Former Barnsley player Emile Sinclair is back at a club in the town after signing for Athersley Rec.
The 30-year-old once hit ten goals in a Championship season for Peterborough United who then loaned him to the Reds the following campaign.Sinclair made one start and came off the bench three times for Keith Hill's Barnsley in late 2012.
The striker, who is from Leeds and now lives in the Wakefield area, went on to have another brief spell in South Yorkshire with Doncaster Rovers before slipping down the divisions and into non-league football. He has played for 13 clubs in the last six years. After spells at Ossett Town and Goole in the Evo-Stik League last season, Sinclair has dropped down a level to the Northern Counties East League Premier with Rec.
He told the Chronicle: "I was in two minds this summer about whether to retire because I have had a lot of injury problems. But I know Danny South who has signed for Athersley and he told me to come down and try to get fit again. It's a case of just giving it one last go.
"It's a really good set-up at Athersley. The pitch and the facilities are very good and I get along well with all the boys. It's obviously a really different level to the one I used to play at but I just love playing football and hopefully I can have a good end to my career here."
Sinclair arrived at Oakwell on the same day as Jonathan Greening and Akos Buzsaky with Hill attempting to shake up a struggling squad.He said: "I enjoyed my time at Barnsley and I got on very well with Keith Hill. The club was going through a bit of a transitional period and I remember signing on the same day as two other players which was a bit unusual. I left because I got the chance to move to Doncaster Rovers who were top of their league at the time and I thought I was going to play every week, but it wasn't to be."
Sinclair is now 'head of security and catering' at the Merrion Shopping Centre in Leeds, having worked as a doorman last season at a pub in Harrogate. He said: "It didn't really work last season because I wasn't getting much sleep working on the doors, and I think that was part of why I was getting so many injuries. Hopefully my job now will work a lot better alongside football and I can score a lot of goals for Athersley and get us up the table."
The Penguins are managed by Luke Potter, another former Barnsley player who left Oakwell months before Sinclair arrived. Potter said: "It's a good coup for us. He's got lots of experience at a high level and he will help the young players in our squad. He lives locally and knows a couple of our players. He's a good lad and he just wants to play football. He's still really fast and, if he can look after his hamstrings and thighs, he will be a quality player in our league."
