Trevor Sinclair

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 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.

Five players from each decade are inducted; Sinclair is in the 1990s.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

He scored seven goals in the remaining 14 games to help West Ham achieve an eighth-place finish in the Premier League.

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.

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.

He was capped twelve times by England, four of which came in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

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, left and right wing and as a striker when called upon.

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.

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.

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.

Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes.

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

On 10 July 2007, he joined Championship club, Cardiff City.

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.

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 also played in the Football League for Blackpool and Cardiff City where he retired in 2008.

He made his return on 16 February 2008 coming on as a late substitute in a 2–0 FA Cup victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

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.

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.

Sinclair was born in Dulwich, London, but grew up in Manchester.