Confirmed: Bristol Rovers sign ex-Premier League forward | OneFootball

Bristol Rovers have announced a triumphant return of Scott Sinclair to the football club, with the 33-year-old penning a short-term contract with the Gas.

Bath-born Sinclair started his footballing career in the blue and white half of Bristol, joining the club’s academy system at the age of nine before going on to make his first-team debut in December 2004 in a League Two match against Leyton Orient, and at the age of 15 years and 277 days became the second-youngest player in the club’s history.

Rovers weren’t able to keep hold of Sinclair for long though, as in the summer of 2005 he joined Chelsea for an initial £200,000, and whilst he never made it at the Blues, the winger was able to forge a top flight career out following a number of loan spells away from Stamford Bridge.

Quiz: Did any of these 20 ex-Bristol Rovers players ever actually score a goal for the club?

1 of 20

Reggie Lambe?

Yes No

Sinclair ended up playing Premier League football for Chelsea, Wigan, Swansea, Manchester City, West Brom and Aston Villa before spending his best years at Celtic between 2016 and 2020, before moving on to Preston North End over two years ago.

Despite being the Lilywhites’ leading marksman in the 2020-21 season with nine goals, Sinclair went the following league campaign without netting in 23 outings, leading to his release earlier this year upon the expiry of his contract.

Having kept up his fitness with Chelsea last month, Sinclair has recently been training once again with Rovers with a view to signing a contract – something which has now happened, which means he will now be in contention to make his second debut against League One leaders Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

The Verdict

How short-term the contract Sinclair has signed is anybody’s guess, but he will have enough time to make an impression with plenty of matches coming between now and the end of the year.

It will no doubt have pained Sinclair to be sitting on the sidelines without a club since the summer, so he is making up for lost time by returning to Rovers.

There is stiff competition for places at the top end of the pitch under Joey Barton’s regime, with Josh Coburn, Ryan Loft, Aaron Collins and many others all competing, and Sinclair is just the latest name to add to the options.

With the experience Sinclair has of top level domestic and European football, his addition can only be a good thing – even if he doesn’t actually end up producing the goods on the pitch.