Scott Sinclair

Scott Andrew Sinclair (born March 25, 1989 in Bath, Somerset, Somerset) is an England footballer who is on the books of English Premier League team Chelsea F.C.. 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 F.C..

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.

Controversially, Chelsea signed the player in Summer 2005 without asking Bristol Rovers for permission to speak to him, let alone agreeing a fee. In November 2005 Chelsea were ordered to pay Bristol Rovers initial compensation of £160,000, 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.

For the season 05/06 as of 17 April 2006 Sinclair has made 21 appearances for the Chelsea youth team and has scored 15 goals. For the reserve team, he has started seven games, came on in seven and scored three goals. He has also played for England Under 17s.

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

Loan spell at Plymouth

During the January transfer window Sinclair was signed on a month's loan by Plymouth Argyle F.C., 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 chipping the goalkeeper, after again coming on as a second half replacement.

Sinclair also scored against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux to put Plymouth 1-0 up in the game, which they eventually drew 2-2.

On 17th 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 F.C. and he was substituted in the second half of the game due to injury.

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

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 Premiership 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 Premiership game against Manchester United F.C. at Stamford Bridge (stadium). 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 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 F.C..

Sinclair was rewarded with a new four year deal on 15 August 2007.