Wes Thomas

Wesley Alexander Nevada Thomas (born 23 January 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He was top scorer for Waltham Forest in the 2005–06 Southern League Eastern Division, top scorer for Thurrock in the Conference South the following season, and repeated the feat with Fisher Athletic, also in the Conference South, in 2007–08, before making his debut in the Football League with Dagenham & Redbridge in October 2008.

He began his career in non-league football with various clubs in and around London before making his debut in the Football League for Dagenham & Redbridge in 2008.

After loan spells in the Conference with Grays Athletic and Rushden & Diamonds, he spent a season with League Two club Cheltenham Town.

He briefly joined Crawley Town before moving into League One with AFC Bournemouth.

After one full season at Bournemouth, he went out on loan again, to Portsmouth, Blackpool and Birmingham City.

He joined Conference Premier club Grays Athletic on loan in December 2008; he made eight appearances and scored twice before his loan ended at the end of January 2009.

He joined Rushden & Diamonds in March 2010 on loan until the end of the season, but never appeared for the first team, and was transfer-listed by Dagenham & Redbridge as they restructured the team following their promotion to League One.

In July 2010, Thomas signed a one-year contract with League Two club Cheltenham Town.

He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Gillingham on the opening day of the season, and followed up with two against Crewe Alexandra on his second appearance.

The club were keen for Thomas to sign an extended contract – by January 2011 he was top scorer with 12 goals – but was reluctant to do so because his pregnant girlfriend wanted to stay close to her London home.

He scored regularly until the beginning of March, but produced only one more between then and the end of the season; this still left him as the club's top scorer, with 19 goals.

He chose not to re-sign for Cheltenham, instead joining Crawley Town, newly promoted to League Two, on what Cheltenham chairman Paul Baker described as "staggering" wages.

Thomas signed a two-year contract with Crawley Town.

Manager Steve Evans described him as "a natural goalscorer" with pace and good movement who was "still developing" as a player.

He made his Crawley debut as a very late substitute on the opening day of the 2011–12 season, and scored in his second game, in a 2–0 win over Macclesfield Town, but was unable to dislodge Tyrone Barnett and Matt Tubbs from the starting eleven, and was unhappy about not playing.

He later claimed that Evans had told him he would be first-choice striker.

Thomas joined League One club Bournemouth on 9 September, initially on a 93-day loan, with an agreement for the move to be made permanent for a "six-figure fee" when the January 2012 transfer window opened.

In his second game, Thomas won a penalty, reacted to a rebound off the crossbar to score his first goal for the club, and set up a goal for Marc Pugh in a 3–1 victory over Leyton Orient.

He began to develop a partnership with Michael Symes which both parties and manager Lee Bradbury thought could become productive.

The day after his move to Bournemouth was made permanent, Thomas and Symes each scored in a 2–0 defeat of Wycombe Wanderers.

Despite scoring 11 league goals, Thomas finished the season with an even longer goal drought than he had at Cheltenham; this time he scored only once after January.

Thomas's barren spell at Bournemouth continued into the 2012–13 season, amid competition from Lewis Grabban and Matt Tubbs for a starting spot, and on 28 September, manager Paul Groves allowed Thomas to leave on a month's loan to fellow League One club Portsmouth.

The next day, he scored a late winner against Scunthorpe United to give Portsmouth their first home league victory of the season.

He and Izale McLeod performed well as a strike pairing, and helped the club to four league wins and a draw in Thomas's first five matches for the club.

He was reluctant to return to his parent club if he was not going be played, and Michael Appleton wanted to keep him at Portsmouth, but newly appointed manager Eddie Howe recalled him to Bournemouth with the intention of involving him in the squad.

Thomas said he thought Groves had not given him enough backing, and hoped for a fresh start under Howe, but a few days later he told the manager he wanted to leave.

He joined Rotherham United for the second half of the 2013–14 season before rejoining Birmingham, this time on a permanent basis.

In the 2013–14 season, Thomas had been linked with League One side Swindon Town, but Bournemouth were reluctant to sell Thomas because they were "low on strikers at the moment."

Having made only ten appearances in the first half of 2013–14 season, the club announced that he would not be offered a new contract by the club when the season ended.

On 22 November, Thomas followed Michael Appleton to Championship club Blackpool, on loan until 1 January 2013.

His first goal came on 1 December in a 4–1 away win at Peterborough United.

Although Appleton wanted him to stay, Thomas finished his spell at Blackpool with three goals from nine games and returned to Bournemouth.

There was considerable interest in the player's services from Championship clubs including Derby County, Watford, Burnley and Appleton's latest club, Blackburn Rovers.

But after three more appearances for Bournemouth, without scoring, Thomas signed for Birmingham City on loan until the end of the season.

Thomas went straight into the starting eleven, partnering Marlon King, for Birmingham's 2–1 win against Nottingham Forest two days later.

In 2015–16, he spent time on loan at Swindon Town and Bradford City, before joining newly promoted Oxford United after the season ended.

He later had stints with Grimsby Town and Notts County.

Thomas began his football career at Queens Park Rangers, but was released at the end of his two-year scholarship.

He moved into non-league football alongside studying for a BTEC National Certificate in Media.