Over the course of his career, Thomas made a total of 338 appearances in the Football League for five clubs over a period of fourteen years, scoring 211 goals.
[5] Thomas' goalscoring record attracted attention from First Division clubs including Manchester United, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham.
[4] However, Thomas was eventually sold to Newcastle United in January 1962 in a part-exchange deal, which saw John McGuigan moving in the opposite direction.
[5] Thomas spent two years at Newcastle United, scoring 48 goals in 73 games,[8] before returning to Scunthorpe in 1964.
[7] Thomas' final club was Barnsley, where he scored 19 goals in 43 games over two years,[9] before retiring in 1968 because of injury.