David Thomas

Welsh-born David Thomas played his club hockey with Hounslow in England and won county honours with Middlesex. He made his Wales international début against Scotland at Paisley in 1950 and won his last cap in 1962. Thomas never actually received his first cap until 2023 when it was belatedly presented to him by GB Hockey at the age of 96. Thomas was a free-scoring centre forward and captained Wales for four years from1959-62. He was also the Welsh coach, and team manager, from 1961-65.

Thomas also played for Great Britain 14 times between 1956-60, scoring five goals. His first GB goal was on his début in the opening game of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in a 2-2 draw with Malaya.

Educated at Harrow County School in Middlesex then Loughborough College, Thomas served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a physical training instructor. He also worked as a P.E. teacher and in 1969 became manager of the Bingham Sports Centre, Nottingham. In the summer of 1970 Thomas was appointed director of the National Sports Centre (now called Sport Wales National Centre) in Cardiff. Thomas later ran his own property management company based at Poole, Dorset, until 2016.