Sinclair, Thomas (1906)

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Note: There has been more than one player to have played for Celtic with the same name, so please check the other namesakes if need be.

Personal

Fullname: Thomas Smith Sinclair
aka: Tom Sinclair, Thomas Sinclair
Born: 1880
Died: 1968
Birthplace: Dunkeld
Signed: 17 August 1906 (Loan from Rangers)
Position: Goalkeeper
Debut: Motherwell 0-6 Celtic, League, 18 Aug 1906
Internationals: none

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Biog

Goalkeeper Thomas Sinclair was loaned to the Bhoys by Rangers after first choice stopper Davie Adams cut his hand on a nail in the goalposts while playing in the Finlay Speedie Benefit Match at Ibrox just two days before the start of the 1906/07 season.

Former Morton man Tom Sinclair was the Rangers’ reserve keeper and would play for the Hoops until Adams was fit to resume duties between the sticks. He had joined Rangers in 1904 and played there for nearly three seasons. He spent most of his time at Ibrox as a reserve, but did make 73 first-team appearances.

Adams played a total of six league matches and did not concede a single goal in those games as the Hoops romped to successive victories (and eventually Celtic’s third league title in a row). This was a record until Carl Muggleton equalled it in the 1990’s.

Tom Sinclair also picked up a Glasgow Cup winners medal in his final match with the Bhoys in his brief spell at Celtic.

The Glasgow Cup final match was v Third Lanark and ironically at Ibrox, and despite conceding two goals, Celtic still won 3-2; one of the goals lost was from kick-off and Alec McNair described Tom Sinclair as being unhappy with it. This match was the first competitive match in his short run at Celtic in which he had conceded any goals. Quite a feat, and Rangers’ management must have been kicking themselves for loaning him to Celtic.

He eventually returned to Ibrox with his Glasgow Cup medal, but his stay there was short. Possibly colleagues and management at his parent club might have been unhappy with his fine form at Celtic.

Sympathisers to the player certainly have a strong case to argue that Tom Sinclair is the most successful loan signing that Celtic have ever had. His greatest honour in his career won was undoubtedly that medal won with Celtic, although he did win the lesser rated Glasgow Merchant Charity Cup with Rangers.

He would soon join Newcastle United in March 1907, and during his time at Newcastle the club won the English First Division twice and the FA Cup once (as well as two other finals), but he was unable to displace fellow Glaswegian Jimmy Lawrence (the Magpies all-time appearance record holder) for long enough to claim any medals. Jimmy Lawrence had an 18 year long career at Newcastle, so Tom Sinclair was to be the cover for the Newcastle stalwart, but Tom Sinclair made just 8 appearances.

He later went on to play for Dunfermline and Kilmarnock, and again never seemed to make many appearances for any of the clubs. Appears that ironically for him that his short loan spell at Celtic was the great purple patch in his playing career, and so was to be the one period for this ex-Rangers player to ironically look back on most fondly.

During the First World War, Tom Sinclair served in the British Army.

He is believed to have lived a long life and passed away in 1968.

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Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

• 1906

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Pictures

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• World War One

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