MARTIN THOMAS was a fourth-tier promotion winner with Fulham, Swansea and Brighton – twice under manager Micky Adams.

Thomas played 90 matches for the west London side between 1994 and 1998 and was part of the side promoted from the basement division in 1997 when runners up behind Wigan Athletic.

He was in the Swansea side that won promotion from the same division as champions three years later.

And following his March transfer deadline day switch to the Seagulls in 2001, Thomas was once again a promotion winner from that division when Adams’ Albion topped the table 10 points clear of second-placed Cardiff, who had tried to sign Thomas themselves.

The manager certainly knew what he was bringing to the squad that spring having known Thomas since he’d been a trainee on the books at Southampton, where Adams had spent five years as a player.

Having been a regular at Swansea for two years, he’d been in and out of the side as City struggled near the bottom of the Second Division. He’d made the last of his 24 appearances that season just before Christmas and had missed two months with a bruised ankle bone.

He was on the transfer list after falling out with boss John Hollins and Albion agreed to take over his contract for the rest of the season, although the paperwork was only completed 45 minutes before the transfer deadline.

The Argus noted that Thomas then caught a train to his parents’ home near Romsey and borrowed his mum’s car the following morning to drive to Sussex for his first training session with the Albion. There were plenty of familiar faces to greet him.

Apart from Adams, there was Richard Carpenter, Danny Cullip, Paul Watson, Paul Brooker, and Darren Freeman. (Thomas is pictured below with Freeman at Fulham and warming up as Brighton substitutes)

Carpenter told The Argus: “I played with Thomo at Fulham for just under two seasons. He is a hard-working player who puts his foot in and never gives less than 100 per cent.

“I would say he is much the same as Charlie (Oatway). Both are tough tacklers and very aggressive.”

There’s no love lost between Swansea and their south Wales rivals Cardiff City and Adams’ former no. 2, Alan Cork, who was boss at the Bluebirds at the time, admitted to The Argus that he’d hoped to sign Thomas for their own promotion push.

“I tried to take Martin until the end of the season two weeks before Micky got him, but Swansea wouldn’t deal with us,” said Cork. “Martin is a very aggressive, up and down midfielder,” he said. “He has a lot of pace, works his heart out for the team and is a good all-round player.”

The player himself told The Argus: “I wanted to get away because I need to be playing and I am excited about coming here. I made my mind up straight away.

“It looks like Brighton are going up and I just hope I can help them get there. The lads have done all the hard work so far this season. I just hope I can add that little bit more.”

It certainly looked like a smart move for a player who’d twice before played a part in winning promotion from the basement division, and Swansea supporters were sad to see him go.

The previous season he’d been headline news after scoring the only goal when the Swans knocked Premier League West Ham out of the FA Cup in a third round replay at the Vetch Field.

He’d already gone close to breaking the deadlock midway through the first half when he beat Hammers’ goalkeeper Shaka Hislop only to see his shot hit the crossbar. Eight minutes later he hit the target from 25 yards, firing into the bottom corner of the net. Swansea duly became the first Third Division side to knock a Premier League side out of the FA Cup.

Swansea supporters’ leader Keith Haynes reckoned: “Brighton have definitely got a bargain.

“All the Swansea fans I know are fed up that Martin has gone. Every side needs a grafter in midfield and we haven’t got one now.

“He is the sort of battling, hard-tackling player you will get 100 per cent from whoever he plays for. He has been one of the favourites at Swansea because he scores crucial goals as well.”

Haynes added: “He is a top man, the type you need either to get out of trouble or get out of the division you are in.”

Thomas made his debut as a substitute for skipper Paul Rogers in a 2-0 home win over Mansfield Town, the first of seven involvements off the bench.

His only start came in the penultimate game, a 0-0 draw away to Halifax Town. Adams made numerous changes to the side that had clinched the championship at Withdean two days earlier when promotion rivals Chesterfield were beaten 1-0 by defender Cullip’s goal.

Born in the New Forest town of Lymington on 12 October 1973, Thomas was a trainee with Southampton and signed professional terms for them in June 1992.

But he left without making a first-team appearance, moving to east London to join Leyton Orient in March 1994. He scored on his debut, ironically in a 2-2 draw with Fulham, a week after the Os had lost 2-0 at Brighton (Robert Codner and Andy Kennedy with the goals). He scored again in a 3-2 home defeat to Port Vale but only made five appearances in total.

Next stop was Craven Cottage which was to be his home for the next four seasons.

Thomas and Brooker were among the scorers when Third Division Fulham beat Second Division Swansea 7-0 at Craven Cottage in the first round of the 1995-96 FA Cup – the biggest victory over a team from a higher division in the history of the competition. Cusack, Jupp and Conroy (3) were the other scorers.

Thomas didn’t leave the Cottage quite as swiftly as the likes of Aidan Newhouse, Watson, Mark Walton and Cullip after Kevin Keegan and Ray Wilkins were installed in place of Adams, following Mohammed Al Fayed’s takeover of the club.

But in July 1998 he moved to south Wales where former Chelsea, Arsenal and QPR midfielder Hollins had just been appointed Swansea manager.

Thomas scored in first half stoppage time on his debut to give his new club the advantage in the new season opener at home to future employer Exeter City; they went on to win 2-0.

There was disappointment at the season’s end when they lost out to Scunthorpe United at the play-offs semi-final stage but that was all behind them when they topped the division the following campaign.

Thomas had played at the Withdean when Swansea suffered their fifth winless game on the trot on 1 April 2000 but their form eventually returned with four successive wins to carry off the title.

After his cameo in Brighton’s promotion, Thomas stayed in the basement division when he moved on to newly-relegated Oxford United under Mark Wright and then Ian Atkins. But having made only 14 league appearances for Oxford, he moved on again, to Exeter City, in August 2002. 

I’m indebted to The Grecian Archive to learn that Thomas made his debut as a substitute on the opening day of the season at Shrewsbury Town. He made 22 league starts, with another four appearances from the bench, but was not in the side towards the end of the season which ended in relegation from the Football League.

Thomas appeared in 10 games in the Conference for Exeter but, after reportedly turning down a reduced-terms two-year contract with the Grecians, he joined Isthmian Premier Eastleigh on a free transfer in July 2004.

He was still only 30 but Eastleigh manager Paul Doswell told the Daily Echo that Thomas decided to pack up full-time football to go into a plumbing job with his brother-in-law.

“It’s great news for us to get someone with that much experience on a free transfer,” Doswell told the Echo. “Nicky Banger (ex-Southampton) recommended him last season when we were talking about the need to get a midfielder who gets his head above the parapet when the going gets tough.

“Martin’s that kind of player and he’s very fit for a 30-year-old.”

Doswell added: “What impresses me about him is that he’s very motivated to finish his career on a high with us.”

That said, Thomas later played for AFC Totton and Winchester City before hanging up his boots.