Conor Thomas (born 29 October 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League Two club Crewe Alexandra. He has previously played for Coventry City, Swindon Town, former Indian Super League club ATK and Cheltenham Town.
Thomas joined the Coventry City Academy after being spotted playing for local side Christ The King FC. He was approached by scouts from the likes of Aston Villa and Birmingham too, but decided to start his career with the Sky Blues. He made his professional debut as a substitute on 8 January 2011 in a 2–1 FA Cup win over Crystal Palace, coming on to replace Gary McSheffrey after 72 minutes[3] and made his full debut for the club on 25 January, again during an FA Cup tie, against Birmingham City.
He joined Premier League club Liverpool initially on loan on 31 January 2011, with a view to a permanent move[4] but after playing and training with Liverpool's reserves and training with the first team on seven occasions he returned to Coventry after a hamstring injury and the mutual decision to end the loan.[5] Thomas scored his first senior goal on 31 January 2012 in a 2–1 defeat away to Blackpool, opening the scoring in the 59th minute.[6]
After a six-year spell at Coventry, Thomas was released by the club in June 2016.[7]
On 4 July 2016, following his release from Coventry City, Thomas joined fellow League One side Swindon Town on a three-year deal.[8] On 6 August 2016, Thomas made his Swindon Town debut in a 1–0 victory against his former side, Coventry City, featuring for the entire 90 minutes.[9] On 25 March 2017, Thomas scored his first goal for Swindon, netting the winner in their 1–0 victory over Millwall in the 90th minute.[10]
On 23 August 2017, Thomas joined Indian Super League side ATK.[11]
On 25 May 2018, Thomas returned to England to join League Two side Cheltenham Town on a two-year deal.[12] He helped Cheltenham to the 2019–20 League Two play-off semi-finals, only to lose 3–2 on aggregate against Northampton Town.[13] After four seasons, on 6 May 2022, Thomas left the club after not being able to reach an agreement with the club on new terms.[14]
On 19 May 2022, he joined Crewe Alexandra.[15] He started in Crewe's opening game of the 2022–23 season, a 2–1 victory over Rochdale at Spotland.[16] and he scored his first Crewe goal in the side's 2–1 win over former club Swindon Town at Gresty Road on 29 April 2023.[17]
In May 2024, Thomas signed a new two-year deal, keeping him at Crewe until the summer of 2026.[18] In late October, Thomas sustained a freak knee injury as a result of a teammate taking an ill-timed shot in training, ruling him out of action until early 2025.[19] He eventually made a substitute appearance in Crewe's 3–1 win at Chesterfield on 1 March 2025.[20] He started his fourth season with Crewe by scoring twice in the side's 3–1 victory at Salford City on 2 August 2025.[21]
Thomas was an England under-17 international. He played in the final of the 2009 Nordic Tournament and was awarded a winner's medal following the side's victory over Scotland.[22]
In March 2023, Thomas launched the Conor Thomas Academy, offering one-on-one and small group football coaching sessions to young players in the Crewe, Sandbach, and Stoke areas. The academy aims to bridge the gap between amateur and academy-level football.[23]
Conor Thomas has undertaken football commentary work with BBC Radio Stoke. He participated in studio discussions with presenter Samantha Fletcher-Goodwin and contributed to live match commentary at Crewe Alexandra home games alongside Graham McGarry and Peter Morse.[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Coventry City | 2010–11[24] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2011–12[25] | Championship | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13[26] | League One | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2013–14[27] | League One | 43 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 49 | 0 | |
| 2014–15[28] | League One | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| 2015–16[29] | League One | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 100 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 117 | 1 | ||
| Liverpool (loan) | 2010–11[24] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Swindon Town | 2016–17[30] | League One | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| 2017–18[31] | League Two | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 1 | ||
| ATK | 2017–18[32][33] | Indian Super League | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||
| Cheltenham Town | 2018–19[34] | League Two | 32 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4[a] | 0 | 41 | 7 |
| 2019–20[35] | League Two | 26 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[b] | 1 | 32 | 7 | |
| 2020–21[36] | League Two | 38 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 5 | |
| 2021–22[37] | League One | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 30 | 1 | |
| Total | 120 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 146 | 20 | ||
| Crewe Alexandra | 2022–23[38] | League Two | 44 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 47 | 1 |
| 2023–24[39] | League Two | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[c] | 0 | 34 | 1 | |
| 2024–25[40] | League Two | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| 2025–26[41] | League Two | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| Total | 90 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 102 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 363 | 24 | 27 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 425 | 26 | ||
Cheltenham Town
