I won FA Cup in front of Pele but Chelsea teammate who holds unwanted Premier League record was better

Frank Sinclair’s career has the makings of a Hollywood movie, so it makes sense that one of his old teammates found success as an actor.

The Chelsea legend rose through the ranks at Stamford Bridge to score a winning goal at Wembley in his final game for the club.

Getty

Having joined the Blues as an 11-year-old alongside close friend Eddie Newton, the pair became a pivotal part of the west Londoners’ domestic and European success in the 1990s.

However, during an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com, Sinclair admitted there was a third player who was better than both of them – despite never playing a single minute for the first team.

He said: “Nathan Blake, the Welsh international, was at Chelsea as a young player. I think he joined us as a 14-year-old and did his scholarship at the club but didn’t get offered a professional contract.

“In that youth team, I had myself and Eddie Newton, and Nathan Blake, for me, was the best of all three of us, and he didn’t get taken on as a professional.

“Then, he had to find a new route and got back in the top leagues with Sheffield United and Wolves, and made a good career of himself.”

Blake, who jointly holds the record for most relegations from the Premier League, retired at then-non-league side Newport in 2006.

The 53-year-old now runs his own property management company and tried his hand at becoming an actor after hanging up his boots.

Blake even won an award for Best Supporting Actor at Film Fest Cymru 2014 for his role in ‘The Homing Bird’ – having been nominated the year before for playing a taxi driver in ‘Say It’.

The 30-cap ex-Wales forward was released by Chelsea in 1990, the same year both Sinclair and Newton turned professional.

In fact, their journeys were so intertwined that they each conceded a penalty in their first cup final – a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United in 1994 – before making amends by scoring in separate Wembley triumphs years later.

Newton’s moment came first, but the presence of a goalscoring icon made the memory just as sweet for Sinclair.

In the 1997 FA Cup final against Middlesbrough, Roberto Di Matteo netted a screamer after just 42 seconds before Newton sealed victory late on to end the Blues’ 26-year wait for a major trophy.

During a 2021 interview with talkSPORT, Sinclair had already lifted the lid on how manager Ruud Gullit had calmed the pre-match nerves by giving the players champagne.

It was then party time after the game had ended as well, with Brazilian icon Pele joining in the celebrations at a Mayfair hotel.

The three-time World Cup winner had been in attendance at Wembley, and Sinclair had the honour of meeting him later.

He continued: “Pele, as a footballer, was my first hero, so to actually play in front of him in the 1997 FA Cup final – I didn’t know he was going to be there.

Burnley

“It was something that we found out when we turned up at the stadium that Pele’s watching today, which was incredible.

“Then obviously win the cup, him being invited to our celebrations after the game back at the hotel, which Ken Bates organized, and Pele be there to meet him was incredible.

“His English was good, and for those words that he enjoyed the game and he thought I played well was just incredible for me.

“It’s a picture that I treasure.”

Sinclair had a habit of collecting treasured pictures throughout his career – months after meeting Pele, he had orchestrated another iconic image, having scored in a 3-2 defeat at Coventry City.

He told talkSPORT: “It was the first game of the [1997/98] season, and my daughter was due to be born, my first born.

“I was thinking of a way of getting on the papers front or back for whatever reason that might be within obviously the laws.

“It was incredible because I scored the first goal of the game, and I remember, my celebration was unplanned, but I’ve done this silly walk across the pitch and my shorts dropped down around my ankles and all the players didn’t know what was going on either.

“It was a perfect scenario because my daughter was born on the Sunday and I was back front and back page of that picture of me in the yellow kit with my shorts around my ankles and her date of birth, which we had framed as something that she’s had all her life basically, so that was incredible.”

A memory for Sinclair to have for the rest of his life came later that season when he scored in his final ever game for Chelsea to deliver the League Cup in 1998 – again, in a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough.

Decades later, Sinclair will be hoping to mastermind a cup victory at Chelsea’s expense as part of his current role as Burnley academy coach in the Dude Perfect International Youth Cup.

Unfortunately for Hollywood screenwriters, he won’t be pitting his wits against Newton, who enjoyed a spell coaching in the SW6 academy before helping former team-mate Di Matteo to Champions League glory in 2012.

In a glowing tribute to his near lifelong Blues brother, Sinclair named him as the most underrated player he’s played with in his career.

He said: “A brilliant player. They call it the Claude Makelele role, but Eddie was doing that years before being that anchoring midfield player in Glenn Hoddle‘s team at the time.

“He used to sit in front of the back four and do all the things that Claude Makelele got very famous for and renowned for doing. He was a really underrated player, he was unfortunate as well, because he had some key injuries on the verge of being picked for England.

“He was probably one of the most underrated players that I played with, but a real top player who achieved a lot in the game as well.

“A great friend of mine and someone that I respect within the game.”

Click here to access free tickets to the Dude Perfect International Youth Cup taking place in Burnley from May 30.