Andrew Sinton (born 19 March 1966) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is club ambassador for Queens Park Rangers. As a player, he was a left midfielder who notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for Queens Park Rangers,

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

and Tottenham Hotspur. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers before finishing his career in non-league with Burton Albion, Bromsgrove Rovers and Fleet Town. He earned 12 caps playing as an international footballer for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was described as "a hard-working midfielder with a good footballing brain and who created many goals". Following retirement, Sinton managed non-league side Fleet Town for five seasons, then AFC Telford United for three seasons, where he won promotion with the club to the Conference National.

Club career

Sinton was a schoolboy footballer, playing for the England Under 15 team. He signed for

on leaving school, and made his debut aged 16 years 228 days on 2 November 1982. He is the youngest player to play a league game for Cambridge, and is one of only two product of the club's youth team to become a full England international: John Ruddy of Norwich City followed Sinton to this accolade in 2012. Sinton was the outstanding player in a poor Cambridge side, which suffered successive relegations in 1983–84 and 1984–85. He was signed by Brentford in 1985 for just £25,000. He was signed for QPR by Trevor Francis in 1989 for £350,000 and went on to play 160 league games, scoring 22 goals including the first goal in the notable 4–1 QPR victory at Old Trafford in 1992. Sinton played for QPR in the first year of the Premiership, where he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 4–2 win against Everton on 28 December 1992, before moving to

for a then club record £2.75million in August 1993. He spent two and a half years at Hillsborough but returned to London early in 1996 to link up with former Rangers boss Gerry Francis at Tottenham Hotspur. He came on as an 89th-minute substitute, for David Ginola, in the 1999 Football League Cup Final that Spurs won 1–0 over Leicester City. He made his last Premiership appearance for Tottenham Hotspur in 1999, before spending three years with Wolverhampton Wanderers and then signing for Nigel Clough's Burton Albion in August 2002.

International career

On the international front, Sinton made his England debut in a 1–1 draw in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in November 1991 and went on to acquire 12 caps – including two against Sweden during a disappointing European Championships campaign. He played David Platt through on goal for England's penalty claim that was turned down, and absolutely should have been given, in their 2–0 defeat against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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in October 1993, towards the end of Graham Taylor's reign. His last appearance for his country came the following month, in the 7–1 rout of

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

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. He also played for England Schoolboys, England B and the Football League XI.

Management career

Sinton was appointed manager of Isthmian League Division One outfit Fleet Town in summer 2005, having spent the previous season as the club's Football Development Officer. On 26 May 2010 it was announced that, from a large field of applicants, Sinton had been appointed manager of A.F.C. Telford United in Conference North. In his first season in charge, he led them to a second-place finish in the league and clinched promotion to the Conference via the playoffs. In his second season at the club, he kept them out of the Conference National's relegation zone all season and secured safety with two games still remaining. On 31 January 2013, it was announced that Sinton had left A.F.C. Telford United by mutual consent after a 16-match winless run, the worst in the club's history.

Personal life

In May 2015 Sinton was back in football when he was appointed as former club Queens Park Rangers first club ambassador. His role includes attending games and fan events, working with commercial partners as well as with the club's Media and Communications, Marketing and Club in the Community teams to help promote Queen's Park Rangers. He was a driving force in creating 'Forever Rs', the club's former players association, in 2016.

Honours

As a player

Tottenham Hotspur * Football League Cup: 1998–99 Individual * Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year: 1986–87, 1987–88

As a manager

AFC Telford United * Conference North play-offs:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinton, Andy 1966 births Living people Footballers from Cramlington English men's footballers England men's B international footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Cambridge United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Fleet Town F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players UEFA Euro 1992 players English football managers AFC Telford United managers National League (English football) managers Fleet Town F.C. managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. directors and chairmen England men's youth international footballers English Football League representative players