Career
Mainly a central midfielder, his 19-year professional career was solely associated to Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich, having amassed more than 500 official games and 100 goals for both combined. Nicknamed The Professor, he also collected more than 50 caps for the German national team Thon made his professional debuts at the age of only 17, with local powerhouse Football Club Schalke 04.
His impact was immediate, as he scored 14 goals in 38 games to help the Gelsenkirchen side return to the Bundesliga in 1984, as runners-up.
On 24 August 1984, Thon made his first appearance in the German top level, a 1–3 loss at Borussia Mönchengladbach. During that and the following three seasons, he only scored once in single digits, rarely missing a match for the team
In the summer of 1988, Thon signed with national giants Football Club Bayern Munich, as a replacement for F.C. Internazionale Milano-bound Lothar Matthäus. He scored eight in 32 games in his first season, helping the side to the league conquest, which also befell the following year, with the player posting an equal scoring record.
Thon returned to his first club Schalke in 1994, at the age of 28, after winning another league title, although he spent most of the season injured and Matthäus had already returned to Bayern.
In his later years, Thon suffered extensively with injuries, only appearing in nine matches in his last two seasons combined. He retired in June 2002 at the age of 36, with Bundesliga totals of 443 games and 82 goals. Subsequently, he worked as marketing manager for the club, until August 2009.
On 1 February 2010, Thon was appointed head coach of VfB Hüls, beginning to work on 3 April.
Due to either injuries or run-ins with national team manager Berti Vogts, the player missed the 1994 World Cup and the Euro 1992 and 1996 tournaments, ending his 14-year international career with 52 caps (three goals). Club Country.
