Dean Thomas (footballer)


Dean Thomas is a Welsh former footballer and former manager of Hinckley United. Thomas was the only manager in the club's history and managed the team for 15 years. He also managed Kettering Town.

Playing career

Thomas was a professional footballer with Wimbledon, Tampereen Ilves, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Northampton Town and Notts County. During his second loan spell with Ilves, Thomas won the Finnish championship in 1983. While at Notts County, he was club captain and played twice at Wembley Stadium.

Managerial career

His first managerial post was with Bedworth United, his hometown club. In 1997, he became newly formed Hinckley United's first manager. He led the club to the Southern Football League Western Division championship in the 2000–01 season and the FA Cup second round in December 2001 and December 2004.
Thomas resigned as manager on 10 October 2012. In his 15 years with the club, he managed the club in 972 games.
Thomas took over as manager of Kettering Town of the Southern League Division One Central at the beginning of the 2013–14 season. He lost most of his first games, but eventually pulled together results, going 21 games unbeaten. The Poppies finished in 3rd place, thus qualifying for the play-offs. They beat Daventry Town 1–0 in the semi-final and progressed to the play-off final against Slough Town in the final. Kettering took a two-goal lead in the final but ultimately lost 3–2.
In May 2014, Thomas announced that he was stepping down as Kettering Town FC manager.