Scott Sinclair
Scott Andrew Sinclair is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger. He represented England at youth level, from the under-17s to the under-21s, and also played for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
He started his career with Bristol Rovers, before moving to Chelsea, from where he spent periods on loan at Plymouth Argyle, Queens Park Rangers, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic. In 2010 he signed for Swansea City and in 2012 for Manchester City, who loaned him to West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa. He joined Villa on a permanent contract in 2015, and moved on to Celtic in August 2016. In his first season with Celtic he won both the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year and SFWA Footballer of the Year awards, and he stayed with the club for a further two and a half seasons before returning to England with Preston North End. In October 2022 he signed a short-term deal to return to his boyhood club Bristol Rovers.
Early life
Sinclair was born in Bath, Somerset, where he attended Ralph Allen School. He began his career with Bath Arsenal and grew up supporting Manchester United. Sinclair joined Bristol Rovers at the age of nine. He became the second-youngest Bristol Rovers first-team debutantat the age of 15 years, 277 daysas a late substitute for Junior Agogo in the League Two game against Leyton Orient in December 2004.Club career
Chelsea
Early career
signed Sinclair in July 2005. A Football League tribunal set the compensation to be paid to Bristol Rovers at an initial £200,000, with increments up to a potential £750,000 to be paid if and when the player met various appearance milestones at club or international level. Chelsea would also have to pay Rovers 15% of the profit on any future sale.Sinclair was called up to Chelsea's squad to play Macclesfield Town in the FA Cup on 6 January 2007 but remained on the bench. His debut came four days later as a very late substitute in the 2007 League Cup semi-final against Wycombe Wanderers. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in September 2007, in the 37th minute of the League Cup third-round match against Hull City to help Chelsea win 4–0. He provided the assist for Frank Lampard's 100th goal for Chelsea, in a 3–1 victory over Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup. He made his league debut for Chelsea on 6 May 2007, when he came off the bench to replace Shaun Wright-Phillips for the final ten minutes of the game against Arsenal.
During the January transfer window, Sinclair was signed on a month's loan by Plymouth Argyle, whose manager Ian Holloway had noticed him as a ten-year-old prospect at former club Bristol Rovers. He made his debut as a substitute in the 3–2 victory over Coventry City at Home Park. In his second game, the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Barnet, he scored a fine individual goal to seal a 2–0 victory, taking the ball half the length of the pitch before beating the goalkeeper. Sinclair also scored against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux to put Plymouth 1–0 up in the game, which they drew 2–2. On 17 February 2007, Sinclair scored the second goal, with a looping header from a David Norris cross, as Argyle defeated Derby County 2–0 in their FA Cup fifth-round tie. This result put the club through to the last eight for the first time since 1984. He played in the quarter-final, but Plymouth went down 1–0 to Watford and he was substituted in the second half of the game. On 17 March, Sinclair ran from his own half past two defenders before hitting the ball in off the crossbar to score the only goal of the home match against Crystal Palace.
On 6 May 2007, Sinclair was named in the Chelsea squad to face Arsenal in one of Chelsea's most crucial matches of the season: anything but a win would have handed Manchester United the Premier League title. Sinclair came on as a substitute for Shaun Wright-Phillips but was unable to stop Chelsea drawing 1–1. Sinclair made his first start for Chelsea in the following Premier League game, against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, and suffered a broken metatarsal after a challenge from Wes Brown.
Sinclair signed a new four-year deal on 15 August 2007. He was given squad number 17 for the new season, and made his first appearance as a late substitute in the 2007 FA Community Shield against Manchester United. On 25 September, he scored his first senior goal for the club in a 4–0 win against Hull City in the League Cup. He was picked in the starting eleven against Leicester City in the fourth round of the League Cup; he was involved in Chelsea's first two goals and his shot was turned onto the post by Leicester's goalkeeper.
Queens Park Rangers reportedly "beat off stiff competition from eight other Championship clubs" to sign Sinclair on loan for a month from 6 November 2007. Sinclair's last goal for Plymouth had been against Crystal Palace, and he followed this up by scoring his first for QPR against the same club.
He played four times for Chelsea on his return, before going out on loan again in February 2008. Ian Holloway, who had managed Sinclair at Plymouth Argyle, wanted to take the player to Leicester City, but Chelsea wanted him to join a club nearer the top of the table. On 28 February, Sinclair joined Charlton Athletic on loan until the end of the season. Finding his first-team opportunities limited at Charlton, he made just three appearances off the bench and the loan was terminated after a month.
On 27 March, Sinclair joined Crystal Palace on loan until the end of the season. He scored twice, against Hull and Burnley, in six appearances and helped Palace to finish fifth in the Championship. Sinclair played in the play-off semi-finals, in which Palace lost to Bristol City.
Sinclair was offered a chance by new Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari to prove himself as a first-team player, although he still played in most of the Reserves' matches. On 8 August 2008, Sinclair was handed the number 16 for Chelsea, swapping with José Bosingwa who was given Sinclair's previous number 17. He was the second-youngest player in the Chelsea first team for the season, older than the youngest, striker Franco Di Santo, by 13 days. He made his first league appearance of the season at Middlesbrough on 18 October in Chelsea's 5–0 win.
In January 2009, Sinclair joined Championship club Birmingham City on loan for an initial period of one month, which was later extended to the remainder of the 2008–09 season. He made 14 appearances for the club, and returned to Chelsea on 4 May.
Interim Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink named Sinclair among the substitutes for the match against Blackburn Rovers on 17 May, but he did not play. New coach Carlo Ancelotti included him in the squad that travelled to the United States for a pre-season tour, where he featured in two matches.
Sinclair joined Premier League club Wigan Athletic on 6 August 2009 on loan for the 2009–10 season. He scored his first goal for Wigan in a 2–1 defeat at Hull City on 3 October, and his second, again against Hull, in the FA Cup on 2 January 2010.
Swansea City
In summer 2010, Sinclair was linked with moves to Blackpool, recently promoted to the Premier League, and Championship club Swansea City. He signed a three-year deal with Swansea City on 9 August 2010 for a £500,000 fee, with the potential for the fee to rise to £1 million depending on the club's future success. He made his debut in a 4–0 win against Preston North End on 14 August, during which he had a goal disallowed. He scored his first goal for the club against Tranmere Rovers in the League Cup, and his first League goal for Swansea was scored on 28 August in the 1–0 home win against recently relegated Burnley.Sinclair scored his first career hat-trick on 21 September in a 3–1 League Cup win against Peterborough United. A brace against Leeds United on 26 February 2011 took his goal tally for the season to 21. Swansea qualified for the end-of-season play-offs and reached the final, played at Wembley Stadium on 30 May. In a "pulsating" match against Reading, Sinclair scored a hat-trick that included two penalties as Swansea won 4–2. The result meant a return to the top division of English football for the club, having been relegated from the old First Division in 1982–83, and they became the first Welsh club to reach the Premier League.
Sinclair scored Swansea's first Premier League goal on 17 September 2011 with a penalty in a 3–0 win against West Bromwich Albion. He became Swansea's main penalty taker, scoring penalties against Stoke City, Bolton Wanderers, Fulham and Arsenal. On 31 January 2012, Sinclair scored against his former club Chelsea, in a game that ended in a 1–1 draw. After scoring 13 penalties since joining the club, his streak ended on 15 March when Manchester City's Joe Hart saved his attempt. Swansea won the match 1–0, and Sinclair said he was still willing to continue taking Swansea's penalties.
With one season remaining on his contract with Swansea, it was confirmed on 17 August that Sinclair would not be signing a new deal with the club. On the opening day of the 2012–13 season, he scored in a substitute appearance as Swansea beat Queens Park Rangers 5–0 at Loftus Road.
Manchester City
Sinclair signed a four-year contract with champions Manchester City on 31 August 2012, moving from Swansea for a reported transfer fee of £8 million, including add-ons. He was given the number 11 shirt and made his debut on 15 September, playing 74 minutes of a 1–1 draw away to Stoke City.He started against Arsenal on 23 September, coming off at half-time, and was thereafter relegated to the bench. He made only one further start all season, away at Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 4 December, with both teams' final position already decided. His 12 other appearances that season were all coming on late from the bench. His final appearance of the season came as an 83rd-minute substitute on 21 April 2013, in a 3–1 loss away to Tottenham Hotspur. On 8 May, he had surgery on a blood clot in his shoulder, ending a frustrating season in which he played only 190 minutes of league football, after which he suggested that manager Roberto Mancini had not given him a fair chance.
Sinclair joined West Bromwich Albion on 22 August 2013 on a season-long loan, with the option to complete a permanent deal. He played regularly at the start of the season before a hamstring injury kept him out until December. Soon afterwards, manager Steve Clarke was sacked, and Sinclair played little under his successor, Pepe Mel.