Geoff Thomas

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Geoff Thomas (born August 5, 1964) is a former English footballer who captained Crystal Palace to the F.A Cup final in 1990, where they drew 3-3 with Manchester United at Wembley before losing 1-0 in the replay.

He started his professional career at Rochdale before moving to Crewe in March 1984, establishing himself as a first-team regular and attracting top-flight interest before moving to Palace in 1987. He later turned out for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley and finally returned to Crewe before retiring. He also gained eight caps for England, at the turn of the 1990s.

Thomas, a former leukaemia sufferer, won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award in 2005 after he raised over £150,000 for the Leukaemia Research charity by cycling 2,200 miles in 21 days, completing the route of all 21 stages of the 2005 Tour de France a few days ahead of the race itself.

On April 6, 2006, the players from the 1990 final all took part in a re-run of the match, in aid of Leukemia Research, at Selhurst Park. Manchester United won the game, 3-1 including goals from Neil Webb (2), Ian Wright and Mark Robins.

In 2005, Geoff was voted in Palace's Centenary XI.

[edit] External links

• Official site

Preceded by Jim Cannon	Crystal Palace F.C. Player of The Year 1988	Succeeded by Ian Wright
Preceded by Mark Bright	Crystal Palace F.C. Player of The Year 1991	Succeeded by Eddie McGoldrick