By Nathan Jackson
July 25 2008

Lee Sinnott is a classic non-league manager. By that I mean that he is only capable of managing non-League club's well and seems a bit inept when it actually comes to managing half-decent sides. Sinnott is an FA Cup runner up before stepping into a successful managerial career....that was until he joined Port Vale.

Lee Sinnott was a hugely successful manager in the non-League with Farsley Celtic after a rather average player career in the lower leagues. Born in Aldridge in 1965, Sinnott joined his local Walsall side as a trainee and he signed his first professional contract in 1982. He made 40 appearances for the men from Fellows Park before being snapped up by top division Watford whilst still only 18.

He helped the Hornets to reach the FA Cup final, losing to a very strong Everton side. He made 78 appearances for the club in a four year spell before joining Bradford City. The Bantams qualified for the playoffs but failed in the quest and suffered relegation two seasons later before Sinnott moved onto Crystal Palace.

His time at Selhurst Park wasn't exactly enjoyable and he returned to Valley Parade. He lasted just a season at Valley Parade before going on a journey not often travel, joining Huddersfield Town immediately after leaving Bradford. He was the captain of Neil Warnock's side and led them to an immediate promotion success and he enjoyed a successful two year spell at Huddersfield before leaving for Oldham Athletic in 1997.

He was hardly a first team regular at Boundary Park and rejoined Bradford City for a third time, this time on loan. The 1999/2000 season was Sinnott's final one as a player, helping Scarborough to get relegated to the Conference before retiring.

Sinnott took up the hotseat at Farsley Celtic and he had immediate success with them, winning promotion from the Northern Premier League Division One to the Northern Premier League. However, controversy reigned supreme in his second season. Farsley finished second but Spennymoor United went out of existence and all their results were expunged, forcing Farsley down into third place and they lost in the Playoffs to Workington.

Farsley did return to the Playoffs again the following season, negotiating their way past Marine in the semi finals before defeating North Ferriby United in the final. They reached the Conference North Playoffs the following season and got past Kettering in the semi finals before facing Hinckley at the Pirelli Stadium. A 4-3 victory secured a third promotion in four years.

This record at Farsley convinced Port Vale to appoint him as manager and he took over in November 2007. His record since then is extremely poor, losing more than half of his matches and winning just seven.