team games for the club.

In August 2008, he joined Premier League club Portsmouth on an initial season-long loan, which was made into a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee after only six days.

Chief executive Peter Storrie stated that "It frees up a loan space for us" and said that the fee would be dependent on how many appearances Thomas made.

He was signed by Harry Redknapp, however, injuries prevented him from establishing himself in the first team under Redknapp.

He signed with West Bromwich Albion in August 2009 and helped the club win promotion out of the Championship at the end of the 2009–10 season.

He struggled to return to full fitness after fracturing his spine and was released by Portsmouth in July 2009, having made only three first-team appearances in the 2008–09 season.

During the summer of 2009 he had trials with two Premier League teams, Hull City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He instead dropped into the Championship to join West Bromwich Albion in August 2009.

He scored his first goal for "Baggies" in his seventh appearance, in a 5–0 win away at Middlesbrough on 19 September.

Three days later, Thomas was sent off in a League Cup tie against his former club Arsenal for a push on Jack Wilshere following an off the ball incident.

He went on to record a career-high tally of eight goals in 29 appearances in the 2009–10 season to help West Brom to secure promotion with a second-place finish.

On 25 September 2010, he provided an assist for Peter Odemwingie and then went on to score the winning goal in a 3–2 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

On New Year's Day, he helped West Brom to beat Manchester United 2–1 in what proved to be right-back Gary Neville's final game as a player; Neville later said "I was uncomfortable about the fans singing my name, uncomfortable about being out on the pitch knowing that I had just been destroyed by not the best player in the world [Jerome Thomas]."

Having lost his first team place for the 2012–13 season, he spent six weeks on loan at Leeds United, before he joined Crystal Palace on a free transfer in July 2013.

He played just ten Premier League games over the course of two seasons, before he joined Rotherham United in February 2016, following six months spent as a free agent.

He signed with Port Vale in July 2016 and spent one season with the club.

Thomas played schoolboy football for Luton Town, before joining Arsenal.

He helped the Arsenal youth team to win the FA Youth Cup twice.