Tom Sinclair (footballer)


Tom Sinclair was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper at the start of the 20th century.

Career

Born in Glasgow, 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.
He joined Rangers in 1904 and played there for nearly three seasons. He spent most of his time at Ibrox as a reserve, but eventually made 73 first-team appearances. However, Sinclair 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 Stadium – the injury was caused by a nail which had been inserted through a goal-post for a five-a-side tournament. As a gesture of goodwill, Sinclair was loaned to Celtic whilst Adams recovered from injury, and this is the first known transfer between the two Old Firm clubs. Sinclair played six league games 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.
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. During Sinclair's spell at Newcastle the club won the English First Division twice and the FA Cup once, but he was unable to displace fellow Glaswegian Jimmy Lawrence for long enough to claim any medals.

Personal life

Sinclair served in the British Army during the First World War.

Honours