Thomas Smith Sinclair (1880 – 1968) was a Scottish footballer who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

at the start of the 20th century.

Career

Sinclair began his career with

Rutherglen Glencairn Rutherglen Glencairn Football Club is a Scottish football (soccer), football club based in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, near Glasgow. Nicknamed ''The Glens'' and formed in 1896, they play at The Hamish B Allan Stadium (New Southcroft Park). G ...

, winning the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compete ...

and

Glasgow Junior League The Glasgow Junior Football League (GJL) was a Association football, football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1895 and 1927.

in 1902 alongside future Scotland internationals

Jimmy McMenemy James McMenamin (11 October 1880 – 23 June 1965), was a Scottish footballer who most notably played for Celtic from 1902 to 1920 and later served as assistant manager in the 1930s. He has been described by the club as ''"a true Celtic legend"'' ...

and

Alec Bennett Alec Bennett (1897–1973) was an Irish-Canadian motorcycle racer famous for motorcycle Grand Prix wins and five career wins at the Isle of Man TT races. Biography A native of Craigantlet in Ireland's County Down, Bennett emigrated with his pa ...

. He then joined

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

. He joined

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

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. He played in the

1905 Scottish Cup Final Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

and in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

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 Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in 1906. At the start of the 1906–07 season, the Celtic goalkeeper

Davey Adams David Robertson Adams (14 May 1883 – 29 November 1948) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Celtic at the start of the 20th century. Career Born in Angus but raised largely in the Falkirk area, Adams joined Celtic near th ...

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 ''Five-A-Side'' is the debut album by the pop rock band Ace, released by Anchor Records in 1974. The album landed on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, reaching #11 in 1974. The single " How Long" reached #3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the sp ...

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 The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

clubs. Sinclair played six league fixtures and three

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...

ties for Celtic, keeping

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in every match bar his final game, where Celtic won 3–2 in the Glasgow Cup final. He joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in 1907. Again, he was used mainly as a reserve and made only eight first-team appearances in five years on

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...

. 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 The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

twice and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

once (as well as reaching two further finals), but he was unable to displace fellow Glaswegian

Jimmy Lawrence James Lawrence (16 February 1879 – 21 November 1934) was a Scottish football player and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Newcastle United between 1904 and 1922. Career Playing career Born in Partick, Lawrence's first club was Partick At ...

(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 Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

and

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, but again was never the first choice in his position.{{cite journal, title=A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players, author=John Litster, publisher=Scottish Football Historian magazine, date=October 2012

Personal life

Sinclair served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.{{Cite web , url=http://www.newmp.org.uk/article.php?categoryid=100&articleid=1421&displayorder=63 , title=North East War Memorials Project – Regional Content , website=www.newmp.org.uk , access-date=28 October 2019

Honours

;Rutherglen Glencairn *

: 1901–02 ;Rangers *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cup ...

: 1905–06Football. {{! Glasgow Charity Cup–Final Tie.
The Glasgow Herald, 14 May 1906 ;Celtic *

: 1906–07

References

*''Celtic: A complete record 1888–1992'' by Paul Lunney ({{ISBN, 1-873626-27-4) {{Reflist

External links

Toon 1892: Player Profile – Tom Sinclair
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Tom 1880 births 1968 deaths Footballers from Perth and Kinross Association football goalkeepers Rutherglen Glencairn F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish footballers Dumbarton Harp F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players British Army personnel of World War I

Career

Personal life

Honours

See also

References

External links