Lee Sinnott was born 12th July 1965 in Aldridge. He joined Walsall as an apprentice in March 1982 and made his debut, aged just 16. The tall defender went on to play 47 times for The Saddlers, before inevitably catching the eye of big-spending sides.
It was Graham Taylor who tempted Sinnott away from Fellows Park in September 1983, paying Walsall £100,000 for his services. His first season for Watford will always be remembered, as they reached FA Cup Final, beating Luton, Charlton, Brighton, Birmingham and Plymouth on the way to Wembley. Sinnot, aged just 18, started for The Hornets, but they were beaten 2-0 by Everton in front of a capacity 100,000 spectators at Wembley.
His love affair with the FA Cup did not end there, and by the age of 20 he had reached another two quarter finals with Watford. His contribution to their first team was rewarded with England under 21 representation.
When Graham Taylor left to take charge of Aston Villa in 1987, Dave Bassett took over at Vicarage Road. He made his mark on the team straight away, selling stars John Barnes to Liverpool, Kevin Richardson to Arsenal, David Bardsley to Oxford and Mark Falco to Rangers. Sinnott also left with Bradford paying £130,000 to take him to Valley Parade, for whom he played over 200 times during a four-year period, becoming a firm fans’ favourite. He left to join Steve Coppell’s Crystal Palace in August 1991, with the sale of Ian Wright funding his £300,000 transfer.
Sixteen months later, after failing to win the fans full support, Sinnott returned to Bradford for another year. He made an additional 38 appearances in his second spell, before heading to Huddersfield Town on 23rd December 1994. This was another six figure transfer fee and he helped repay the investment by captaining the club, via the play offs, to promotion to England’s second tier. His manager Neil Warnock departed in 1995 and was replaced by Brian Horton.
In 1997 Sinnott followed Neil Warnock to Oldham in a £50,000 deal. When Warnock left Boundary Park, Sinnott found himself loaned back to Bradford City in March 1998, his third spell with the club. After his release from Oldham Athletic, Sinnott moved to Conference side Scarborough to see out his playing days. The goal of his final season as a player was to achieve promotion back to the Football League, but Scarborough just missed out in 4th place with Sinnott playing 24 times.
After hanging up his boots, Sinnott was named manager of Farsley Celtic, of the Unibond League First Division, where the club averaged crowds of just 90. Three promotions in four seasons have seen Farsley Celtic elevated to the Blue Square Premier (formerly known as the Conference) after a play-off victory over Hinkley United in May. In 2006/7 Sinnott became the first manager to guide the club to the FA Cup proper, where they held MK Dons at home before losing the replay 2-0 at The National Hockey Stadium.
At Farsley Celtic, Sinnott impressed in the Conference and it came as no surprise when a League One club came knocking. It was Port Vale who recruited one of the young up and coming managers of non-league and confirmed his appointment on 5th November 2007. Port Vale were in trouble that season rock bottom of the league and early promise was shown with a debut win for Sinnot, although this came in the FA Cup at Morcambe. His first league game ended in defeat against local rivals Crewe. Vale were unable to avoid the drop and in League Two, Vale’s men at the top demanded an instant return. In September Vale were lying in 16th after defeats to Accrington Stanley and Macclesfield and the board decided his time was up.
Sinnott joined Bradford Park Avenue in January 09 after taking over from his assistant who was keeping the seat warm. However in October 2009 he left by mutual consent following his summer recruitment drive not producing the results demanded for such an outlay by the club.
LIVE SCORES