Jack Thomas (footballer, born 1890)

Jack Thomas
Personal information
Full name	John William Thomas
Date of birth	1891
Place of birth	Sacriston, England
Position(s)	Inside right
Senior career*
Years	Team
	Spennymoor United
	Brighton & Hove Albion
1911	Newcastle United
	Spennymoor United
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John William "Jack" Thomas was an English professional football inside right who played in the Football League for Newcastle United.^[1]

Personal life

Thomas worked as a miner.^[2] After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, he enlisted in the Durham Light Infantry.^[2] Thomas was taken prisoner during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 and was sent to Germany, where he was incarcerated with French prisoners and learnt the language.^[2] He eventually escaped with four other French prisoners and by using a compass which had been hidden in a cake sent from home, he made it to the neutral Netherlands.^[2] Upon his return to Britain, Thomas was interrogated as a possible German spy, but was then sent back to France to work in counter-espionage, by posing as a French dock worker.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 285. ISBN 190589161X.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Henderson, Tony (2014-09-30). "The Newcastle United footballers who went to war for their country". Retrieved 2016-09-29.

This biographical article related to association football in England, about a forward born in the 1890s, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[Joyce-1] Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 285. ISBN 190589161X.

[Henderson-2] Henderson, Tony (2014-09-30). "The Newcastle United footballers who went to war for their country". Retrieved 2016-09-29.

[1]

[2]