Ex-premiership player dies in Tunisia terror attack
Photo: Independent
Ex-Birmingham City footballer Dennis Thwaites has been announced as one of the casualties from last week’s terror attack in Tunisia.
Thwaites played for Birmingham City in England’s top flight and was on vacation with his wife Elaine in the resort of Sousse when gunmen randomly shot holidaymakers.
Thwaites was originally from the north east town of Stockton-on-Tees but caught the eye of the West Midlands club early.
He was just 15 when Birmingham initially recruited him on his arrival at St Andrew’s in 1960. As an inducement, they even found his father Jim a job on the club’s groundstaff.
Thwaites scored 18 goals in 83 league starts for Blues and made his debut when he came on as a substitute against Arsenal in the 1962-63 season.
In his career, he scored against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Leeds and FA Cup winners Liverpool.
Terrorist Seifeddine Rezgui killed 38 people, 22 of them British, when he opened fire on a crowded beach in the normally peaceful country of Tunisia.
