Tom Sinclair (footballer)

Thomas Smith Sinclair (1880 – 1968) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper at the start of the 20th century.

Tom Sinclair
Personal information
Full name Thomas Smith Sinclair
Date of birth 1880
Place of birth Dunkeld, Scotland[1]
Date of death 1968 (aged 87–88)
Place of death Bonhill, Scotland
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1900–1902 Rutherglen Glencairn
1902–1904 Morton  
1904–1907 Rangers  46 (0)
1906 → Celtic (loan)  6 (0)
1907–1913 Newcastle United  8 (0)
1912 Dumbarton Harp  
1913–1916 Dunfermline Athletic  6 (0)
1916–1917 Stevenston United  
1917 → Kilmarnock (loan)  3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Sinclair began his career with Rutherglen Glencairn, winning the Scottish Junior Cup and Glasgow Junior League in 1902 alongside future Scotland internationals Jimmy McMenemy and Alec Bennett.[2][3] He then joined Morton.

He joined Rangers in 1904 and played there for nearly three seasons. He spent much of his time at Ibrox as a reserve, but eventually made 73 first-team appearances.[4] He played in the 1905 Scottish Cup Final and in the Scottish Football League championship play-off match of the same year, but finished on the losing side in both.

He also spent several weeks on loan at Celtic in 1906. At the start of the 1906–07 season, the Celtic goalkeeper Davey Adams cut his hand during a benefit match at Ibrox – the injury was caused by a nail which had been inserted through a goal-post for a five-a-side tournament – and as a gesture of goodwill, Rangers loaned Sinclair (who had lost his starting place to Alex Newbigging) to Celtic whilst Adams recovered from injury, and this is the first known transfer between the two Old Firm clubs. Sinclair played six league fixtures and three Glasgow Cup ties for Celtic, keeping clean sheets in every match bar his final game, where Celtic won 3–2 in the Glasgow Cup final.[5][6][7]

He joined Newcastle United in 1907. Again, he was used mainly as a reserve and made only eight first-team appearances in five years on Tyneside. In these games he kept three clean sheets, conceded three goals and lost only one match.[8] During Sinclair's spell at Newcastle the club won the English First Division twice and the FA Cup once (as well as reaching two further finals), but he was unable to displace fellow Glaswegian Jimmy Lawrence (the Magpies' all-time record appearance record holder) for long enough to claim any medals.

He later returned to Scotland and played for clubs including Dunfermline Athletic and Kilmarnock, but again was never the first choice in his position.[9][10]

Personal life

Sinclair served in the British Army during the First World War.[1]

Honours
Rutherglen Glencairn
Rangers
Celtic

See also

References
  • Celtic: A complete record 1888–1992 by Paul Lunney (ISBN 1-873626-27-4)
  1. "North East War Memorials Project – Regional Content". www.newmp.org.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  2. "Club History". Rutherglen Glencairn FC. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  3. "Rutherglen Glencairn". Alec Bennett (footballer) by David Carmichael. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  4. "Rangers player Tom Sinclair". FitbaStats. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  5. "Quirky injuries". Goalkeepers are Different. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  6. "Celtic player Tom Sinclair". FitbaStats. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  7. 'Parkhead erupted as it had never done so before,' David Potter's 7 Magnificently Random Celtic Stories, The Celtic Star, 23 October 2019
  8. "Tom Sinclair". 11 v 11. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  9. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. (Kilmarnock player) Sinclair,?, FitbaStats
  11. Football. | Glasgow Charity Cup–Final Tie., The Glasgow Herald, 14 May 1906
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