Western Sydney Wanderers goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas makes the right move back to A-League

A new centre back and captain in Marcelo, Gabriel Cleur and Brandon Borrello on the right, Milos Ninkovic and Kusini Yengi on the left, Calem Nieuwenhof slotted somewhere in between.

It’s the result of a recruitment drive that has sights firmly set on finals. On breaking the hoodoo that’s kept the Wanderers out of the top six for half a decade.

A line-up that had nine new faces in the starting XI began the 2022/23 season.

They’re dotted all around the park, across all thirds, and come courtesy of France, Serbia, Bosnia and Brazil.

A revamp that seemingly scoured the footballing world for the right fits, yet begins just up the road, in Toongabbie, with their new goalkeeper, Lawrence Thomas.

Given the storm they’ve weathered over the past few years, it’s understandable how widely the Red and Black Bloc have thrown open their arms to welcome the fresh faces driving the Western Sydney Wanderers’ early success this season.

It feels like an extension to the homecoming Thomas received from his own family.

“To be back at home, even just the small stuff outside of the game, visiting family, being so close to where I grew up playing, it’s amazing,” Thomas says.

“Winston Hill Bears, I would have started there at four or five then, Bankstown City Lions, Blacktown City, Marconi, Gladesville Spirit, not many places I haven’t played around there!

“This is the first time in my playing career I can pop down and see my brothers and mum through the week. I’m really close to my family but this is the first time I’ve been physically close to them in over a decade.”

Having moved to Melbourne Victory ahead of the 2011 season, this year marks the first time Thomas has played a home A-League game in his home state.

He spent nine years with Victory, away from family and comforts in a shift that kickstarted his professional career – one he describes as “a bit of a love story”.

It has all the makings. The introduction: Thomas’s early love and successes in football as an NPL player, before leaving home in pursuit of glory.

The action begins to rise with Thomas’ initial struggles at the Big V.

“Starting out at Melbourne, I was a bit younger and probably made the kind of mistakes you do as a young player, which saw me dropped and not seeing regular gametime,” Thomas says.

Cue training montage. Between 2011 and 2013, Thomas’s work on the training pitch and stability in the number three and two keeping positions endeared him to the club. Like most good plot lines, affection started to grow on both sides.

His chance to make the relationship with the No.1 jersey exclusive came in late 2014.

Nathan Coe was released following a battle with a persistent injury, and a drop in form from Danny Vukovic opened the door for Thomas.

“When I came in after Nathan Coe’s injury and Vukovic dropping a little, we ended up winning the league that year and I played the last four or five games that year and I don’t think I relinquished the jersey after that,” Thomas says.

“That was the moment I decided – and I was very hard-headed – that I wasn’t going back to the bench.

“In my own mind I came in and trained every day like I was the number one and it just happened that way.”

Thomas held the No.1 position at the club over the course of the next four years, in a period of continual success.

“Goalkeeping is quite unique being there’s only one position on the pitch,” Thomas says of his time at Victory.

“For a coach it’s a difficult decision to make as well. You can’t switch back and forth as it disrupts the team maybe more than any other position given it’s quite a big statement changing the keeper.”

His heroics in the 2018 Grand Final win over the Newcastle Jets earned him the Joe Marston Man of the Match honours, following the incredible bravery to remain on the pitch after suffering a kick to the head from Roy O’Donovan in one of the most infamous moments of the league’s history.

It seemed an infallible relationship, with Thomas’s position between the sticks so assured but it was Covid where deviations from the regular tenets of a romance began.

The 2019/20 season was moved to a bubble, following a break in play. Most clubs, Victory included, asked their players to sign contract extensions to ensure there were enough players to field a team. It came at a time where Thomas had begun to ask himself the question ‘what’s next?’

Given his consistent form for Victory on the pitch, there had been equally consistent interest coming in from overseas. It was the first time Thomas took it seriously.

“It was very quick, we were all in Sydney to finish the season off in a Covid hub and all the players signed three month extensions to get the season done but as part of that, if interest came from overseas clubs you could be released,” Thomas says.

A call came from Denmark. The shiny new thing turned his head

“It was the right time for a new challenge and to try something else. I pretty much went straight from the hub back to my family in western Sydney, grabbed all my stuff and then was on a plane out of here.”

He didn’t have the chance to say goodbye.

“It’s very deflating to be somewhere for that long and not have the chance to have a last home game or properly say thanks or goodbye. It was very quick and very weird to just back up and go like that,” he says.

There was little choice, given both the Covid restrictions and the gravity of the opportunity.

The Danish Superliga attracts some of the world’s best footballing talent and Thomas began his first season at SønderjyskE in all the haze of new romance – comfortably settling into the Danish style of play.

“They go to war in the box. Long throw-ins, floating balls, anything that they can challenge in the air through set pieces, that was something I loved cause I’m comfortable in the air,” he says.

“Football was great, new challenges and style of play but the lifestyle change was very different.”

Playing football in subzero temperatures in multiple layers but strong performances for his new club made the transition easier.

It wasn’t until the end of his first of two contracted years at the club that he began questioning whether the move was the right one.

“I had a really strong first season and was enjoying my football but last year I was really juggling my life outside and weighing up the difficulties of the field,” he says.

“I wasn’t happy outside of the stadium. If you’re happy off the field it affects your abilities on it.”

Thomas found himself doing something he’d not yet done throughout his professional career; checking in with himself.

“It’s one thing to pursue football to the top level but that might not always mean putting yourself first,” he says.

“What’s best for my football has always been the first decision, which club, where I live etc but that was the first time I knew deep down where I had to make a decision that was better for me as a person and not a footballer.

“You can ask anyone what’s better for your football between the A-Leagues or Europe and they’ll say Europe but I realised that that wasn’t where I needed to be.”

With the conclusion of his two-year contract in 2022, Thomas opted not to resign or look elsewhere in the top European flights. His signature followed his head and heart home.

Not to Melbourne. His true home, western Sydney.

The impact has been immediate.

“I think I’ve started the season really strong, being happy, motivated and ready to work,” Thomas says.

It helps that his transition into the team isn’t unique, he’s surrounded by players new to the club.

“Hats off to the boss in terms of the personalities he’s brought in,” he says.

“He’s obviously considered personality as well as playing style as there are no arrogant personalities, everyone is really down to earth.

“We’ve got a captain who’s played at the highest level and is a humble and genuine, nice human being and that makes all the difference. Obviously footballing ability is one thing but personalities clicking off the pitch can make your football click on it. And we’ve gelled really quickly.”

Their biggest challenge so far as a new unit comes this Saturday against rivals Sydney FC in Thomas’ first derby.

He may only have seen them on TV, but the ‘Big Blues’ of the past have provided him with ample hatred for the occasion.

“Never had any love for Sydney. Still don’t.”

Whether or not the Wanderers signify the climax of Thomas’s football love story remains to be seen, yet he already seems comfortably in alignment with his new club and fans.

The greeting he’s received from them?

“Welcome to the club, make sure you beat Sydney FC.”