Former Arsenal striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas sacked after drug importation charge

Professional footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been sacked by his club after being charged with allegedly importing drugs.

Emmanuel-Thomas, a 33-year-old striker, had been playing for Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton.

Greenock Morton issued a statement on Thursday night confirming the end of his contract.

‘Greenock Morton FC can confirm that the contract of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been terminated with immediate effect,’ the statement read.

‘The club will be making no further comment on the matter.’

Emmanuel-Thomas had appeared in court appeared in court accused of drug importation after £600,000 worth of cannabis was found stashed in suitcases at a UK airport.

He had been arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers earlier this week. This was on suspicion of orchestrating the attempted importation of cannabis worth £600,000 through Stansted Airport.

An Agency spokesman confirmed a 33-year-old man had been detained just after 8am on Wednesday in Gourock, Inverclyde, in an operation supported by officers from Police Scotland.

The footballer was transported to Carlisle to be questioned. And he appeared in front of deputy district judge Steven Jonas at the city’s magistrates’ court early on Thursday afternoon.

Dad-of-two Emmanuel-Thomas, of Cardwell Road, Gourock, faces one charge. This alleges drug importation and specifically that he was concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug — cannabis. Court papers show the offence is alleged to have been committed on 2nd September this year in the London area.

During a 15-minute court hearing, Emmanuel-Thomas — who captained Arsenal to Youth Cup final success in 2009 — spoke clearly to confirm his name, date of birth and address. He appeared in the dock wearing a mustard-coloured ESSENTIALS designer long-sleeved top, sporting tied-back dreadlocked hair and a beard.

No plea was entered to the charge when it was read to him by the court legal advisor on the instruction of his lawyer, Nathaniel Gadsby. ‘There is no indication of plea,’ Mr Gadsby confirmed. ‘There is scant information (on the court file); just four witness statements. It is pretty much impossible to tell what is even charged, I’m afraid.’

Mr Gadsby said of Emmanuel-Thomas: ‘He does strenuously deny any involvement in any plan to import drugs into the UK. He is eager to clear his name at trial.’

The solicitor also said: ‘Mr Emmanuel-Thomas is a 33-year-old man, good character, no convictions. He has been a professional football player for all his adult life and played at a number of top teams across the UK.’

Prosecutor Diane Jackson told the court how two women had been arrested after travelling into the UK, business class, from Bangkok via Dubai.

A total of four suitcases were said to have been seized. Some 29kg of cannabis were spread across two of these, with 31kg contained in the remaining two. The estimated total potential street value of the drug was £600,000.

Phone evidence was said to have been collected by law enforcement officers.

For the purposes of administration, the district judge said he was treating Emmanuel-Thomas’ no plea as a not guilty plea.

A legal advisor said the charge was such that it could be dealt with at a magistrates’ or crown court.

Deputy district judge Jonas ruled the allegation was too serious to be dealt with in a magistrates’ court.

Emmanuel-Thomas was remanded in custody after an application for bail was rejected.

His case was sent for a plea and trial preparation hearing, initially to Carlisle Crown Court, on 18th October.

Emmanuel-Thomas’s appearance in court follows the arrest of two women, aged 28 and 32, at Stansted on 2nd September. Border Force are said to have detected around 60 kilos of the drug in a number suitcases which had arrived on a flight from Bangkok.

After being questioned by the NCA both were charged with drug importation offences. They were bailed during an initial magistrates’ court hearing to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on 1st October.

Emmanuel-Thomas has played for a host of professional clubs north and south of the border during the past 15 years. These include Ipswich Town, Bristol City, QPR and Aberdeen.

Senior Investigating Officer for the NCA, David Phillips, said on Wednesday: ‘The NCA continues to work with partners like Border Force to target those involved in drug smuggling – that includes both the couriers and the organisers.

‘We would appeal to anyone who is approached to engage in any kind of smuggling to think very carefully about the likely consequences of their actions, and the potentially life-changing risks they will be taking.’

Emmanuel-Thomas joined Arsenal’s youth academy when he was eight years old but failed to have an impact in the first-team after graduating from the Gunners’ academy.

He made his Premier League debut for the club during a 2-0 defeat by Chelsea in October 2010. A month later he would make his Champions League bow in a 2-1 defeat by Shakhtar, before leaving Arsenal to join Ipswich for £1.1million in 2011. 

Emmanuel-Thomas was 19 when he made his debut for Arsenal’s men’s senior side and had notably impressed legendary Gunners manager Arsene Wenger having also helped the club clinch the FA Youth Cup during the 2008-09 season. 

‘Jay is knocking very hard on my door – with two hands. He has outstanding quality,’ the ex-Arsenal boss told Arsenal TV Online back in 2010, per ESPN. ‘He works very hard to get his fitness right. When his fitness is right, Jay will be not only a good player but a great player.

‘One thing is for sure – he can score goals. That is a massive talent you cannot give to people, his right foot, left foot, he is unbelievable in front of goal.

‘This guy is an unbelievable finisher, inside and outside of the box. He has outstanding qualities, he has the build you dream to have. It is down to how far he wants to go because he has big potential.’

Speaking to Mail Sport on his Arsenal departure in 2015, Emmanuel-Thomas admitted that he wanted more regular first-team action and decided to move to Ipswich. 

He said: ‘I didn’t want to be that guy to keep coming in and out when people were injured and fit again, so I had to move on.’ 

In a separate interview, he said: ‘Obviously it came to the stage in my career at Arsenal where I needed to be playing games. I had a decision to make and Ipswich seemed the right place for me.

‘I had a good time at Arsenal and I’m going to miss all the boys but my future is about me and I needed to move on.’

After spells at Bristol City, QPR and Gillingham, the 33-year-old left the UK to play for Thailand side PTT Rayong FC. But Emmanuel-Thomas would later return to the United Kingdom and in recent years, has played for Livingston, Aberdeen and Kidderminster. 

On his style of football, Emmanuel-Thomas also told Mail Sport: ‘On a football pitch when something comes in my head I never think: “I’d better not do that in case I lose the ball”. I am more a person who will think: “If I try that it will work”.’