William Thomas (footballer)

For the Australian rules footballer from the WAFL, see William 'Digger' Thomas.

Bill Thomas
Personal information
Birth	10 November 1886(1886-11-10)
Recruited from	Carlton District/Rose of Northcote
Height and weight	178cm / 77.5kg
Playing career¹
Team(s)	South Melbourne (1905-1913) 135 games, 2 goals Richmond (1914-1916; 1919) 62 games, 3 goals
Coaching career¹
Team(s)	South Melbourne (1910-1911)
¹ Statistics to end of 2006 season
Career highlights
South Melbourne Premiership Player 1909 South Melbourne Captain/Coach 1910-1911 Interstate games:- 4 Victorian Captain 1912 Richmond Captain 1914-1916; 1919

William 'Bill' Thomas was a former Australian rules footballer who played for the South Melbourne Football Club in the VFL between 1906 and 1913 and then for the Richmond Football Club from 1914 to 1916 and again in 1919. His son Len Thomas was a premiership player for South Melbourne.

'Son', as he was nicknamed, was Captain/Coach of South Melbourne in 1910 and 1911 and was Captain of Richmond for every game he played for them.

South Melbourne Football Club 1909 VFL Premiers

South Melbourne 4.14 (38) defeated Carlton 4.12 (36), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Captain: Ricketts \| Barry \| Belcher \| Bower \| Cameron \| Deas \| Drane \| Franks \| Gough \| Grimshaw \| Hiskins \| Kerr \| Mortimer \| Moxham \| Pentland \| Scobie \| Thomas \| Wade

Coach: Ricketts

Captains of the South Melbourne Football Club/Sydney Swans

1897–1898: Fraser • 1899: Adamson • 1900: Windley • 1901: Trim • 1902: Windley • 1903: Fogarty • 1904–1905: McGee • 1906: Howson • 1907–1908: Dolphin • 1909: Ricketts • 1910–1911: Thomas • 1912: Ricketts • 1913: H. Kelly • 1914–1915; 1917:* Belcher • 1918–1919: Caldwell • 1920: Belcher • 1921: Willis • 1922: Tandy • 1923–1925: P. Scanlan • 1926–1927: Pannam • 1928: J. Scanlan • 1929: Stanbridge • 1930–1931: J. Scanlan • 1932: Leonard • 1933–1936: Bisset • 1937: Nash • 1938–1945: Matthews • 1946–1948: Graham • 1949: Lucas • 1950–1952: Lane • 1953–1954: Clegg • 1955: Gunn • 1956: Gillett • 1957–1960: Clegg • 1961–1971: Skilton • 1972: Rantall • 1973–1976: Bedford • 1977–1979: Quade • 1980–1983: Round • 1984: Round/Browning • 1985: Browning • 1986–1992: Carroll • 1993–2002: P. Kelly • 2003–2005: Maxfield • 2006–2007: Hall/Kirk/Barry • 2008: Hall/Barry/Bolton • 2009–2010: Bolton/Goodes/Kirk • 2011: Goodes/McVeigh

*South Melbourne did not participate in the VFL in 1916 due to World War I

1908: Pannam • 1909: Condon/Lawson • 1910: Schmidt • 1911: Incigneri • 1912: Ohlsen • 1913: James • 1914–1916: Thomas • 1917: Maybury • 1918: Hall • 1919: Thomas • 1920–1925: Minogue • 1926: M. Morris • 1927–1928: Geddes • 1929: Lilburne • 1930: Geddes • 1931: Hunter • 1932–1940: Bentley • 1941–1949: Dyer • 1950–1951: B. Morris • 1952–1957: Rowe • 1958–1959: Wright • 1960–1962: Branton • 1963–1966: Crowe • 1967: Swift • 1968–1971: Dean • 1972–1975: Hart • 1976–1977: Bourke • 1978: Sheedy • 1979: Bartlett • 1980: Monteath • 1981: Wood • 1982: Cloke • 1983–1984: Rowlings • 1985–1987: Lee • 1988–1992: Weightman • 1993: Hogg • 1994–1996: Free • 1997–2000: Knights • 2001–2004: Campbell • 2005–2008: Johnson • 2009–: Newman

Coaches of the South Melbourne Football Club/Sydney Swans

1909: Ricketts • 1910–1911: Thomas • 1912: Ricketts • 1913: Kelly • 1914–1917: Belcher • 1918–1919: Elms/Howson • 1920: Hiskins • 1921: Wood • 1922: Cazaly • 1923–1928: Pannam • 1929: Caldwell • 1929: Fleiter • 1930–1931: Scanlan • 1932: Leonard • 1933–1936: Bisset • 1935: Diggins • 1937–1938: Cazaly • 1939: Matthews • 1940: Baggott • 1941–1944: Kelly • 1945–1948: Adams • 1948–1949: Hale • 1950–1952: Lane • 1953: Nash • 1954–1957: Matthews • 1958–1959: Clegg • 1960–1961: Faul • 1962–1964: McMahen • 1965–1966: Skilton • 1965: Lahiff • 1967–1968: Miller • 1969–1972: Smith • 1973–1975: John • 1976–1977: Stewart • 1978: Tuddenham • 1979–1981: Stewart • 1982–1984: Quade • 1984: Franklin • 1984: Hammond • 1985: Northey • 1986–1988: Hafey • 1989–1991: Kinnear • 1992–1993: Buckenara • 1993: Scott • 1993–1995: Barassi • 1996–2002: Eade • 2002–2010: Roos • 2011–: Longmire

Italics denote caretaker coach

Persondata
Name	Thomas, Bill
Alternative names
Short description	Australian rules footballer
Date of birth	10 November 1886
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death