reserves. He moved to Brighton & Hove Albion where he saw out the 1981–82 season but his wife struggled to settle in Brighton and so he moved on again this time to Stoke City for a fee of £200,000. He instantly became a favourite at the Victoria Ground and top-scored in 1982–83 with 12 goals coming from left wing and he won the player of the year award. In the summer of 1983 manager Richie Barker decided to alter his style of play to the long ball game. This decision did not go down well with the players and most of them signalled their intent to leave and Thomas left in January 1984, after scoring three goals in 21 matches in 1983–84. He joined promotion-chasing Chelsea in January 1984, signed by the manager who had given him his debut at Wrexham, John Neal. Thomas made an immediate impact, scoring twice on his debut and helping the club become Second Division champions in 1983–84. He was sold to West Bromwich Albion in 1985 for £100,000 where he played 28 times scoring once and also had a short loan spell at Derby County. In 1986 Thomas moved to the United States where he lent his skills to the Wichita Wings in the Major Indoor Soccer League. After two seasons in the United States he returned to England with Shrewsbury Town and Leeds United before making a return to Stoke City in March 1990. He could do little to prevent Alan Ball's Stoke suffering relegation in 1989–90 but at the age of 36 he played in 44 matches in 1990–91 and won the player of the year award again as Stoke failed to mount a promotion challenge. He was released at the end of the season by Lou Macari and returned to Wrexham in 1991, where in the memorable FA Cup defeat of Arsenal in January 1992, 37-year-old Thomas scored the equalising goal from a free kick. He joined Welsh League side Porthmadog in 1994 under the management of former Wales international teammate Ian Edwards. When Edwards was sacked Thomas took over as a player-manager however in his three months in charge the side only picked up one point and Thomas decided to leave. International career Thomas gained 51 caps for Wales, and counts scoring a goal for Wales in their win over England as one of the most memorable moments of his