Frank Sinclair

Frank Mohammed Sinclair (born 3 December 1971) is an English-born Jamaican former professional football player and manager who is a coach at club Doncaster Rovers.

He made 756 league and cup appearances in a 25-year playing career, scoring 27 goals.

He progressed through the youth age groups, going on to sign as an apprentice in April 1988, before turning professional in May 1990.

A defender, he began his career at Chelsea, turning professional in May 1990 and then making his debut in the Football League in April 1991.

He kept his place in the side for the next three fixtures at left-back but was subbed off at half-time in a 7–0 away defeat to Nottingham Forest and then rested for the remainder of the 1990–91 season.

He played on loan at West Bromwich Albion between December 1991 and March 1992.

In April 1991, after a run of four consecutive defeats, Chelsea manager Bobby Campbell decided to blood some youngsters at Luton Town.

Sinclair was chosen out of position at left-back, but impressed on his debut as Chelsea fought back from 3–0 down to draw the match 3–3 despite having ten men for the whole of the second-half.

He made his first appearance of the 1991–92 campaign in Chelsea's first away game, a disappointing 3–0 defeat to Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park.

After this performance he was dropped from the side and failed to make a matchday squad under manager Ian Porterfield.

In December 1991 he was sent on a short loan spell at Third Division side West Bromwich Albion to gain some more experience.

He impressed on his Albion debut, which came in a 1–1 draw away at Bradford City on 14 December.

In only his second appearance for the club, he was sent off for violent conduct in the draw with Exeter City when he was involved in a clash of heads with referee Paul Alcock.

Despite video evidence showing that the "butting" was accidental he was still found guilty by The Football Association and received a nine match ban and a £600 fine.

He established himself in the first-team back at Chelsea during the 1992–93 Premier League campaign and went on to be named as the club's Player of the Year for 1993.

He remained at The Hawthorns and went on to make a total of six appearances for the "Baggies", scoring once before returning to Chelsea in March 1992.

He made his comeback for Chelsea in a 1–0 victory over Norwich City in March and made a further six appearances that season, scoring his first Chelsea goal with a header in the 3–1 defeat to Aston Villa in April.

An ankle injury kept Sinclair out of the side at the beginning of the 1992–93 season.

He returned to the first team in September in a televised match against Manchester City that Chelsea won 1–0.

However, Sinclair's mentor, Paul Elliott, suffered a career ending injury in the match.

He played on the losing side in the 1994 FA Cup final, before picking up a winners medal after Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2–0 in the 1997 final.

Chelsea also won the League Cup by beating Middlesbrough 2–0 in the final the following year, and Sinclair scored the opening goal in extra time.

Chelsea also won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1998, though Sinclair was ruled out of the final due to injury.

He was sold on to Leicester City in August 1998 for a fee of £2 million.

Born in England, he was called up to represent Jamaica at the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and played five games as the team finished in fourth-place after losing to Brazil in the third-place play-off match.

He also played all three of his country's games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

He won his second League Cup final in 2000, as Leicester defeated Tranmere Rovers 2–1.

He went on to feature twice in the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup and ended his international career in October 2003 after a total of 28 caps.

He spent a total of six seasons at Leicester, five of which were spent in the Premier League, the exception being the 2002–03 First Division promotion campaign.

He joined Championship club Burnley on a free transfer in June 2004 and served as club captain from January 2005 to summer 2006.

He joined League One side Huddersfield Town on an emergency loan in February 2007, which became a permanent transfer in the summer.

He dropped into League Two to join Lincoln City in July 2008, who loaned him out to Wycombe Wanderers in March 2009; he helped Wycombe to win promotion out of League Two at the end of the 2008–09 season.

He then spent the next two seasons in the Conference with Wrexham, before playing for Hendon in November 2011 and Colwyn Bay in January 2012.

Sinclair was appointed as player-manager at Colwyn Bay in February 2013 and was named as Conference North Manager of the Month in April and December 2013.

He went on to serve Brackley Town as caretaker manager in October 2015 and served as Hednesford Town manager from December 2015 to April 2016.

He later spent time as a coach at Stoke City, Radcliffe, Port Vale and Doncaster Rovers.

He is the father of fellow professional footballer Tyrese Sinclair.

Sinclair was born in the London Borough of Lambeth and grew up in Clapham.

He attended Pimlico School in Westminster and was offered trials at Chelsea, Arsenal and Wimbledon whilst he represented the West London district team.

He later joined Chelsea as an eleven-year-old, stating that supporting the club was a major influence in his decision making.