 Thomas playing forNew Zealand at the2017 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ryan Jared Thomas[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1994-12-20)20 December 1994 (age 30)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Te Puke, New Zealand | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Mount Maunganui Junior FC | ||||||||||||||
| Tauranga City AFC | ||||||||||||||
| Melville United | ||||||||||||||
| Waikato FC | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2011 | Melville United | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Waikato FC | 18 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 2013 | Western Suburbs | 11 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2013–2018 | PEC Zwolle | 123 | (8) | |||||||||||
| 2018–2022 | PSV | 33 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 2022– | PEC Zwolle | 32 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | New Zealand U20 | 11 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2019 | New Zealand | 19 | (3) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 February 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 December 2019 | ||||||||||||||
Ryan Jared Thomas (born 20 December 1994) is a New Zealand professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder forEredivisie clubPEC Zwolle and theNew Zealand national team.
Thomas played for various clubs across theWaikato region of New Zealand, before signing professional terms withEredivisie clubPEC Zwolle in 2013. Since then, Thomas has spent his footballing career in theNetherlands, signing for reigning championsPSV Eindhoven in 2018.
Thomas was born inTe Puke, New Zealand,[2] attended Tauranga Boys' College and played his youth football at Mount MaunganuiTauranga City AFC andWaikato clubMelville United in theNRFL Premier. He made his debut off the bench on 30 July 2011, alongside fellow current professionalJesse Edge, and scored in the 3–1 win againstForrest Hill Milford.[3]
Thomas was announced as part of the squad forNew Zealand Football Championship sideWaikato FC at the beginning of the2011–12 season, joining other future New Zealand internationalTyler Boyd.[4]
Thomas was later convinced by his previous Waikato FC manager,Declan Edge, to leave his current side to join theOlé Football Academy in Wellington, along with several other Waikato players.[5] During this time, Thomas played for the Olé Academy-affiliated clubWestern Suburbs. Noting Thomas' exceptional talent, Edge organised a trial for the 18-year-old atEredivisie clubPEC Zwolle.[5]
Following a successful trial period in the Netherlands, Thomas signed forPEC Zwolle in September 2013, and made his debut for the club on 30 October 2013 against amateur side Wilhelmina '08 in the third round of theKNVB Cup, scoring the first goal in a 4–0 win.[6] He quickly became a keywinger for the club; his successful debut season culminated in winning theKNVB Cup, with Thomas scoring two goalsin the final in a 5–1 win overAFC Ajax.[7]
Thomas continued to impress for PEC Zwolle in the following seasons following his transition to aholding midfielder, with his rise being compared to that of Dutch legendArjen Robben by former managerRon Jans.[8] In a 2017 interview, Jans stated that "it would not surprise me if he ended up atReal Madrid".[9][10]
On 10 August 2018, Thomas joined reigningEredivisie championsPSV for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract.[11] The move was described by former New Zealand and Eredivisie footballerIvan Vicelich as one of the biggest deals ever by a New Zealander.[12] Just days after signing, however, Thomas sustained a knee injury in training; originally thought to be only a minor sprain, it was later discovered to be a seriousanterior cruciate ligament tear, meaning Thomas spent the rest of the season sidelined.[13][14] As part of his rehabilitation, Thomas spent time working withOlympic swimming championPieter van den Hoogenband.[15]
On 6 October 2019, after 14 months out injured, Thomas finally made his debut for PSV as an 85th minute substitute forÉrick Gutiérrez in a 4−1 win overVVV Venlo.[16]
After four injury-riddled seasons, during which he had four surgeries on his knee in total, Thomas was released by PSV in June 2022.[17]
On 26 October 2022, Dutch sidePEC Zwolle now playing in theEerste Divisie announced that they had re-signed Thomas.[18]In August 2024, it was announced that PEC Zwolle had extended Thomas’s contract until mid-2025.[19]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Waikato | 2011–12 | ASB Premiership | 13 | 3 | — | — | 3[b] | 2 | 16 | 5 | ||
| 2012–13 | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 18 | 4 | — | — | 3 | 2 | 21 | 6 | ||||
| PEC Zwolle | 2013–14 | Eredivisie | 19 | 1 | 5 | 3 | — | — | 24 | 4 | ||
| 2014–15 | 30 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2[c] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 38 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 2 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 1 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 123 | 8 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 141 | 12 | ||
| PSV | 2019–20 | Eredivisie | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | — | 15 | 2 | |
| 2020–21 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6[c] | 0 | — | 24 | 1 | |||
| 2021–22 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3[e] | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | |||
| Total | 33 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | — | 48 | 4 | |||
| PEC Zwolle | 2022–23 | Eerste Divisie | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Eredivisie | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 201 | 16 | 19 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 238 | 22 | ||
Thomas made his international debut forNew Zealand when he played in a 2–4 friendly loss toJapan in March 2014.[21] He scored his first international goals on 28 March 2017, netting a brace in a 2–0 win overFiji.[22]
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 28 March 2017 | Wellington Regional Stadium,Wellington,New Zealand |  Fiji | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2. | 2–0 | |||||
| 3. | 1 September 2017 | North Harbour Stadium,Auckland, New Zealand |  Solomon Islands | 4–1 | 6–1 |
Waikato FC
PEC Zwolle
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