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Martha Ellen Thomas (born 31 May 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United in the Women's Super League.

Martha Thomas

Thomas in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Martha Ellen Thomas
Date of birth	(1996-05-31) 31 May 1996 (age 26)
Place of birth	Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Club information
Current team	Manchester United
Number	9
Youth career
	Dorchester Town
	Weston FC
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2017	Charlotte 49ers	78	(47)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2019	Le Havre	13	(6)
2019–2021	West Ham United	26	(8)
2021–	Manchester United	24	(5)
National team‡
2020–	Scotland	19	(10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 November 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 November 2022

Thomas played four years of college soccer for Charlotte 49ers before playing professionally with French Division 2 Féminine club Le Havre and West Ham United of the English Women's Super League, moving to Manchester United in 2021. Born in England and raised mainly in the United States, she represents Scotland at international level.

Early life

Thomas was born in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, to a Scottish mother, Christine, and English father, Andrew. She grew up in Dorchester until 2001 when the family moved to Atlanta, when her father got a job in the United States. They briefly returned to Dorchester in 2003 where Thomas played for Dorchester Town for a season before once again relocating to the States, this time to Weston, Florida, at the age of six.[1][2] While in Weston, she played for youth club Weston FC.[3]

Charlotte 49ers

Thomas played college soccer for Charlotte 49ers, captaining the team for two seasons. In her first year, Thomas led the team in goals with 11 and was voted Conference USA Freshman of the Year. The following three years, Thomas was selected to the All-Conference USA First Team as well as being voted as the league's Offensive Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017. Upon leaving, Thomas ranked as the school's all-time leading goalscorer with 47.[4] She was also named team MVP in each of her four seasons.[5]

Club career

Le Havre

Thomas had hoped to enter the 2018 NWSL College Draft in January 2018, but suffered an ACL injury in her final appearance for the 49ers in November 2017.[6] Having rehabbed, Thomas belatedly began her professional career with Le Havre AC in the French Division 2, signing for the club in August 2018.[7] She made her debut on 21 October 2018, starting in a 1–0 defeat to Stade de Reims.[8] She scored 6 goals in 13 league appearances as Le Havre finished second.[9]

West Ham United

On 16 July 2019, Thomas signed for West Ham United of the FA WSL, taking the number 9 shirt following the departure of Jane Ross.[2] Thomas started and scored on her debut, the season opener as West Ham lost 2–1 away to reigning champions Arsenal on 8 September 2019.[10] She scored her first career hat-trick during the first half of a 5–0 win against Reading on 3 April 2021.[11] On 21 May 2021, it was confirmed Thomas would leave West Ham after two seasons following the expiration of her contract.[12]

Manchester United

On 28 July 2021, Thomas signed for Manchester United on a two-year deal with the option of an additional year.[13]

International career

Thomas represented the United States at youth level, playing for the under-23 team in 2019 at the Portland Thorns Spring Invitational preseason tournament.[14] She had not yet acquired American citizenship, however, making her ineligible to represent the senior team.[6]

Thomas was eligible to represent both England and Scotland at the senior level.[6] In September 2019 she attended a training camp with the Scotland national team.[15] She subsequently received her first call-up to the Scotland squad on 25 October 2019 but was forced to withdraw through injury.[16] She was again selected by Scotland for the 2020 Pinatar Cup and scored two goals as she made her international debut in a 3–0 win against Ukraine on 4 March 2020.[17][18] Thomas scored another brace in her seventh appearance for Scotland on 19 February 2021 during a 10–0 victory over Cyprus as part of UEFA Euro 2022 qualifying, the first time Scotland had hit double figures since 2015. Despite the emphatic victory, Scotland had already been mathematically eliminated from qualification in December 2020.[19]

Personal life

Thomas' great uncle, Jim Kirkland, also played football professionally for Aberdeen in the Scottish top-flight.[1]

She is in a relationship with fellow footballer Ellie Leek. The two met while both playing for Le Havre. She has been a vocal supporter of Stonewall's Rainbow Laces campaign.[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 November 2022[21]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Le Havre	2018–19[9]	D2F	13	6	2	0	—		15	6
West Ham United	2019–20	FA WSL	10	4	0	0	3	1	13	5
	2020–21		16	4	0	0	3	1	19	5
	Total		26	8	0	0	6	2	32	10
Manchester United	2021–22	WSL	18	5	2	0	4	1	24	6
	2022–23		6	0	0	0	2	0	8	0
	Total		24	5	2	0	6	1	32	6
Career total			63	19	4	0	12	3	79	22

International

Statistics accurate as of match played 14 November 2022.

Scotland
Year	Apps	Goals
2020	6	2
2021	4	4
2022	9	4
Total	19	10

International goals

As of match played 6 September 2022

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Thomas goal.

List of international goals scored by Martha Thomas

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1	4 March 2020	Pinatar Arena, San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain	1	Ukraine	1–0	3–0	2020 Pinatar Cup	[22]
2					2–0
3	19 February 2021	AEK Arena, Larnaca, Cyprus	7	Cyprus	2–0	10–0	UEFA Euro 2022 qualifying	[23]
4					9–0
5	17 September 2021	Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion, Budapest, Hungary	9	Hungary	2–0	2–0	2023 World Cup qualifying	[24]
6	21 September 2021	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	10	Faroe Islands	5–1	7–1		[25]
7	19 February 2022	Pinatar Arena, San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain	12	Slovakia	2–0	2–0	2022 Pinatar Cup
8	24 June 2022	Stadion Miejski w Rzeszowie, Rzeszów, Poland	14	Ukraine	3–0	4–0	2023 World Cup qualifying
9					4–0
10	6 September 2022	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	16	Faroe Islands	4–0	6–0

Honours

College

Charlotte 49ers

• Conference USA Women's Soccer Tournament: 2016[26]

Individual

• Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year: 2016, 2017[4]

References

External links

• Martha Thomas at the Scottish Football Association
• Martha Thomas – UEFA competition record (archive)
• Martha Thomas at Soccerway
• Martha Thomas at Charlotte 49ers

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