Frank SINCLAIR

After twenty minutes of first team football, 19-year-old Frank Sinclair could have been forgiven for packing up his boots and opting for an early retirement. A meaningless, end of season clash at home to Luton in April 1991, coming on the back of four consecutive defeats, gave manager Bobby Campbell the opportunity to blood some of Chelsea's promising youngsters, but the lack of experience in the side was immediately apparent as The Hatters raced into a 3-0 lead. A Graeme Le Saux goal gave The Blues hope but when he was then sent-off just before half-time, it seemed certain that Campbel's kids would be lambs to the slaughter for the remainder of the game. Not so. A determined team display, exemplified by Frank's typically energetic, gutsy performance, saw Chelsea fight back to snatch a 3-3 draw. An ebullient character, hard-tackling and as brave as a lion, Sinclair had outstanding pace and an impressive spring for a relatively small man and what he lacked in finesse, he certainly made up for in enthusiasm. Despite being right-footed, he had made his debut at left-back and kept his place there for the next three games. After a draw at Everton and a win at Norwich, Sinclair's weakness on the left was ruthlessly exposed by Gary Crosby at Nottingham Forest and he was replaced midway through the second half of a game which Chelsea lost 7-0.

After his experience at the City Ground, Frank was rested for the remainder of the season. A disappointing display in a 3-0 defeat at Oldham at the beginning of the following campaign was followed by a spell on loan to West Bromwich Albion, but an unfortunate 'coming together' with a referee led to a nine match ban, despite TV footage seeming to clear him of any malicious intent. Nevertheless, he returned to the Chelsea side which won 1-0 at Norwich in March and made a further six appearances that season, scoring his first goal for The Blues with a header in a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa. An ankle injury kept Frank out of the team at the beginning of the following campaign and by the time he returned, for a live televised match at Manchester City which Chelsea won 1-0, his mentor, Paul Elliott, had suffered his career-ending injury. To his credit, Sinclair rose to the challenge and made a total of 32 league appearances, primarily at left-back. At the end of the season, he was rewarded for his impressive displays when he was named Chelsea's Player of the Year. (Kelvin Barker)

 New manager Glenn Hoddle's preference for the sweeper system saw Frank converted to a central defender at the beginning of the 1993-94 campaign. The move was a success for the defender, but the team's performances were poor and Chelsea were involved in a relegation battle for much of the season. However, some respite from the traumas of the league was provided by an FA Cup run which took Chelsea back to Wembley for their first major cup final since 1972. They lined up against a Manchester United side who were chasing a league and FA Cup double, but over whom Chelsea had achieved an impressive league double. After a tight opening period, United took the lead early in the second half when Eric Cantona converted a penalty. Frank's world caved in a short while later when he won a shoulder to shoulder challenge with United's Andrei Kanchelskis outside the penalty area, only for referee David Elleray to secure his customary place in the spotlight by awarding United a second penalty. Always a man to wear his heart on his sleeve, Frank briefly lost his composure and was left trailing as Mark Hughes scored again as Chelsea eventually crumbled to a 4-0 defeat. If the Wembley match had been a chastening experience, there was a very real consolation in the fact that United's double triumph had opened the door for Chelsea to return to Europe in the Cup Winners Cup.

Having scored The Blues' first goal of the campaign, a composed finish as Norwich were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of the 1994/95 season, Frank took four minutes to open his account in Europe, his powerful header putting Chelsea 2-0 ahead on their way to a 4-2 victory over Czech side Viktoria Zizkov. Chelsea eventually reached the semi-finals of the ECWC and Sinclair played in all but one of the matches, scoring again in the second-leg of the semi-final as Chelsea beat Real Zaragoza 3-1 at Stamford Bridge but lost 4-3 on aggregate. The league form was again disappointing but Frank had reason to be proud of his personal performances, appearing 35 times and adding to his opening day strike with goals in a 1-1 draw at Wimbledon and in a 1-0 triumph over QPR. After a fine start to the following campaign, Hoddle's last in charge, Sinclair's form began to waver. He netted his only goal of the campaign when he opened the scoring with a superb low shot after 75 frustrating minutes against Southampton, his goal finally opening the floodgates to a 3-0 victory. However, he was sent-off for a high challenge on Ryan Giggs as Manchester United won at Stamford Bridge and was substituted during a 3-0 defeat at Blackburn a week later. That was his last appearance until February when he returned in place of the injured Michael Duberry for two games, only to find himself back out of the side when the big defender returned. A total of 13 league appearances, one as a substitute, was barely adequate and highlighted a decline in performance levels in comparison to his previous two seasons. (Kelvin Barker)

 An injury suffered in pre-season sidelined Frank for the first four months of the 1996/97 season, and it wasn't until the New Year that he was finally able to secure his place in the team. However, from mid-January onwards Sinclair missed just one league game, and scored once, a header in a 6-2 drubbing of Sunderland. Although the league form was generally good, the highlight of the season was The Blues' FA Cup run which took them back to Wembley for the second time in three years. Sinclair played in all but one of Chelsea's matches throughout the run, and on 17th May 1997 he took his place on the right of a four man defence and erased the bitter memories of the 1994 final with a solid performance as Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2-0 to clinch their first major trophy in 26 years. Having won the FA Cup at the end of the previous season, Chelsea's new campaign began where the last one had ended, at Wembley. Frank was in the starting line-up as The Blues drew 1-1 with Manchester United in the traditional curtain-raiser to the new season, the Charity Shield. The game was decided on penalties and Sinclair gamely volunteered to take a kick. If it was unsurprising that he should be brave enough to offer his services, it was certainly surprising that a man as intelligent as Ruud Gullit should concur with Frank's belief that he was capable of beating the world's best goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, from 12 yards with anything but a trademark bullet header.He shot straight at the keeper and Chelsea lost the shoot-out.

Undeterred however, six days later, on the opening day of the league season, Frank strode out of defence and rifled a low shot past Steve Ogrizovic to give The Blues the lead at Coventry. His celebrations, jogging along with his shorts around his ankles, earned him a fine and mild rebuke from the FA! A sending-off three weeks later for allegedly head-butting a Southampton player cost him his place in the team for a short spell and an injury sustained in a Coca-Cola Cup clash at Ipswich after Christmas restricted his appearances further. After his return, Frank was never sure of his place in the team but did play in the two European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final clashes with Real Betis, and scored a vital goal in the second-leg at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea's next game took him back to Wembley for another cup final meeting with Middlesbrough, this time in the Coca-Cola Cup. The match went into extra-time and it was Frank who broke the deadlock when he thumped home a header from Dennis Wise's superb cross. The Blues eventually won 2-0 (see photo above after the game with manager Vialli and captain Wise) but that proved to be Sinclair's last competitive appearance for the club. Injuries brought his season to an early end and in May he was merely a spectator when Wise lifted the ECWC in Stockholm. The arrivals that summer of Albert Ferrer and Marcel Desailly ensured that defensive vacancies for the following campaign would be at a premium and so it was that prior to the start of the new campaign, Frank joined Leicester City for £2 million. (Kelvin Barker)