Remember Mickleover? Joe Thomas does

The boots are off: Joe Thomas’s playing days ended after the 2062/63 season, and at 40 he is out of the game. The former Mickleover player looks back on the clubs that filled his career—and faces the quiet that followed it.

You spent five seasons at Frome Town. What stays with you from that spell?

“I was there from 2041/42 to 2045/46. I played 197 games and scored 14 goals. Those years are part of me; you don’t just shut the door on them because another club comes along.”

Then Mickleover became home for a very long time. Why?

“I joined in 2045/46 and stayed until 2062/63. That’s 750 games and 49 goals. Mickleover was my main club, and it’s where so much of my playing life happened. When people ask where I belong, that’s the answer.”

Did you ever imagine that many games there?

“Not when I arrived. You take it one season at a time, then look up and realise you’ve given a huge part of your life to the place. I’m proud of that. I wouldn’t swap those years for a tidy little career that fits on a postcard.”

What was it like to stop after the 2062/63 season?

“Hard. Playing was what I knew, and then suddenly it wasn’t what I did any more. I haven’t found a new football job to fill the space. I’m out of the game, and I’m still working out what that means.”

Do you miss the matchday noise?

“Of course. You miss the feeling of being involved, the people around you, all of it. But missing it doesn’t mean you can carry on forever. I had my time.”

What do you want Mickleover supporters to remember?

“That I turned up and gave the club a lot of years. The goals and games are there, but the length of the stay matters to me. Mickleover wasn’t just a stop on the way somewhere else.”

And what comes next?

“I honestly don’t know yet. For now, I’m out of football. That’s a strange sentence to say after all those seasons—but it’s the truth.”