{{Football player infobox
| playername          = Michael Thomas
| image               =
| fullname            = Michael Lauriston Thomas
| dateofbirth         = 
| cityofbirth         = Lambeth, London
| countryofbirth      = England
| height              =
| currentclub         =
| position            = Midfielder (retired)
| youthyears          = 1982&ndash;1984
| youthclubs          = Arsenal
| years               = 1984&ndash;1991<br />1986<br />1991&ndash;1998<br />1998<br />1998&ndash;2000<br />2000&ndash;2001
| clubs               = Arsenal<br />→ Portsmouth (loan)<br />Liverpool<br />→ Middlesbrough (loan)<br />Benfica<br />Wimbledon<br />'''Total'''
| caps(goals)         = 163 (24)<br />3 (0)<br />126 (9)<br />10 (0)<br />5 (0)<br />8 (0)<br />'''315 (33)'''
| nationalyears       = 1987&ndash;1989<br />1989&ndash;1992<br />1988&ndash;1989 
| nationalteam        = England U21<br />England B<br />England
| nationalcaps(goals) = 12 (3)<br />5 (0)<br />2 (0)
}}

'''Michael Lauriston Thomas''' (born English former footballer. He is remembered most for the Arsenal against Liverpool, scored in the final minute of the final First Division match of the 1988-89 season, winning Arsenal the League title on goals scored. The match was later featured in detail in a film based on the Nick Hornby book ''Fever Pitch''.

==Career==
===Arsenal===
Thomas signed for Arsenal as a schoolboy in League Cup semi-final, against Tottenham Hotspur at Highbury on February 8, 1987; Arsenal lost 1-0 but would go on to win the League Cup after a comeback in the second leg.

Thomas soon became a regular in the Arsenal side, and played 37 times, mainly at right-back in the 1987-88 season. With the arrival of 1988-89 season, and also played the first of his two games for England awarded to him by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.

Thomas' greatest moment came on Double. Before the match, Arsenal were on 73 points with 71 goals for and 36 against (a goal difference of +35); Liverpool were 3 points ahead on 76 points with 65 goals for and 26 against (a difference of +39). It meant that Arsenal needed to win by at least two goals to take the title on goals scored; Liverpool had not lost by two goals at Anfield for nearly four years.

After a goalless first half, Alan Smith scored soon after the restart, heading in a free kick from Nigel Winterburn, but as full time approached it looked as if Arsenal were not going to score the second goal they needed. However, in injury time, in Arsenal's last attack, Thomas surged forward from midfield, running onto a Smith flick-on, evaded a challenge by Steve Nicol and shot low past the advancing Bruce Grobbelaar to score Arsenal's second, and win the title, Arsenal's first in eighteen years.

Thomas enjoyed another two seasons at Arsenal, winning a second League title in 1990-91. In all he played 206 matches, scoring 30 goals. However, he fell out with Arsenal manager George Graham in the autumn of 1991. As a result he was sold to the side he had conquered in 1989, Liverpool, with Graeme Souness paying the Gunners £1.5million for Thomas' services on 16 December 1991. He was named the 37th greatest player in the history of Arsenal by a recent online poll.

===Liverpool===

Thomas made his Liverpool debut two days after signing, on December 18 1991; in a repeat of his Arsenal debut, it was against Tottenham Hotspur (though this time at White Hart Lane), coming on for Jan Mølby in the 56th minute of a 2-1 victory.

He scored his first goal for the Reds on Oldham Athletic at Wembley against Sunderland. After a goalless first 45, Thomas scored the opening goal after 47 minutes with a spectacular shot from a John Barnes who was now being employed as a central midfielder. 

The 1994-95 saw Thomas grab his only other winner’s medal during his time at League Cup final against Bolton Wanderers; Thomas was only an unused sub for the game that saw McManaman turn in a man-of-the-match performance, scoring both the goals as Liverpool won 2-1. He then helped Liverpool to the 1996 FA Cup final where he saw five minutes of action, coming on as an 85th minute sub for Rob Jones; however, he couldn't help the Reds prevent a 1-0 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Manchester United.

On Middlesbrough and made his debut two days later on Tranmere Rovers at the Riverside. He played 10 times for the Boro before he returned to Anfield; by this time manager Danny Murphy ahead of Thomas, which led to him being surplus to requirements at Anfield.

'''Michael Lauriston Thomas''', född engelsk fotbollsspelare.

Thomas spelade i början av karriären högerback, men blev så småningom mittfältare. Han inledde karriären i Arsenal, där han gjorde A-lagsdebut som 19-åring i semifinalen i Ligacupen mot Tottenham Hotspur den 8 februari 1987. Han kom in som avbytare, men Arsenal förlorade med 1&ndash;0. Man vann dock returmatchen och tog sig till final mot Liverpool. Återigen fick Thomas komma in som avbytare, men den här gången vann Arsenal med 2&ndash;1 och tog sin första titel på åtta år.

Säsongen 1987/88 tog Thomas en ordinarie plats i laget och gjorde nio mål på 37 ligamatcher. Året efter gjorde han det avgörande målet när Arsenal vann ligan för första gången på 18 år. Den 26 maj 1989 möttes Arsenal och Liverpool i säsongens sista match på Alan Smith, som i sin tur skarvade vidare bollen till Thomas. Thomas kom fri med Liverpoolmålvakten Bruce Grobbelaar och gjorde det avgörande 2&ndash;0-målet.

Det blev ytterligare en ligatitel 1991, men efter 208 matcher och 30 mål värvades han hösten 1991 av Liverpool för två miljoner pund. Karriären i Liverpool började bra för Thomas. Han gjorde bland annat mål mot Aston Villa, vilket tog laget till semifinal i Sunderland på Wembley 1992 gjorde han matchens första mål med ett volleyskott. Liverpool vann till slut med 2&ndash;0.