Carol Thomas

Carol Thomas (; born 5 June 1955) is an English former footballer who played predominantly as a right-back; she is known for her 43-year club career and 9-year captaincy of the England women's national football team, during which she became the first women's international footballer to reach 50 caps. until international titles were won under Leah Williamson.

Thomas is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern women's football, and was inducted into the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame in 2021.

Early and personal life Carol McCune was born on 5 June 1955 Her father was an amateur footballer who had been a founding member of Air Street United, a small local team; he, her uncles, and her older brother Michael, inspired her love of football. She recalls kicking a ball around with them until she was eleven, being inspired by England winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup to play more seriously. Alan played for and managed Aldbrough United in the East Riding County League, and some Sunday league football, saying he always knew Thomas would be much more successful in the sport than him.

Club career Thomas played in her first competitive game in September 1966, when she was 11; that summer her family had moved house to be closer to her father's work, with one of their new neighbours playing for BOCM Ladies (British Oil and Cake Mills).

She then joined Reckitts' local rivals, Hull Brewery Ladies (Hull Brewery), She played in a variety of positions with Hull Brewery and earned a regular spot in the Hull and District representative team as a teenager. and spent a year at Preston Ladies (in Lancashire), but travel was an issue. Tranter substituted her on in the second half to play at right back, a position she had never played before. The team's record under Thomas saw them reach at least the semi-finals in all seven tournaments in which they competed, winning two: They were runners-up in the 1984 UEFA Women's Championship, the first official European final that any England team had reached; it was played over two legs, each a 1–0 victory for the home side, with England losing 3–4 on penalties at a muddy Kenilworth Road. She was pregnant before her retirement, and was known to joke that her eldest child was the only man to play a women's international game. while Debbie Bampton inherited the captaincy.

Thomas was the 22nd player to represent the Lionesses, and was given this as her legacy number by the FA in 2022, in honour of the 50th anniversary of the women's team. In total, she won 56 caps in an 11-year England career, serving as captain for up to 51 of those matches.As women's international tournaments were "unofficial, invitation or in their infancy", and Wendy Owen), or 51 (National Football Museum)

International tournaments Date Tournament Hosts Position 1 1976 Pony Home Internationals England Winners 2 1979 Unofficial European Cup 4th place 3 1981 Mundialito 3rd place 4 1982–84 UEFA Women's Championship No hosts Runners up 5 1984 Mundialito 3rd place 6 1985 Mundialito Winners 7 1985–87 UEFA Women's Championship 4th place * Played in the first three winning group games before retiring.

Later life and career In 1993, Thomas came out of retirement to help establish local club AFC Preston; initially helping out and coaching the team, she quickly found herself wanting to play again, joining the club regularly. She continued playing for both teams until 2002, taking a break but being drawn back into football two years later when asked to help set-up Brandesburton Ladies. undertaken the National Three Peaks Challenge, and completed the Coast to Coast Walk. Her hiking led to mountain treks, involving passes at above 18,000 ft in the Andes, Himalayas and Atlas Mountains, which in turn led to an interest in high-altitude communities and her support for people in Nepal following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. and in 1984 she was interviewed on national breakfast television (the first women's player to be so) after the 1984 Euro final defeat. In 1985 she was awarded the Sports Council Sports Award. Her 1984 Euro runner-up medal is on display at the National Football Museum. Thomas' record achievement as the first women's footballer to reach 50 international caps was given an entry in the Guinness World Records book in 1986, making her the first female footballer with an entry in it.

In 2019, Thomas reflected that the Football Association, which began administering the England women's team in 1992, seemed to her to act like there was no team before their involvement, which she felt was erasing the team's achievements of her era. She saw greater recognition come as women's football grew in popularity in the 2020s: in November 2021 she was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame; in April 2022, a plaque was unveiled in her honour in Hull at the East Riding County FA building; and in June 2022 she was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to association football and charity. Though well-recognised during her time as England captain, she said that she received the most media attention when the team won the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.