 |
Date and Place of Birth 3rd December 1971 - LAMBETH
Transfers to and from Burnley from LEICESTER CITY - 23rd July 2004 to HUDDERSFIELD TOWN - 8th February 2007 (after initial loan)
First and Last Burnley Games SHEFFIELD UNITED (h) - 7th August 2004
STOKE CITY (h) - 23rd January 2007
Other Clubs CHELSEA, WEST BROMWICH ALBION (loan), LEICESTER CITY ---------------------------------------- HUDDERSFIELD TOWN, LINCOLN CITY, WYCOMBE WANDERERS (loan) |
Burnley Career Stats
| Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Others | Total | |||||
| apps | gls | apps | gls | apps | gls | apps | gls | apps | gls | |
| 2004/05 | 36 | 1 | 4 | - | 1(1) | - | - | - | 41(1) | 1 |
| 2005/06 | 36(1) | - | 1 | - | 1(1) | - | - | - | 38(2) | - |
| 2006/07 | 16(3) | - | - | - | 0(1) | - | - | - | 16(4) | - |
| Total | 88(4) | 1 | 5 | - | 2(3) | - | - | - | 95(7) | 1 |
Profile by Tony Scholes
It was Thursday 22nd July 2004. I'd been doing some packing for our trip to Austria and was getting ready for our home friendly that night against Everton, when I received an email that suggested we were about to sign central defender Frank Sinclair who had been released by Leicester.
There are always first impressions, and if the tip off was true then this particular signing hardly excited me. I could only think of own goals and perceived defensive howlers, and not for one minute did I think this could be a good signing.
A few hours later the club revealed they were in talks with the player and by the time I got down to the ground the deal had been completed and he had signed a one year deal. It had gone through in time for him to play against Everton and he lined up in the centre of defence alongside John McGreal.
Surely there was no reason for my pessimism at this signing, Sinclair had played most of his career in the top division with Chelsea and Leicester, and it probably speaks volumes in today's football that a player at the age of 32 has had only two clubs for whom he's played over four hundred games.
He did reasonably well in that game against Everton, and had settled into the squad by the time they reached Austria although I think it is fair to say he was one of the more reluctant white water rafters.
It wasn't long before my opinion of Frank Sinclair changed, and it changed dramatically, it was obvious even to me that we'd landed ourselves two very good defenders in Sinclair and McGreal, and that in Sinclair we had a player whose attitude out on the pitch was second to none.
Maybe not as cultured as his partner, but I like a defender who attacks the ball, who never once gives the opposition player a minute's rest, the sort of player who plays with his heart on his sleeve and the sort of player who so often lifts the crowd.
Frank Sinclair hadn't played at the top level for no reason, he was a Premiership class defender and in that first season, alongside either McGreal or the youngster Gary Cahill, he turned in quality performance after quality performance.
He soon signed a new deal that gave him an extra two years at Burnley and when Robbie Blake decided to up sticks in the January transfer window of 2005, Steve Cotterill turned to Frank with the captain's arm band. I don't think anyone could argue with that decision or could have nominated a better captain.
I would think his first season was his best for us, but more than once in his second season he was asked to play out at full back rather than in the centre. The commitment was still the same, probably he got more yellow cards in that position and usually for nothing more than over commitment to win the ball. There were times when he went out and played when not fully fit, but that says everything about him.
With his place no longer assured for the 2006/07 season he handed over the captaincy to Wayne Thomas. When he did play it was invariably at right back but a suspension and then injury forced him out of the side in November and he struggled to get back.
His last game for the Clarets was against Stoke when he had something of a nightmare, and Frank didn't deserve that sort of performance in his last game for us. So for a memory of his last season, let's recall his superb cross against Preston that led to Sean St Ledger putting through his own goal.
With a regular place in the side no longer there, and with his contract coming to an end in the summer of 2007, Frank took the opportunity to move on to Huddersfield, initially on loan. He went with a glowing tribute from the manager, and I'm certain he went with the best wishes of everyone who had seen him play for the Clarets.
Those of us who doubted his signing, and I was definitely one of them, got it horribly wrong, and I am certain history will record that Frank Sinclair proved to be one of Steve Cotterill's best ever signings as Burnley manager.
Frank's loan came to an end in the summer of 2007 but he'd impressed enough at Huddersfield for manager Andy Ritchie to reward him with a new one year deal. He was one of the first names on the team sheet until Ritchie lost his job at the beginning of April. Caretaker Gerry Murphy immediately left him out and Frank didn't play during the last month of the season which saw Stan Ternent arrive as the new manager. Ternent released him at the end of the season.
On 1st July 2008 Frank Sinclair signed a one year deal with Lincoln City and just over three weeks later manager Peter Jackson handed Frank some coaching responsibilities at the club.
Having played 24 games for Lincoln, and needing only one more appearance to win another contract, he was loaned out to Wycombe on 26th March 2009, the loan deadline day, for one month.
That loan was extended until the end of the season and he was a regular in the Wycombe side that went on to win promotion from League Two. On his return to Lincoln at the season's end he was released on 5th May 2009.
Frank spent much of pre-season training with Bury but didn't sign for them. He then had a few days training with Wrexham and on 24TH August 2009 agreed to sign for the Blue Square Premier club on a one year contract. He won a further one year deal with Wrexham and was in their side for the play offs in the Blue Square Premier League at the end of the 2010/11 season.
Sinclair moved to Colwyn Bay after leaving Wrexham and continued to play there to the age of 41 when, in February 2013, he was appointed as the club's manager. They were facing the threat of relegation from the Blue Square Premier League but a remarkable run of six wins to end the season ensured they stayed up. That run helped him secure a further one year contract as manager which he agreed at the end of April. He held the manager's job for 23 months but in January 2015 he resigned following a 5-0 defeat at Boston.
Having had a brief stint playing for Brackley after leaving Colwyn Bay, he joined Oldham's academy as a coach and worked there for almost a year before becoming manager of National League North club Hednesford Town on 16th December 2015.
Links
Sinclair completes Lincoln move (01/07/08)
Frank takes first step on the coaching ladder (25/07/08)
Frank teams up with Legend (26/03/09)
Two former Clarets leave their clubs (06/05/09)
Gray and Sinclair on the move (24/08/09)
Philliskirk, Sinclair and Thompson in the news (13/02/13)
Frank Sinclair to stay on at Colwyn Bay (01/05/13)
Frank and Ade leave Colwyn Bay (09/01/15)