Ross James Sykes (born 26 March 1999) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

club Union SG.

Career

Sykes was born in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and attended Unity College in the town. He started his career with local side

, playing for their youth team between the ages of eleven and thirteen before being released. After nearly giving up the game he was persuaded to go on trial at

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

by his mother and was later signed up by the club. In May 2016, he signed his first professional contract on a two-year deal, despite being a first-year scholar. He made his senior debut for the club in August 2016, starting in the 3–0 defeat to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

group-stage. Accrington exercised a contractual option at the end of the 2017–18 season to retain him. On 23 June 2022, Sykes joined

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

side Union SG for an undisclosed fee. On 28 February 2024, he scored a goal in stoppage time of 2–0 victory over

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

in the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

semi-final second leg, which granted Union SG a 3–2 win on aggregate and qualification to their first final since 1914.

Career statistics

Honours

Union SG *

: 2024–25 *

: 2023–24

References

External links

Ross Sykes
at the

Accrington Stanley F.C. Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Ross 1998 births Living people Footballers from Burnley English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Accrington Stanley F.C. players Southport F.C. players Royale Union Saint-Gilloise players English Football League players National League (English football) players Belgian Pro League players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium 21st-century English sportsmen