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Lee Sinnott (born 12 July 1965) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently manager of Gainsborough Trinity.
As a player, he was a defender for Walsall, Watford, Bradford City, Crystal Palace, Huddersfield Town, Oldham Athletic and Scarborough. His biggest impact was at Bradford City, where he stayed for five years over two spells, making over 200 appearances. He made 505 appearances in the English Football League and 653 in all competitions. He played in the 1984 FA Cup final for Watford, taking home a runners-up medal.
As manager of Farsley Celtic between 2003 and 2007, he won promotion three times in four seasons to take the club from the Northern Premier League to the Conference. This was followed by a short spell at Port Vale in the 2007–08 season. He managed Bradford Park Avenue for ten months in 2009 before returning to the game with Altrincham in May 2011. He led Altrincham to promotion from the Conference North via the play-offs in 2014 but then left in March 2016. He returned to management with Gainsborough Trinity in February 2018, lasting 12 months.
In 1987, Sinnott moved down a division to Bradford City. In his first season, he helped the "Bantams" qualify for the Second Division playoffs, but their promotion bid failed, and two years later they were relegated. Sinnott spent one season in the Third Division before moving to First Division side Crystal Palace for a £300,000 fee on 8 August 1991. He could not establish a regular place in the first team, and after two years, he returned to Bradford on 9 December 1993.
When Sinnott returned to Valley Parade, Bradford were still in the third tier of the English league. He played in most of their first-team games that season, but the "Bantams" missed out on the play-offs and manager Frank Stapleton was sacked. Sinnott followed his manager out of the exit door and signed for local rivals Huddersfield Town. He was made captain of Neil Warnock's team. He guided them to the Second Division play-off victory in his first season. He spent two more seasons in West Yorkshire before crossing the Pennines and signing for local rivals Oldham Athletic, who had just been relegated to the Second Division.
Sinnott played 31 games over two seasons at Boundary Park, but Oldham struggled in a division from which they had been expected to win promotion. In Sinnott's second season, they narrowly avoided relegation to the Third Division. A year earlier, he had been loaned back to Bradford, but the move was not made permanent.
The 1998–99 campaign proved to be Sinnott's final season as a Football League player. Upon its conclusion, he moved to Scarborough, who had just been relegated to the Conference and played 22 games in one season for a side that finished fourth in the country's highest non-League division. He then retired from playing after a career spanning almost 20 years.
Sinnott would have achieved another promotion in his second season at Throstle Nest as Farsley topped the Northern Premier League at the end of the season. However, this was only on the FA's decision that Spennymoor United's records were expunged after they folded. The other clubs in the promotion mix appealed and the FA reversed their decision to expunge the results, leaving Farsley in third place and having to compete in the play-offs. Despite a 1–0 semi-final win over Whitby Town, they lost in the final to Workington on penalties.
Another promotion was achieved in 2005–06, as Sinnott and Farsley returned from their play-off set-back. This time, Farsley finished fourth in the regulation season before defeating Marine 1–0 and then North Ferriby United 2–1 in the final. Sinnott also added the West Riding County Cup to Farsley's trophy cabinet for the tenth time in the club's history, as they made it a double-winning campaign in 2005–06.
The 2006–07 season saw Sinnott steer Farsley to a third promotion in four seasons. Despite finishing fifth in the Conference North, Lee lead the club to victory in the playoffs, ensuring Farsley Celtic's first-ever appearance in the top flight of Non-League. In the play off campaign, Farsley beat favourites Kettering Town in the semi-final before going on to beat Hinckley United in the final played at Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium. In the final Farsley Celtic had been 3–2 down with just over ten minutes remaining before two late goals saw a remarkable comeback and a 4–3 victory.
Farsley's three promotions under Sinnott and the declines of Bradford City and their local rivals Leeds United meant that just one and two divisions separated Farsley from its neighbours when seven years earlier six divisions had separated them.
To make a success of the 2008–09 season, Sinnott brought in former Hereford United defender John McCombe, and former Middlesbrough midfielder Steve Thompson. Both players cited Sinnott as their reason for joining the club. He also added experienced defender Sam Stockley (Wycombe Wanderers); attacker Rob Taylor (Nuneaton Borough); midfielder Anthony Griffith (Doncaster Rovers); and attacking midfielder Louis Dodds (Leicester City) to the squad. Lee Collins also joined on an extended loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and would sign a permanent contract with the club in January. He appointed Stockley as his captain. The team continued to struggle, and on 18 September Sinnott admitted that "we are looking to improve, without a shadow of a doubt". However, a 4–1 home defeat to Macclesfield Town two days later would prove to be Sinnott's last game in charge. He was sacked two days later, with the "Valiants" in 16th place. Three months on from his sacking, the club were yet to reach a compensation settlement with Sinnott, before an agreement was reached in February 2009. The club went on to finish the season in 18th place under Dean Glover. Despite the poor results Vale picked up during his reign, many of Sinnott's signings would become key players for the club over the next few seasons.
He left by mutual consent in October 2009, after a summer spending spree failed to produce results on the Football pitch for the 2009–10 season. Avenue recovered to finish the season in second place under Deacey, though lost to Boston United in the play-off final.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Walsall | 1981–82 | Third Division | 0 |
| 1982–83 | Third Division | 2 | |
| 1983–84 | Third Division | 0 | |
| Watford | 1983–84 | First Division | 0 |
| 1984–85 | First Division | 0 | |
| 1985–86 | First Division | 2 | |
| 1986–87 | First Division | 0 | |
| Bradford City | 1987–88 | Second Division | 1 |
| 1988–89 | Second Division | 2 | |
| 1989–90 | Second Division | 2 | |
| 1990–91 | Third Division | 2 | |
| Crystal Palace | 1991–92 | First Division | 0 |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 0 | |
| 1993–94 | First Division | 0 | |
| Bradford City | 1993–94 | Second Division | 0 |
| 1994–95 | Second Division | 1 | |
| Huddersfield Town | 1994–95 | Second Division | 1 |
| 1995–96 | First Division | 0 | |
| 1996–97 | First Division | 0 | |
| Oldham Athletic | 1997–98 | Second Division | 0 |
| 1998–99 | Second Division | 0 | |
| Bradford City (loan) | 1997–98 | First Division | 0 |
| Scarborough | 1999–2000 | Conference | 0 |
| Farsley Celtic | 20 June 2003 | 5 November 2007 |
| Port Vale | 5 November 2007 | 22 September 2008 |
| Bradford Park Avenue | 17 January 2009 | 15 October 2009 |
| Altrincham | 25 May 2011 | 9 March 2016 |
| Gainsborough Trinity | 13 February 2018 | 13 February 2019 |
Huddersfield Town
Watford
Altrincham
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