James Sinclair (footballer)

James Alexander Sinclair (born 22 October 1987) is a former English footballer who played as a full back or winger.

For other people with the same name, see James Sinclair (disambiguation).

James Sinclair
Personal information
Full name James Alexander Sinclair
Date of birth (1987-10-22) 22 October 1987
Place of birth Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Position(s) Full back / Winger
Youth career
Alnwick Town
Newcastle United
Sunderland
2004–2007 Bolton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Bolton Wanderers 2 (0)
2010 Gateshead 5 (0)
2010 Sektzia Nes Tziona 3 (0)
2011–2012 Polonia Bytom 16 (0)
2013–2014 Ljungskile SK 50 (6)
2015 Östersund 10 (0)
2016–2017 GAIS 45 (3)
2018–2019 Morecambe 1 (0)
2019–2021 Oskarshamns AIK 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:44, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

He played in the Premier League and the UEFA Cup for Bolton Wanderers.[1][2]

Career

Early career

As a schoolboy, Sinclair was both a promising track and field athlete – he came second in the English Schools' championships at 200 metres, won a Scottish decathlon title,[3] and set an under-15 United Kingdom indoor record for the 50 metres[4] – and a prolific goalscorer.[5] He played for Alnwick Town Juniors,[6] Northumberland Boys – for whom he set a schools record, scoring nine goals in a county under-16s match against South Yorkshire – and the youth academies of Sunderland and Newcastle United, prior to signing scholarship forms with Bolton Wanderers in the summer of 2004.[5]

Bolton Wanderers

At 16 he scored on his first team debut in a pre-season friendly game against Sheffield Wednesday F.C,[7] and was then an unused substitute the next day against Inter Milan. He broke his leg that same year, but quickly returned to fitness.[8] During the 2006–07 season, he converted from the role of attacker to right wing back with success.[3] Sinclair agreed his first professional contract shortly before making his first-team debut for Bolton, on 28 April 2007 in the 2–2 Premier League draw away to Chelsea, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute to replace Idan Tal.[9][10] He drew praise from player-coach Gary Speed both for his play and for his character.[11]

Sinclair also featured in the 2007 Peace Cup pre-season tournament, under Sammy Lee's management,[12] He played in every pre-season match for the club that summer as both right back and in midfield. He made his first competitive appearance of the 2007–08 season as a very late substitute in the UEFA Cup group stage away at Red Star Belgrade, in December 2007 as the Wanderers secured a victory.[13] In May 2008 he was offered a new deal to stay at the Reebok Stadium,[14] but was released at the end of the 2008–09 season.[15]

Gateshead F.C.

Sinclair joined Conference National side Gateshead on non-contract terms on 26 January 2010,[16] making his debut the same day in a 2–0 defeat to Kettering Town.[17] Sinclair scored his first goal for Gateshead on 9 February against Barrow in the FA Trophy.[18] In May 2010, once his non-contract deal expired Sinclair decided to look at other options abroad.

Sektzia Nes Tziona

In October 2010, Sinclair signed for Israeli club Sektzia Nes Tziona.[19] He made his debut on 26 October 2010 against Hapoel Ironi Rishon LeZion in the Toto Cup.[20] He scored his first goal for Nes Tziona on 9 November against Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, also in the Toto Cup.[21] Financial reasons stopped the club from obtaining a longer work visa for Sinclair to carry on playing in Israel

Sevilla FC Puerto Rico

In March 2011, Sinclair registered with Sevilla FC Puerto Rico, a sister team of the Spanish club Sevilla FC based in Puerto Rico. The team were playing in the newly created USL Pro league in the United States. However, after the club folded from the league early during the season on he was unable to make an appearance for the club as his Visa wasn't resolved.

Polonia Bytom

In July 2011, he joined Polish club Polonia Bytom on a two-year contract.[22] He made his debut on 31 July 2011, against Warta Poznan. On 29 October 2012, he mutually terminated his contract with the club.

Ljungskile SK

In January 2013 he signed a 1-year contract with Swedish Superettan club Ljungskile SK after impressing the coaching staff during his trial period.[23] On 5 September 2013 Sinclair signed a new 1-year extension at Ljungskile SK.[24]

Östersunds FK

In January 2015, he joined the Swedish Superettan club Östersund [25]

GAIS

In December 2015, he signed a two-year deal with the Superettan club GAIS, based in Gothenburg.

Morecambe

Having missed most of the season through injury, Sinclair was released by Morecambe FC at the end of the 2018–19 season.[26]

Oskarshamns

On 28 July 2019, Sinclair returned to Sweden to join Division 1 side Oskarshamns on a ​2 1⁄2-year deal.[27] On 31 January 2021 he announced his retirement on Twitter.[28]

References
  1. James Sinclair: The journeyman looking for a second chance in England englishplayersabroad.com
  2. "James Sinclair". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  3. McGuirk, Bill (3 May 2007). "New ball game for James". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  4. "United Kingdom All-Time Indoor Lists – Under 15 Boys". gbrathletics. Athletics Weekly. 31 December 2006. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  5. "Former Town juniors striker becomes a happy Wanderer" (reprint). Northumberland Gazette. FindArticles. 22 July 2004. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  6. "Town make it three out of three" (reprint). Northumberland Gazette. FindArticles. 18 December 2002. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  7. Bolton v Sheffield Wednesday, boltonwanderers-mad.co.uk/
  8. "Reserves: Aston Villa 2 – 1 Bolton Wanderers". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 15 February 2005. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  9. "Two Poles Sign On". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  10. "Chelsea vs Bolton". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 28 April 2007. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  11. Sharrock, Gordon (5 May 2007). "Speed quick to praise teen star". The Bolton News. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  12. "Bolton 2 Racing Santander 1". Sporting Life. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  13. "Red Star Belgrade 0–1 Bolton". BBC Sport. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  14. "Duo Offered New Deals". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 17 May 2008. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  15. "Dzemaili quits Bolton for Torino". BBC Sport. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  16. Bowron, Jeff (26 January 2010). "Gateshead in double transfer swoop". Gateshead FC. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  17. Bowron, Jeff (27 January 2010). "Gateshead 0–2 Kettering Town". Gateshead FC. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  18. Bowron, Jeff (10 February 2010). "Gateshead 2–3 Barrow". Gateshead FC. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  19. סינקלייר ג'יימס אלכסנדר (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  20. "Sektzya Ness Ziona 2–4 Hapoel Rishon Letzion". Israel Football Association. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  21. "Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 1–5 Sektzya Ness Ziona". Israel Football Association. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  22. James Sinclair zawodnikiem Polonii Bytom 18 July 2011, onet.pl
  23. James Sinclair Ljungskile SK Archived 18 April 2013 at Archive.today 19 January 2013, lsk.se/
  24. Contract Extension Archived 26 September 2013 at Archive.today 5 September 2013, lsk.se/
  25. "Östersunds Fotbollsklubb » Nyheter » James Sinclair skriver på för ÖFK". www.ostersundsfk.se.
  26. "Morecambe release five players but extend the deals of four more". BBC Sport. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  27. "James Sinclair klar för Oskarshamns AIK" (in Swedish). Oskarshamns AIK. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  28. https://twitter.com/Jsinclair1987/status/1355921683325079560
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