We had a fight to land him; Stoke wanted him to remain at the Britannia Ground and he was also on the radar for all of Derby, Ipswich and Norwich. By the end of May, the deal to take him to Norwich looked certain but Cotterill had other ideas and flew out to America where Thomas was on holiday with his family.
Thomas was suitably impressed and agreed the deal with the Burnley manager saying: "I'm delighted to capture a player of the stature of Wayne Thomas. I think, quite arguably, he is one of the best Bosman signings available this summer.
"He is a player I have liked for a long time now and I've had the pleasure of working with him before so I am well aware of what he brings to the team. He has good pace, he's strong, has good aerial ability and a good temperament. He's proved what a good player he is at this level for a number of seasons."
He had proved himself, and Stoke fans at the time were clearly unhappy to lose him, but I think it is fair to say that things didn't work out perfectly for him although Cotterill added: "We hope he has a long and successful career at the Turf."
He scored against Coventry in his second league home game but soon after suffered a cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for a few months. He was sent off four times in a small run of games and I think it is very fair to say that the Burnley fans just didn't take to him at all.
Probably, asking Burnley fans about him now, the most often repeated comment would be of Cotterill shafting Southampton for £1.2 million when he moved there just over two years later.
In the years since, he's had an interesting time. After Southampton he played for Doncaster before moving to Greece where he played for three different clubs. A return to England two years ago this month saw him join non-league Luton before signing a loan deal with Rochdale before after which he dropped back into non-league in the summer of 2013, firstly with Tamworth and then with Worcester City for whom he played in their FA Cup win against Coventry. although he was the guilty party in the next round when they lost a penalty shoot out 14-13 against Scunthorpe with him missing the crucial spot kick.
But where Cotterill found him is where he is off to again with news this week that he will be leaving Worcester City to join New York Red Bulls as a coach.
I first saw the news via a thread on the message board and checked out the initial link which confirmed it. Worcester manager Carl Heeley revealed: "It's fully deserved. It's an opportunity that he couldn't turn down. "
Heeley confirmed that Thomas asked if he could be released from his contract and said: "Obviously I'm going to do that.
"It's brilliant for Wayne Thomas and when you look at players who have come into a football club, when we needed him last season, when we needed an experienced central defender, Wayne came in and he was immense for us and you cannot underestimate how influential that man's been for this football club."
Thomas is the second former Claret to join New York Red Bulls in the last couple of weeks with Dane Richards returning there after a spell in Norway.