Scott Sinclair

Scott Andrew Sinclair (born 25 March 1989 in Bath, Somerset) is an English footballer who plays for Chelsea. 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.

Club career

Chelsea

A product of the Bristol Rovers youth system since the age of 9, striker Scott Sinclair made his first team debut for Bristol Rovers at the age of 15 against Leyton Orient as a substitute for Junior Agogo.

Chelsea signed the player in July 2005, and in November 2005 a tribunal awarded Bristol Rovers compensation in the amount of £200,000 and up to an extra £750,000 may become due depending on how successful he is at his new club. Chelsea will also have to pay Bristol Rovers 15% of any profit they make if they sell him.

Sinclair was called up for Chelsea's squad to play Macclesfield Town in the FA Cup on 6 January 2007, however he stayed on the bench. His debut came just four days later, coming on as a substitute in a League Cup game against Wycombe Wanderers.

He scored his 1st goal for Chelsea in the 37th minute against Hull City in the Carling Cup Third Round, to help Chelsea win 4-0 against Hull City.

Loan spell at Plymouth

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 10-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 4th 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 and scoring a smashing goal.

Sinclair also scored against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux to put Plymouth 1-0 up in the game, which they eventually 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 5th round tie. This result put the club through to the last eight for the first time since 1984. He played well in the quarter final, but Plymouth eventually went down 1-0 to Watford and he was substituted in the second half of the game due to injury.

On 17 March, Sinclair scored another individual goal, taking the ball down the pitch before lobbing the goalkeeper, to seal victory in a 1-0 home win over Crystal Palace.

Return to Chelsea

On 6 May 2007 he was named in the Chelsea squad to face Arsenal, which was one of Chelsea's most crucial matches of the season as 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. He made his first start for Chelsea in the following Premier League game against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. Sinclair suffered a broken metatarsal after a challenge from Wes Brown. For the season 07/08 Sinclair was awarded the number 17 shirt, a change from the number 49 that he had worn previously. The club have indicated that he will not be sent out on loan again (even though Chelsea have not followed up on that indication) and so will be challenging for a first-team place during the coming season. He came on as a second half substitute for Joe Cole during Chelsea's FA Community Shield game against Manchester United.

Sinclair was rewarded with a new four year deal on 15 August 2007. Later that year, on 25 September he scored his first senior goal for the club in a 4-0 win against Hull City in the Carling Cup. He was picked in the starting eleven against Leicester City in the 4th round of the Carling Cup. Sinclair assisted Frank Lampard with the equaliser to make the score 1-1, and then later on in the match was denied only by the post with one of his shots.

Sinclair played his first game back with Chelsea shortly after his loan with QPR ended. Sinclair started for the Blues and was later subbed off by Joe Cole in a 2-0 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

Loan spell at QPR

On 6 November, it was confirmed that Queens Park Rangers had won the battle to sign Scott on loan with eight other Championship clubs also looking to get him. Sinclair's last goal for Plymouth was against Crystal Palace, and he followed this up by scoring his first for QPR against the Eagles

Leicester City manager Ian Holloway revealed on 5 February 2008 that he wanted to sign Sinclair on a loan deal, having previously signed him while managing at Plymouth Argyle. However, Chelsea rejected the loan offer, because they wanted Sinclair to sign for a club which was near the top of the Championship table.

Loan at Charlton

On 28 February 2008, Sinclair joined Charlton Athletic on loan. Finding his first team opportunities limited at Charlton, Sinclair made just three appearances off the bench.

Loan spell at Crystal Palace

On 27 March 2008, Sinclair joined Crystal Palace on loan until the end of the 2007/08 season, scoring twice against Hull and Burnley in six appearances and helping Palace to 5th place in the Championship and qualification for the 2008 Football League Championship play-offs.

Chelsea 2008/09

Sinclair has been offered a chance by then new manager Scolari to prove himself as a first team player, although he stills plays in most of the Reserve's 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 is the second youngest player in the Chelsea first team, older than the youngest striker Franco di Santo by thirteen days. He made his first league appearance of the season at Middlesbrough on 18 October in Chelsea's 5-0 win.

Loan spell at Birmingham City

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 when his contract expired.

Return to Chelsea

On 17 May 2009, he was incuded in the substitute bench by Interim Manger Hiddink in a game against Blackburn.