Trevor Sinclair
Personal information
Full name Trevor Lloyd Sinclair[1]
Date of birth (1973-03-02) 2 March 1973[1]
Place of birth Dulwich, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
0000–1989 Blackpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1993 Blackpool 112 (15)
1993–1998 Queens Park Rangers 167 (16)
1998–2003 West Ham United 177 (37)
2003–2007 Manchester City 82 (5)
2007–2008 Cardiff City 21 (1)
2014–2015 Lancaster City 1 (0)
2018 Squires Gate 1 (0)
Total 561 (74)
International career
1993–1998 England U21 14 (5)
1998 England B 1 (0)
2001–2003 England 12 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Trevor Lloyd Sinclair (born 2 March 1973) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and pundit.

As a player, he was a winger who notably played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United and Manchester City. He also played in the Football League for Blackpool and Cardiff City where he retired in 2008. He has since come out of retirement on two occasions and has featured for non-league sides Lancaster City in 2014 and Squires Gate in 2018.

He was capped twelve times by England, four of which came in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He won the 1997 Match of the Day Goal of the Season after scoring a bicycle kick in an FA Cup tie against Barnsley. Following his retirement, Sinclair largely worked as a pundit on both television and radio, most notably for BBC Sport on Football Focus and Final Score. During the 2014–15 season, he was named assistant manager of Lancaster City, who he briefly came out of retirement with. In 2018 he played a single game for Squires Gate.

Club career

Blackpool

Sinclair was born in Dulwich, London, but grew up in Manchester.[2][3] He began his career at Blackpool where he played from 1989 to 1993. When he made his debut for Blackpool, on 19 August 1989, he became the club's youngest ever player, at 16 years, five months, breaking Colin Greenall's record set nine years earlier. Sinclair's record was in turn broken by Matty Kay in November 2006.

Sinclair was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player Jimmy Armfield in April 2006.[4] Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Sinclair is in the 1990s.[5]

He made 112 league appearances for the Seasiders, scoring 15 goals.

Queens Park Rangers

In 1993, Sinclair moved to Queens Park Rangers for £600,000, a figure which broke Blackpool's record transfer sale. He won the October 1995 Premier League Player of the Month award, although he was unable to prevent QPR from being relegated from the Premier League that season. Throughout the 1995-96 season, Sinclair's name was constantly linked with a move to several of the Premier League's leading clubs, namely Leeds United, Manchester United and Newcastle United - with fees of up to £6million being mentioned.[6]

In May 1997, he won the BBC's Match of the Day "Goal of the Season" competition with a bicycle kick from outside the penalty area whilst playing for QPR in an FA Cup match against Barnsley.[7]

In five years at QPR, he made 168 league appearances, scoring 16 goals.

West Ham United

In January 1998, Sinclair moved to West Ham United for a combined fee of £2.3 million; £2.7 million minus West Ham players Iain Dowie and Keith Rowland moving to Q.P.R as part of the deal.[8] He scored seven goals in the remaining 14 games to help West Ham achieve an eighth-place finish in the Premier League. He was a regular over the next two seasons, but a serious knee injury ruled him out of the final four months of the 2000–01 season. His absence coincided with a loss of form for the team, and by the end of the season manager Harry Redknapp had been sacked. Sinclair recovered in time for the 2001–02 season and featured 34 times, often on the left wing, as he won his bid to play at the World Cup for England in that position.

2002–03 was Sinclair's final season with West Ham. They were relegated at the end of the season. Forced to cut costs, West Ham accepted a £3.3m bid for the player from Manchester City.

In total Sinclair spent five years at Upton Park, playing in a variety of positions including wingback,[9] left and right wing and as a striker when called upon.[10] He made 177 league appearances and scored 37 goals including two goals on his West Ham debut, on 31 January 1998, in a 2–2 home draw against Everton.

Manchester City

After West Ham's relegation, Sinclair joined Manchester City in 2003 for £3.3 million, and went on to score City's first competitive goal at the new City of Manchester Stadium in a UEFA Cup tie against Welsh side Total Network Solutions.[11]

At the beginning of his career at Manchester City, he played on the left wing, where he had performed for England at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. However, the departure of Shaun Wright-Phillips presented the opportunity for Sinclair to play on his preferred right wing.

Sinclair was released by Manchester City at the end of the 2006–07 season.[12]

Cardiff City

On 10 July 2007, he joined Championship club, Cardiff City.[13] He began the season as a first-team player, scoring his first Cardiff goal on 24 September in a 4–2 win in the League Cup over West Bromwich Albion.[14] Early on in the season, he suffered from a buildup of fluid in his knee and underwent two operations on the injury which ruled him out until mid-February. He made his return on 16 February 2008 coming on as a late substitute in a 2–0 FA Cup victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

On 12 April 2008, Sinclair faced his first club, Blackpool, for the first time since leaving them fifteen years earlier.[15][16] He scored Cardiff's second goal in a 3–1 win; however, he refused to celebrate his goal.[17] On 17 May he made an 86th-minute substitute appearance in the 2008 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, which Cardiff lost 1–0 to Portsmouth. However, four days later it was announced that his contract would not be renewed for the forthcoming season and he was released.[18]

Squires Gate

On 21 February 2018, he joined North West Counties Football Premier League club Squires Gate at the age of 44 after a 2014–15 season at Lancaster City.[19]

International career

Sinclair was called up to Terry Venables' get-together England squad in April 1995,[20] but was not capped for the senior side until 2001. Sinclair earned 12 caps for England, four of which came in the 2002 World Cup, in which he was a last-minute replacement for the injured Danny Murphy. In turn, he replaced Owen Hargreaves, who was injured early in the competition, in the team and was widely regarded as one of England's best players in the tournament, doing a job on England's then "problem left hand side".[21]

Coaching career

Sinclair was the assistant manager of Lancaster City. On 25 August 2014, he made a substitute appearance in the second half of a 3–1 defeat to Clitheroe in the league.

As of October 2021, Sinclair runs a football academy with Bamber Bridge manager Jamie Milligan.[22]

In January 2024, Sinclair was appointed as an assistant coach for the men's India national football team. [23]

Media career

Following his retirement, Sinclair largely worked as a pundit on both television and radio, most notably for BBC Sport on Football Focus and Final Score.

Sinclair has worked as a sports commentator, notably on TalkSPORT.[24]

Personal life

Sinclair is of partial Irish and Scottish descent through his mother, who was born in Sligo and Jamaican descent through his birth father.[25] His stepfather was from Glasgow.[26] He lives on the Fylde coast and is a supporter of his previous clubs West Ham, Manchester City, Blackpool and QPR, as well as Scottish club Celtic.[26] In February 2015, he said that three of his children had joined Blackpool's academy.[27] As of October 2021, his eldest son, Isaac, was playing for Bamber Bridge.[22] His middle son, Sky, was named as an under-21 player in Blackpool's squad for the 2021–22 EFL Championship campaign. He signed a professional contract at the end of the previous campaign. Sinclair's youngest son, Kobe, began a scholarship with Blackpool in 2021.[28]

Controversies

In January 1999, Sinclair was convicted of causing criminal damage to a car, following a night of drinking with other West Ham players at the club's Christmas party in Romford.[29]

In November 2017, Sinclair was arrested on suspicion of drink driving, common assault and criminal damage after a woman was hit by a car in Lytham St Annes.[30] On 2 January 2018, Sinclair was convicted of drink driving, urinating in a police car and racially abusing a police officer by calling him a 'white cunt'.[31] He was sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work, disqualified from driving for 20 months and ordered to pay £500 compensation to the abused police officer.[32] Following this conviction, he was subsequently fired from his role as a BBC pundit.[33]

Following the death of Elizabeth II, Sinclair tweeted asking why "black and brown" people should mourn.[34] His comments were met with widespread condemnation, including that of his fellow TalkSPORT colleague Simon Jordan.[35] TalkSPORT subsequently announced that Sinclair would not be featured on air at the station whilst an investigation into the tweet was carried out.[36] Sinclair returned from his suspension in January 2023.[37]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[38]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Blackpool 1989–90 Third Division9000000090
1990–91 Fourth Division31130205[lower-alpha 1]1412
1991–92 Fourth Division27320205[lower-alpha 1]0363
1992–93 Second Division451120403[lower-alpha 2]05411
Total 11215708013114016
Queens Park Rangers 1993–94 Premier League3241031—365
1994–95 Premier League3341031—375
1995–96 Premier League3722131—424
1996–97 First Division3934120—454
1997–98[39] First Division2632020—303
Total 16716102133—19021
West Ham United 1997–98[39] Premier League147———147
1998–99[40] Premier League3672020—407
1999–2000[41] Premier League367104010[lower-alpha 3]1518
2000–01[42] Premier League1931030—233
2001–02[43] Premier League3452010—375
2002–03[44] Premier League3882010—418
Total 177378011010120638
Manchester City 2003–04[45] Premier League29140203[lower-alpha 4]1382
2004–05[46] Premier League410010—51
2005–06[47] Premier League3133000—343
2006–07[48] Premier League1802010—210
Total 825904031986
Cardiff City 2007–08[49] Championship2114011—262
Career total 5597438237426366083
  1. 1 2 Three appearances and one goal in Football League Trophy, two in Fourth Division play-offs
  2. ↑ Appearances in Football League Trophy
  3. ↑ Ten appearances and one goal in UEFA Intertoto Cup, four in UEFA Cup
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
England[50] 200110
200290
200320
Total120

Honours

Blackpool

West Ham United

England U21

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2003). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004. Queen Anne Press. p. 391. ISBN 1-85291-651-6.
  2. ↑ "Bolton School - From Schoolboy to Footballer to Pundit". Boltonschool.org. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Trevor Sinclair [@trevor8sinclair] (19 November 2014). "@DannyM__MCFC I did" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ Singleton, Steve, ed. (2007). Legends: The great players of Blackpool FC (1 ed.). Blackpool: Blackpool Gazette. pp. 102–105. ISBN 978-1-84547-182-8.
  5. ↑ "The Hall of Fame – 1980's". Blackpool Supporters Association. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "That was the season that was". 6 May 1996. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Ask Albert, Who have been the last five winners of Match of the Day's Goal of the season?". BBC Sport. 7 December 2000. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  8. ↑ "Trevor Sinclair". Westhamstats.info. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "Sinclair screamer". BBC News. 27 December 2000.
  10. ↑ Brodkin, Jon (8 October 1999). "Sinclair's arrested development". theguardian.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Man City off to a flyer". BBC. 14 August 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  12. ↑ "Sinclair to end Man City career". BBC Sport. 10 May 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  13. ↑ "Sinclair wings his way to Cardiff". BBC Sport. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  14. ↑ "West Brom 2–4 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  15. ↑ Canavan, Steve (11 April 2008). "Sinclair's special memories of the 'terrific' Tangerines". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  16. ↑ "Cardiff 3–1 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 12 April 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  17. ↑ Canavan, Steve (21 May 2008). "Pool legend in hunt for new club". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  18. ↑ "Bluebirds Release winger Sinclair". BBC Sport. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  19. ↑ "SIGNING: Ex England International Trevor Sinclair signs for Gate", Squires Gate F.C., Blackpool, 21 February 2018
  20. ↑ "Venables places emphasis on youth". The Independent. 19 April 1995. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  21. ↑ Corrigan, James (24 September 2007). "An email conversation with Trevor Sinclair: 'I didn't have a Plan B. If I hadn't made it, I'd have struggled'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  22. 1 2 "An in-depth look at how Blackpool's players out on loan are getting on" – Blackpool Gazette, 5 October 2021
  23. ↑ "AFC Asian Cup: Indian players impress new assistant coach Trevor Sinclair in first training in Doha". The Statesman. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  24. ↑ September 2020, PA Staff 28 (28 September 2020). "Trevor Sinclair: Lack of diversity deterring BAME players from coaching roles". fourfourtwo.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/london-britain-queen-jamaica-king-charles-1.6579173
  26. 1 2 @trevor8sinclair (11 September 2016). "To all the people asking why I support Celtic? Only choice as my mum is from Sligo and my step dad is from Glasgow and a big fan #COYBIG" (Tweet). Retrieved 22 January 2022 – via Twitter.
  27. ↑ Watt, William (19 February 2015). "Sinclair: Don't blame Clark for Pool's problems". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  28. ↑ "Son of former Blackpool and England winger Trevor Sinclair follows in his father's footsteps by signing pro terms with the Seasiders" – The Gazette, 23 April 2021
  29. ↑ "Soccer star fined for criminal damage". BBC News. 12 January 1999. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  30. ↑ "Trevor Sinclair in drink-drive arrest". BBC News. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  31. ↑ "Ex-England star Trevor Sinclair admits drink-driving and racial abuse". The Guardian. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  32. ↑ "Ex-footballer Trevor Sinclair admits drink-driving charges". BBC News. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  33. ↑ "Ex-footballer Trevor Sinclair loses BBC role after admitting racial abuse", The Guardian, 2 January 2018, retrieved 21 September 2022
  34. ↑ "'Why should black and brown people mourn the Queen?' Ex-England footballer condemned over racism tweet". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  35. ↑ Daly, Rhys; Heeds, Chantelle (9 September 2022). "Huge row after Trevor Sinclair says 'racism thrived' during Queen's reign". LancsLive. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  36. ↑ @talkSPORT (9 September 2022). "Trevor Sinclair will not be on air while we carry out a thorough investigation into the circumstances and timing of…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  37. ↑ "Former Blackpool star Trevor Sinclair returns to talkSPORT after being suspended over Queen Elizabeth tweet".
  38. ↑ Trevor Sinclair at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  39. 1 2 "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  40. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  41. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  42. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  43. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  44. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  45. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  46. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  47. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  48. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  49. ↑ "Games played by Trevor Sinclair in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  50. ↑ "Sinclair, Trevor". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  51. ↑ "Intertoto win gives Hammers Uefa spot". BBC News. 24 August 1999. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  52. ↑ "Match Results U21 : 1990-2000". England Football Online. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  53. ↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1997). The 1997–98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 317. ISBN 978-1-85291-581-0.
  54. ↑ "Trevor Sinclair: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 27 September 2018.

Further reading

  • Calley, Roy (20 October 1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992. Breedon Books Publishing Co Ltd. ISBN 1-873626-07-X.
  • Singleton, Steve, ed. (2007). Legends: The great players of Blackpool FC (1 ed.). Blackpool: Blackpool Gazette. ISBN 978-1-84547-182-8.
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