Zephaniah Thomas

**Zephaniah Joseph Thomas** (born 14 November 1989) is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for Selby Town and the Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team.

He is a former Rotherham United youth player who has also played non-league football with several clubs including Harrogate Town and Rossington Main, while also having an intermediate spell in the United States. Before he turned professional joining Belgian club Montegnée followed by a spell in Scottish First Division with Cowdenbeath. He then moved to North America for a second time playing for Canadian side Thunder Bay Chill before returning to English football.

## Club career

### Early career

Thomas who was born in Bradford started his career as a youth player at Rotherham United but left the club in 2008 having not appeared for the senior team. Following his release he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division side Ilkeston Town. After spending a few months with them he moved on to Emley before joining Harrogate Town. While at the Conference North side he was loaned out to local club Harrogate Railway Athletic. He then moved to the United States with fellow Englishman Jason Stokes to study at Garden City Community College while playing for their soccer team. However things didn't work out and he returned to England. Thomas then played for Parkgate before leaving them to join Rossington Main in November 2010. At the start 2011–12 season he joined Stocksbridge Park Steels for a short period before rejoining Rossington Main who he went on to make twenty appearances for, scoring ten goals. In December 2012, he signed a full-time professional contract with Belgian side Montegnée having been spotted by scout Simon O'Neill. He played his last game for Northern Counties East Football League side Rossington on 2 January 2012 against Appleby Frodingham before moving to Belgium. After six months with the Belgian Promotion D team, Thomas returned to England and was again looking for a new club while playing Sunday league football with Swinton WMC.

### Cowdenbeath

On 22 August 2012, Thomas joined Scottish First Division side Cowdenbeath. He signed a one-year contract with the recently promoted side following a trial. He made his first appearance for the club just three days later at home to Hamilton Academical, coming off the bench as a substitute. After just a month with the club having made just three substitute appearances, he was selected by the Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team. His only start came against league leaders Partick Thistle at Firhill Stadium, with Cowdenbeath suffering a 2–1 defeat. Cowdenbeath boss Colin Cameron placed Thomas on the transfer list in early January 2013 and only a matter of days later he was released by club. After leaving Cowdenbeath, Thomas started working in a call centre.

### Thunder Bay Chill

In March 2013, it was announced Thomas had agreed to join Canadian side Thunder Bay Chill. Thomas linked up with his new club in May 2013 but was ruled out of pre-season due to a groin injury. He also missed the opening games of the season against WSA Winnipeg. On 1 June, he made his début for Thunder Bay in 2–0 victory over Des Moines Menace at Fort William Stadium. In the next match versus St. Louis Lions which Thunder Bay won 3–0, Thomas provided an assist for teammate Sunny Omoregie to score. He set up a further two goals for his colleagues against Springfield Demize and Kansas City Brass. Thomas got his only goal for Thunder Bay in the penultimate game of the regular season.

### Sheffield

Thomas returned to England following the expiration of his contract with Thunder Bay Chill and trained with Tranmere Rovers. His international clearance was delayed and therefore missed out on the chance to play for their reserve side. Ian Whitehorne, manager of Sheffield who play in the Northern Premier League Division One South, invited him for a trial. Thomas scored in his trial match and ultimately signed for the club at the beginning of September 2013.

### Boston United

In October 2014, Thomas was offered a trial with Boston United having scored twice for his national side in September. In the trial he played for the Pilgrims' under-21 side against Horncastle Town, scoring a hat-trick. He joined the Conference North side on non-contract terms days later.

### 2016 onwards

In October 2016 he re-signed for Rossington Main from Mickleover Sports, having been with the latter since 2015. He scored on his third debut, against Grimsby Borough in the Northern Counties East Football League on 15 October 2016, but the spell with The Colliery was short-lived as he returned to Mickleover Sports in time for the FA Trophy game at Leamington on 29 October 2016. He transferred to Shaw Lane in February 2017, Stafford Rangers in March 2017 and Frickley Athletic later that same month. On 18 August 2017, he was brought back to Mickleover Sports once again. He made his debut for fellow Derbyshire club Glossop North End on 28 October 2017. In February 2018 he signed for Campion of 10th tier Northern Counties East League Division One, before relocating to Bradford neighbours and league rivals Eccleshill United shortly after. He made his debut at home against AFC Emley on 21 March 2018.

Prior to the 2018–19 Northern Premier League Division One West season, Leek Town announced his signature. He come off the bench in the 71st minute as Leek Town won the season opener at Skelmersdale United on 18 August 2018.

On 29 September 2018 he made another debut, for Brighouse Town of the Division One East, away at Glossop North End. He spent the remainder of the season with Town, before moving south to Belper Town of the – after a division restructuring – neighbouring Division One South East in June 2019. Later that year, he returned to Rossington Main. He joined Frickley Athletic for the third time in February 2020. Later on in the year he joined North Yorkshire side Selby Town.

## International career

Template:Quote box
Thomas got in touch with the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association to make them aware of his eligibility through contact Des Hazel, a former St. Kitts international. The FA reviewed some footage of Thomas and in September 2012, Thomas received an international call-up from Saint Kitts and Nevis to represent them in the Caribbean Cup. Despite having been born in England, he was eligible for Saint Kitts and Nevis due to his grandfather. He made his international début in a 2–0 victory over Anguilla. He started again in the following match against group favourites Trinidad and Tobago with the match ending in a 1–0 defeat.

## References

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6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
7. ↑ Murden, Pete (26 November 2010). Saturday 20th November, 2010. *Rossington Main F.C.*. Pitchero.
8. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
9. ↑ Lodge, Daniel (3 January 2012). Away win against App Frodd. *Rossington Main F.C.*. Pitchero.
10. ↑ Former Main Striker Gets International Call-Up. *ncefl.org.uk*. Northern Counties East Football League (1 October 2012).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Cowden Sign Striker. *cowdenbeathfc.com*. Cowdenbeath F.C. (22 August 2012).
12. ↑ Cowdenbeath FC 1 Hamilton Academical FC 0. *cowdenbeathfc.com*. Cowdenbeath F.C. (25 August 2012).
13. ↑ Murden, Pete (21 September 2012). Former Colliery Man in International Call-Up. *Rossington Main F.C.*. Pitchero.
14. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
15. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
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17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Crossman, Steve (23 March 2013). Zeph Thomas: International football to call centre in five months. BBC Sport.
18. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
19. ↑ Chill on the Road to Start Season. Thunder Bay Chill.
20. ↑ Official Match Information : Des Moines Menace at Thunder Bay Chill 0:2. United Soccer Leagues (1 June 2013).
21. ↑ Chill Push Past Lions. United Soccer Leagues (7 June 2013).
22. ↑ Springfield Demize at Thunder Bay Chill 2:5. United Soccer Leagues (22 June 2013).
23. ↑ Thunder Bay Chill at Kansas City Brass 3:0. United Soccer Leagues (2 July 2013).
24. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 Sugar Boy Zeph adds international flavour at club. *sheffieldfc.com*. Sheffield F.C. (25 September 2013).
26. ↑ Club's international signings. *sheffieldfc.com*. Sheffield F.C. (6 September 2013).
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Singleton, Craig (31 October 2014). Loan extensions supplemented by new signing. *bostonunited.co.uk*. Boston United F.C..
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
29. ↑ Grayson, James (14 October 2016). Rossington sign striker Thomas. Non League Yorkshire.
30. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
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34. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
35. ↑ Toolstation NCEL transfers and signings. Northern Counties East Football League (17 February 2018).
36. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
37. ↑ Toolstation NCEL transfers and signings. Northern Counties East Football League (11 March 2018).
38. ↑ AFC Emley 2-2 Eccleshill United. Eccleshill United FC (25 March 2018).
39. ↑ AFC Emley 2-2 Eccleshill United. Eccleshill United Twitter (21 March 2018).
40. ↑ Baker Adds Trio to His Squad. Leek Town FC (6 August 2018).
41. ↑ Blues blast out of the blocks. Leek Town FC (18 August 2018).
42. ↑ Zeph Thomas - Player Profile. Brighouse Town AFC.
43. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
44. ↑ Zeph Thomas - Player Profile. Frickley Athletic.
45. ↑ Zeph Thomas – International Callup. *cowdenbeathfc.com*. Cowdenbeath F.C. (21 September 2012).
46. ↑ Saint Kitts and Nevis 2 – 0 Anguilla. CaribbeanFootballDatabase.com (11 October 2012).
47. ↑ Fuentes, Shaun (13 October 2012). Carter's winner pushes T&T through to Caribbean Cup semi-finals. Socawarriors.net.
48. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `International_Stats`
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## External links

* Boston United official profile
* Template:Soccerbase
* Template:NFT player