Frank Sinclair, a former player for Leicester City, was a formidable defender during his extensive career in English football.
Along the way, he won the League Cup, FA Cup, and a European Cup Winner’s Cup while playing for teams like Chelsea and Leicester City.
But there was a price for his aggressive style of play, and that price was his rapport with the referees. The 52-year-old thought that some of the dismissals were severe.
He recently said to The Real EFL, “I got sent off plenty of times in my career, so it never really bothered me.”
“With referees, I had a little bit of a reputation as a hard-tackling defender who occasionally went over the mark. Sometimes I feel like I didn’t get the justice I deserve.”
“I didn’t get the benefit of the doubt that others did for certain tackles.”
During his tenure at Leicester, Sinclair also unluckily developed a tendency for own goals, starting with two in a row six months into his stay at Filbert Street.
He netted at the wrong end against his old team, Chelsea, after heading into the wrong net against Arsenal.
“I used to brush things off pretty quickly; there was a phase in my career where I scored a couple of highly publicized own goals in the Premier League.”
“I was always confident in my abilities and what I brought to the table, so it never really bothered me.”
“I always bounced back from situations like that. As a player, I had a fairly high mental toughness. I just used to move on, concentrate on my performance at the next opportunity, and play the game.
During his stints with Leicester and Chelsea, Sinclair participated in 300 top-tier games, but he also understood when his time was done. He was never content to sit and receive a pay check; instead, he was constantly looking for the next challenge, which brought him to places like Wrexham, Lincoln City, and Huddersfield.
“I was extremely fortunate to play regularly throughout my career because I’ve never been the kind of player that would be content to just be a bit part squad member of any team that I played at.”
“Most of the clubs I left were at a point where the managers were probably looking past me and toward their teams. The majority of the time, I moved on and lowered leagues to finish my career as a player.
“I think it’s my inherent competitiveness. I had a great time, and I have no regrets about it.
Sinclair participated in all four EFL levels, the National League with Wrexham, the Conference North with Colwyn Bay and Brackley, and more than 756 competitive games overall. He started working at Doncaster in January 2023 as a professional development phase coach.
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