George Andrew Thomason[4] (born 12 January 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League One side Bolton Wanderers.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Andrew Thomason[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 12 January 2001 | ||
| Place of birth | Barrow in Furness, England | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2018[3] | Blackpool | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2020 | Longridge Town | ||
| 2020– | Bolton Wanderers | 105 | (9) |
| 2020 | → Bamber Bridge (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Bamber Bridge (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:34, 5 October 2024 (UTC) | |||
Playing career
editThomason spent his most of youth as a left-back at Blackpool[5] signing as an 8 year old but was released as a 16 year old.[3]
After signing for Longridge Town he was converted into a central midfielder by Lee Ashcroft and scored two goals in 26 league appearances in the North West Counties League for Longridge Town in the 2019–20 season, before being signed by Bolton Wanderers in January 2020.[6] As part of the deal, Bolton agreed to play a pre-season friendly against Longridge Town the following season[7] though instead, the match happened during pre season for 2021–2022 season,[8] presumably to allow fans to attend as the entire 2020–2021 season was played behind closed doors. The match finished 3–1 to Bolton, with Thomason playing 45 minutes.[9]
On 31 January 2020 he was loaned out to Northern Premier League Premier Division club Bamber Bridge.[10] He returned to Bamber Bridge the following season, alongside teammate Callum King-Harmes,[11] before being recalled in November as non-League football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England.[12] He made his debut for the "Trotters" on 17 November 2020, in a 3–2 victory over Newcastle United U21 in the EFL Trophy. He made his English Football League debut on 5 December, in a 6–3 home defeat to Port Vale.[13] On 26 December 2020 he scored his first Bolton goal, and his first professional goal, scoring Bolton's first goal in a 3–3 draw against Carlisle United.[14] His performances in December saw him voted by the Bolton fans as Bolton Player of the Month.[15] On 12 February 2021, he signed a new 18 month contract.[16] On 21 May 2021 he was named Bolton's Young Player of the Year for the 2020–21 season.[17] On 5 November, he signed a one-year contract extension extending it to 2023.[18] On 2 December 2022, in a match against Bristol Rovers, Thomason went off injured with the injury possibly ruling him out for the rest of the season.[19] Two weeks later, on 15 December, he signed a new contract with Bolton until 2025[20] with the option of an extra year.[21] He returned much earlier than expected however, returning to training in February.[22] On 2 April, he came on as a substitute in the 2023 EFL Trophy Final against Plymouth Argyle. Bolton went on to win 4–0.[23] On 14 August 2023, EFL Championship side Bristol City had a £1 million bid accepted for him, though Thomason turned them down preferring to stay at Bolton.[24] He signed a new four-year contract a day later.[25] On 21 September 2024, Thomason was named as the new Bolton captain[26]
Style of play
editThomason is a box-to-box midfielder.[27] Bolton manager Ian Evatt said that Thomason has excellent positioning skills, vision and has a "wonderful left foot".[28]
Statistics
edit- As of match played 3 May 2024
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Longridge Town | 2018–19 | NWCFL Division One North | ? | ? | ? | ? | — | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| 2019–20[6][27][29] | NWCFL Premier Division | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 6[a] | 0 | 35 | 2 | ||
| Total | 26+ | 2+ | 3+ | ? | — | — | 6+ | ? | 35+ | 2+ | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | 2019–20[30] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020–21[31] | League Two | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 25 | 1 | |
| 2021–22[32] | League One | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[b] | 0 | 21 | 1 | |
| 2022–23[33] | League One | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| 2023–24[34] | League One | 39 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[d] | 0 | 52 | 6 | |
| Total | 96 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 123 | 8 | ||
| Bamber Bridge (loan) | 2019–20[35] | Northern Premier League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[36] | Northern Premier League | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[e] | 0 | 8 | 2 | ||
| Total | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 13 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 134 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 171 | 12 | ||
- Notes
- ^ Appearances in FA Vase and Macron Challenge Cup
- ^ a b Appearance in EFL Trophy
- ^ Two appearances in the EFL Trophy, one appearance in the League One play-offs
- ^ Five appearances in EFL Trophy, three appearance in League One play-offs
- ^ Appearance in FA Trophy
Honours
edit- Longridge Town
- Bolton Wanderers
- EFL League Two third-place (promotion): 2020–21[38][31]
- EFL Trophy: 2022–23[23]
References
edit- ^ "CLUB LIST OF REGISTERED PLAYERS AS AT 15th May 2021" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "George Thomason". Bolton Wanderers F.C. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ a b Bolton Wanderers: "THE BIG INTERVIEW | A catch-up with George Thomason": "I was at Blackpool Academy from 8 till 16 and then didn't get offered the two year scholarship"
- ^ The Bolton News: "Bolton Wanderers 'passed' on Liverpool academy midfield prospect Liam Coyle"
- ^ Browne, Gavin (14 January 2020). "Longridge Town manager Lee Ashcroft praises George Thomason after his Bolton Wanderers move". www.lep.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ a b Iles, Marc (6 January 2020). "Wanderers sign former Blackpool midfielder on professional deal". The Bolton News. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ Longridge Town: "THOMASON SIGNS PROFESSIONAL DEAL WITH BOLTON WANDERERS: Looking further ahead following Thomason's move to Bolton, Trotters boss Keith Hill has promised to take a First Team squad to the MRG for a pre-season friendly ahead of next season."
- ^ "Wanderers Pre-Season fixtures confirmed". Bolton Wanderers - Official Site. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ BWFC: "Report: Longridge Town 1-3 Bolton Wanderers"
- ^ Hornby, Ruth (31 January 2020). "PLAYER NEWS: George Thomason and Oscar Radcliffe join Brig". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ "Wanderers duo join Bamber Bridge on Youth Loans". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ McDougall, John (17 November 2020). "Bolton make decision on loanee ahead of Newcastle under 21s clash". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ "Bolton Wanderers 3-6 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 5 December 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ BBC Sport: "Carlisle United 3-3 Bolton Wanderers"
- ^ @OfficialBWFC: "With 49.9% of the vote, you have chosen @GThomason14 as the @bolton_kia Player of the Month for 𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁. Well done, George!"
- ^ BWFC: "Young midfielder signs new deal"
- ^ @OfficialBWFC: "The 2020/21 Young Player of the Year is: 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧. #BWFC
- ^ BWFC: "New Deals For Key Quartet"
- ^ The Bolton Wanderers: "Bolton Wanderers boss reveals injury blow for Thomason & Bodvarsson"
- ^ BBC Sport: "George Thomason: Bolton Wanderers midfielder signs new deal until 2025"
- ^ BWFC: "Thomason Signs New Deal"
- ^ @OfficialBWFC Evatt: "George Thomason will return to the squad in about two weeks and Dan (Nlundulu) will return at a similar time to George."
- ^ a b "Bolton Wanderers 4-0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport.
- ^ Bolton Wanderers' George Thomason turns down Bristol City
- ^ "Bolton midfielder Thomason extends contract". BBC Sport.
- ^ The Bolton News: "Bolton Wanderers appoint George Thomason as new captain
- ^ a b Simpson, Jordan (6 January 2020). ""It's a childhood dream." - George Thomason speaks to bwfc.co.uk". www.bwfc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ McDougall, John (19 November 2020). "Evatt's plans for Bolton midfielder Thomason after loan recall and debut". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ longridgetownfc.com: "FIRST TEAM 6-1 BARNOLDSWICK TOWN FC
charnockrichardfc.co.uk "Charnock Richard 1-1 Longridge Town"
charnockrichardfc.co.uk: "Longridge Town 0-2 Charnock Richard"
longridgetownfc: FIRST TEAM 5-2 NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY
longridgetownfc: "FIRST TEAM 3-1 AFC BLACKPOOL"
longridgetownfc.com: "FIRST TEAM 6-4 THORNABY FC"
longridgetownfc.com: "FIRST TEAM: "0-3 VAUXHALL MOTORS"
pitchero.com: "CTFC 2-2 LONGRIDGE"
longridgetownfc: "MATCH REPORT: LONGRIDGE TOWN 2-0 CONGLETON TOWN" - ^ "Games played by George Thomason in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ a b "Games played by George Thomason in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "Games played by George Thomason in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Games played by George Thomason in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Games played by George Thomason in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
- ^ Football Web Pages: Bamber Bridge – Appearances – George Thomason – 2019-2020
- ^ Football Web Pages: Bamber Bridge – Appearances – George Thomason – 2020-2021
- ^ Longridge Town FC (@LongridgeTownFC). "TURNER TREBLE WINS TITLE FOR TOWN........ Match Report to follow #UptheRidge" April 27, 2019, 21:28 PM. Tweet.
- ^ Soccerbase: League Two 2020/21 Table