Jay Aston Emmanuel-Thomas (born 27 December 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward. A product of the Arsenal Academy, he is a versatile forward and can play as a winger or striker.
Emmanuel-Thomas began his career with Arsenal of the Premier League and, although he won trophies with the youth team and played regularly for the reserves, he was unable to secure a regular place in the first team and was sent out on loan to several lower-division clubs. In 2011 he left Arsenal to join Ipswich Town of the Football League Championship. He subsequently played for Bristol City and had a two-year spell at Queens Park Rangers, during which he was again loaned out. In 2019 he joined PTT Rayong in Thailand but the following year moved to Scottish club Livingston. He joined another Scottish club, Aberdeen in 2021 before moving to India to play for Jamshedpur FC.
Club career
Arsenal
Born in London to a St. Lucian mother and a Dominican father, Emmanuel-Thomas is a midfielder who has also played as left-back, left winger and centre-forward. He was at Arsenal from the age of eight, when he was spotted playing for his father's team by a "Gunners" scout, who invited him for dinner. He became captain of the under-18 youth team when he was just 16 years old. In the summer of 2008 he signed his first professional contract with the club.
2008–09 season
On 6 August 2008, Emmanuel-Thomas played in Arsenal's pre-season friendly 2–1 win over Huddersfield Town at the Galpharm Stadium. Three days later he played for the first team in their 1–1 draw with Spanish La Liga side Sevilla in the pre-season Amsterdam Tournament at the Amsterdam Arena. In the 2008–09 season he made 39 appearances for both the youth and reserve teams, scoring seven goals. He captained the youth team as they were crowned Premier Academy League champions. They were first in Group A and after beating Group C winners Manchester City 2–1 in the semi-finals, they beat club rivals Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 in the play-off final on 17 May 2009 at White Hart Lane.
He also played a big part in the youth team winning the 2008–09 FA Youth Cup, in which he scored in every round. Arsenal beat Liverpool 6–2 on aggregate in the two-legged final, with Emmanuel-Thomas captaining the side and also scoring in the 4–1 first leg win at the Emirates Stadium. He thus attained the Youth Premiership and FA Cup double together with the rest of the club's youth team that year.
He also formed part of the squad in first team matches during the 2008–09 season on two occasions. Firstly, on 23 September 2008 in the Gunners 6–0 League Cup victory over Sheffield United. Then again in Arsenal's 3–0 Premier League victory over Portsmouth on 2 May 2009.
2009–10 season
Emmanuel-Thomas was an unused substitute for the Premier League games against Burnley on 16 December and Hull City three days later as well as Everton on 9 January 2010. On 18 December he signed a new long-term contract. He scored a hat-trick for the reserves in their 4–2 Premier Reserve League South win over West Ham United at Upton Park on 12 January 2010. He made his Arsenal debut when he started the 4th round FA Cup tie against Stoke on 24 January 2010. Playing as a striker in a 3-man attack, he was substituted after 66 minutes.
Blackpool (loan) After attending Blackpool's first home game of the 2009–10 season, he signed a one-month loan deal with the club. Blackpool manager Ian Holloway said, "I am delighted to have Jay. He is a fantastic young lad, he has a great physique and he wants the chance to come out and play. Initially it is just a month but I hope to convince him we can build on that and extend it for a longer period." The following day he made his professional debut as a 57th-minute substitute, replacing David Vaughan in a 0–0 home draw with Derby County.
Talking about his debut, Emmanuel-Thomas said, "It was great and I enjoyed it. I've come to Blackpool to prove that I can play against men who are older and perhaps stronger than me, and that I can handle myself without any problems. Hopefully it will be good for me and will help me." He then scored on his full debut on 21 August in a 2–2 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road, when his powerful header in the 56th minute went past Hornets goalkeeper Scott Loach.