William "Digger" Thomas

William "Digger" Thomas
Personal information
Full name	William Alfred Benjamin Thomas
Date of birth	(1890-06-03)3 June 1890
Place of birth	Broken Hill, New South Wales
Date of death	6 October 1953(1953-10-06) (aged 63)
Original team(s)	Warriors
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1911-1914 1915-1928	Subiaco East Perth	032 0(-) 177 (76)
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of 1928 season.

William Alfred Benjamin 'Digger' Thomas (3 June 1890 – 6 October 1953) was an Australian rules footballer who played with East Perth and Subiaco in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). He is always mentioned in football records with his nickname Digger as there was another William Thomas who was not related, and also appeared for East Perth and won a Sandover Medal just six years after Digger Thomas did.

Thomas, who was born in Broken Hill, started out in the Goldfields Football League where he played for the Warriors. He joined the WAFL in 1911 and played 32 games for Subiaco, including their 1913 premiership team. Thomas had missed their inaugural premiership side the previous year as he had been suspended for striking.

After a season with East Fremantle in 1917, Thomas transferred to East Perth where he would spend the rest of his career. He was a member of six premierships, five of them in succession and won a Sandover Medal in 1923 to become the first ever East Perth player to win the award.

He represented Western Australia in a total of twelve interstate matches, including the 1914, 1921 and 1924 carnivals. At the Sydney Carnival of 1914 he put in a memorable performance in a game against Queensland, kicking 14 goals.

Thomas finished his career with 209 WAFL games, 177 of them for East Perth. Before his retirement in 1928 he spent some time coaching in New South Wales.

He was the father of East Perth and Essendon player Ritchie Thomas.

References

East, Alan (2006). The Sandover Medal Men. Noranda, Western Australia. pp. 19–21. ISBN 0-9775813-0-6.

External links

William "Digger" Thomas's profile from AustralianFootball.com

Sandover Medal winners

1921: Hoft / Outridge 1922: Boyd 1923: W. Thomas 1924: Gosnell 1925: Owens 1926: Leonard 1927: Craig 1928: Rocchi 1929: Leonard / B. Thomas 1930: Flemming 1931: Richards 1932: Hough 1933: S. Clarke 1934: S. Clarke 1935: Krepp / Daily 1936: Moloney 1937: Jenkins 1938: Bunton Sr. 1939: Bunton Sr. 1940: O'Keefe 1941: Bunton Sr. 1942: Bowen 1943: Moriarty 1944: Davies 1945: Bailey 1946: Loughridge 1947: Lewington 1948: McIntosh 1949: Maffina 1950: Allen / Conway 1951: Buttsworth 1952: Marsh 1953: McIntosh 1954: McIntosh 1955: Todd 1956: Farmer 1957: J. Clarke / Farmer 1958: Kilmurray 1959: Foley 1960: Farmer 1961: Beard / Sorrell 1962: Bunton Jr. 1963: Sorrell 1964: Cable 1965: Walker 1966: Walker 1967: Parkinson / Walker 1968: Cable 1969: Brown 1970: Dalton / Walker 1971: Hollins 1972: Miller 1973: Cable 1974: Melrose 1975: Quartermaine 1976: Spencer 1977: Peake 1978: Kelly 1979: Kelly 1980: Michael 1981: Michael 1982: Narkle 1983: Cousins / Ironmonger 1984: Malaxos / M. Mitchell / Spencer 1985: Wrensted 1986: Bairstow 1987: Watson 1988: Bain 1989: Edwards 1990: Grasso 1991: Dargie 1992: West 1993: Mildenhall 1994: Dargie 1995: Treleven 1996: Wasley 1997: Anderson 1998: Bromage 1999: Seebeck 2000: Ambrose 2001: Turnbull 2002: Pickett 2003: Beros 2004: Pickett 2005: Crabb / McGrath 2006: Priddis 2007: Jones 2008: Ballantyne 2009: Young 2010: Krakouer 2011: Blackwell 2012: K. Mitchell 2013: O'Brien 2014: Black 2015: Tropiano

The Sandover Medal has been awarded every year since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League and its various incarnations.

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