Luke Thomas epitomises a never give in spirit

We live in a society that enjoys placing certain people above others, based strictly on their profession. The modern-day footballer isn’t seen as a human, but as an entity that is scrutinised right down to minor details such as ‘boot colour’. This of course makes it very difficult to connect with a footballer, and see them as real people. And when a fresh faced 20-year-old named Luke Thomas came through the doors at Oakwell, I did not think about anything except his ability to kick a football.

Luke started well at Oakwell, scoring the winner on his debut against Fulham. He made 39 appearances in his first season in South Yorkshire, notching one goal and four assists as the Reds retained their Championship status on the final day against Brentford. Luke is a player who loves driving the ball forward, using his low centre of gravity and tricky pace to earn yards up the field.

His second season seemed extremely optimistic; a young Barnsley team that boasted some incredible talent that looked to push on from their miracle survival. Barnsley started the season extremely disappointingly though, no win from four league games saw Gerhard Struber take the opportunity to depart, and he left for Red Bull New York. This was in hindsight, a massive blow for Thomas. Gerhard Struber seemed to trust him with starting games, or making an impact from the bench. Little do we appreciate how huge this may have been for Luke Thomas’ life.

Valerien Ismael was brought in to rescue Barnsley’s season, and despite an instant increase in form, which very nearly saw Barnsley Football Club in the Premier League, the Frenchman didn’t seem to rate Luke Thomas, and in January 2021 he was loaned to League One’s Ipswich Town.

Things only got worse in Suffolk, Thomas was brought in under Paul Lambert, but only managed four starts for the Tractor Boys, scoring zero and assisting zero. Paul Cook replaced Lambert soon after, but Thomas’ time at the Blues came to a sudden end due to mental health reasons.

“I don’t think, at the time, any of us attributed it to mental health, as we didn’t know. But he certainly didn’t contribute much in attack. (Ipswich) were arguably quite dysfunctional at this point, so he didn’t stick out as being sub-par as nobody was playing well. He got a lot of goodwill from folk at ITFC (when he cut his loan short for mental health reasons)”

Rich Woodward (Ipswich fan - @IpsRich)

It’s wrong to speculate on somebody's mental state, but it would be fair to say that Luke was having a rough time. Barnsley missed out on promotion, and Luke was on a temporary move again. Nobody could blame Luke for wanting to return to his family and so Bristol Rovers was his choice of clubs.

Luke enjoyed a positive stay on the banks of the river Avon. Long term friend of Barnsley Football Club, Joey Barton, seemed to get the best out of Thomas, and despite a bit of a bump in their relationship around Christmas, he managed to regain his form for the Gas and play a part in their dramatic final day promotion to Sky Bet League One.

Barnsley were relegated to the same league as Luke returned from his second loan spell. This gave him the platform to operate in an easier division than the Championship. Michael Duff came in, and Luke has started the season excellently for the Reds. He isn’t known for his goal scoring prowess, but he already has one to his name this season. There is certainly a player in Luke Thomas, and as long as he can keep his head down and remain mentally happy, he could be a huge catalyst for the club’s future success.

Luke Thomas is the perfect example to young people. Whether you are a footballer, a mechanic or a lawyer, there will be bumps in your journey, but if you can overcome them, you will be rewarded. Luke is still on that journey, and I wish him the best of luck, he has overcome battles and is a much better player (and presumably) person for it.