Playmaker's EFL 72: #29 George Thomason

The 30s have finally given way to the 20s as we continue to march down our list…

It's certainly been no easy task, but - just to clarify - our '72' is less a roll call of the best footballers in the EFL and more a tribute to those players who have enjoyed the most memorable seasons while racking up the most impressive stats.

Whatever the criteria, we're confident in our selections of the most outstanding players through the Championship, League One, and League Two and welcome any debate on the subject!

As we hurtle down Playmaker’s ’72 of the 72’, we now have Bolton Wanderers’ highest-rated player in the list: their midfield terrier, George Thomason.

“I wanted to show loyalty” was the declaration from George Thomason last August when the young midfielder rejected a move to Championship side Bristol City in order to stay with Bolton Wanderers.

Back then, the former Longridge Town man was not a starter in the Bolton XI with both Aaron Morley and Kyle Dempsey keeping him out but as the season has gone on, he has established himself as absolutely essential for the Whites as they just fell short of a top two finish and automatic promotion in League One.

The play-offs are beckoning for Bolton and the intangible qualities of Thomason will be pivotal to any Trotters success as they seek a return to the second-tier.

Perhaps not the most thrilling player in terms of data, Thomason's personal statistics do not necessarily jump off the page. However, there is something special about the way in which the 23-year-old goes about his business; his immense work-rate allied to genuine quality on the ball.

Don't get us wrong, though, his numbers aren't bad! With six goals and seven assists in League One, Thomason's been the joint-third most productive player in Bolton's ranks and has also supplied a very respectable 48 key passes to highlight his creative abilities. 

Occasionally, Thomason's work-rate and enthusiasm have a habit of spilling over - and he has picked up 14 League One bookings, more than any other player in the division, as well as one red card.

Thomason has openly discussed the issue, though, and said he has learned from it with yellow cards becoming a much rarer occurrence for him in the final few months of the campaign.

In a squad that boasts standout names like Ricardo Santos, Josh Sheehan, Aaron Collins or Dion Charles to name a few; the Barrow-born midfielder may not be the go-to name in the Bolton squad from a neutral’s perspective. 

However, Thomason facilitates those around him and has maintained very high standards himself - and the hope of Trotters fans will be that he being sticks around in Lancashire regardless of how Bolton fare in the League One play-offs. 

Playmaker's EFL 72...the countdown

30: Mickey Demetriou

31: Stephy Mavididi 32: Marc Leonard 33: Josh Sheehan

34: Matt Smith 35: Kwame Poku 36: Illan Meslier 37: Aden Flint

38: Ronnie Edwards 39: Josh Sargent 40: Alex Gilbey 41: Ben Sheaf

42: Jobe Bellingham 43: Devante Cole 44: Jacob Greaves 45: Paddy Lane

46: Herbie Kane 47: Dan James 48: Archie Collins 49: Karamoko Dembele

50: Haji Wright 51: Dan Crowley 52: Cameron Brannagan 53: Aaron Collins

54: Andy Cook 55: Connor Shaughnessy 56: Jannik Vestergaard

57: Willy Gnonto 58: Ellis Simms 59: Charlie Hughes 60: Fatawu Isshaku

61: Sam Hoskins 62: Paul Mullin 63: Chris Martin 64: Omari Hutchinson

65: Isaac Hutchinson 66: Sam Tickle 67: Ben Hinchcliffe 68: Michał Helik

69: Lewis Wing 70: Rob Apter 71: Kyle Walker-Peters 72: Alex Palmer