Bobby Sinclair

Robert Dunlop "Bobby" Sinclair (29 June 1915 – 2 July 1993) was a Scottish professional footballer who played in the Scottish First Division for Falkirk in the 1930s and in the Football League in England for Darlington in the years following the Second World War. He played as an outside right.

Bobby Sinclair
Personal information
Full name Robert Dunlop Sinclair[1]
Date of birth (1915-06-29)29 June 1915[1]
Place of birth Winchburgh, Scotland
Date of death 2 July 1993(1993-07-02) (aged 78)[2]
Place of death Darlington, England
Position(s) Outside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Heart of Midlothian 0 (0)
– Musselburgh Athletic
– Falkirk
1939–1946 Chesterfield[lower-alpha 1] 0 (0)
1946–1948 Darlington 68 (11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Sinclair was born in Winchburgh, West Lothian.[1] As a youngster, he was on the books of Heart of Midlothian, but never played in competitive first-team football for the club.[3][4] He went on to play for junior club Musselburgh Athletic before joining First Division club Falkirk in January 1938.[5] He made what the Scotsman described as "quite a promising debut" in the Scottish Cup defeat of St Mirren on 12 February,[3] and in the absence of several regular players through injury, made his Scottish First Division debut the following week, in a 2–0 home defeat to Motherwell.[6] He opened the scoring as Falkirk beat Second Division Albion Rovers in the next round of the Cup,[7] and scored again in a 4–2 win away to Hibernian.[8]

At the end of the 1938–39 season, Falkirk intended to retain Sinclair,[9] but they accepted a £475 offer for his services from English Second Division club Chesterfield,[10] and Sinclair became one of twelve new arrivals ahead of the 1939–40 season.[11] He played in Chesterfield's first two matches before the Football League was abandoned for the duration of the Second World War, and played for the club in wartime competitions[10] (he also guested for Plymouth Argyle[12]) and in the 1945–46 FA Cup,[2] but moved on to Third Division North club Darlington during the 1946 close season. He remained with Darlington for two seasons, scoring 11 goals from 68 League appearances.[1]

Sinclair died in Darlington in 1993 at the age of 78.[2]

Notes
  1. Although appearances in the abandoned 1939–40 Football League season are included in Joyce's Football League Records, most statistical sources, including omit them.

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 233. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. "Chesterfield FC: Players in Cup games only, 1921 to 2011". cfchistory.com. Stuart Basson. Archived from the original (XLSX) on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  3. "Falkirk lucky. St Mirren rally of no avail". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 14 February 1938. p. 5. Sinclair, the Musselburgh recruit, and ex-Heart, made quite a promising debut at outside right."
  4. "1934–35". londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters Club. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  5. "Falkirk signing". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 11 January 1938. p. 15.
  6. "Falkirk's home fall". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 21 February 1938. p. 5.
  7. "Falkirk flattered. Albion Rovers' good first half fight". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 7 March 1938. p. 5.
  8. "Set-back for Hibs". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 28 March 1938. p. 5.
  9. "Falkirk's retained list". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 26 April 1939. p. 20.
  10. "Chesterfield FC, 1939-40" (XLSX). cfchistory.com. Stuart Basson. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  11. Halsey, Stanley (16 August 1939). "Twelve new men". Daily Express. London. p. 14.
  12. "Bobby Sinclair". Greens on Screen. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.