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I’m Liverpool’s youngest ever player – I now own a fried chicken shop and earn £400 a game
‘A new era of football’ is how the Baller League UK describes itself – and was also what Liverpool fans expected of Jerome Sinclair. The 28-year-old made his debut for VZNFC on Monday in scenes akin to his historic first outing for the Reds over a decade ago. Jerome Sinclair is back in Baller League UKBaller League In both matches, Sinclair’s teams completed comebacks after falling behind to an early goal, with him appearing as a late substitute. During his Liverpool debut, German-born Nuri Sahin scored twice in a 2-1 win over West Brom, while Sinclair replaced German Samed Yesil. It was a German who showed him the exit door at Anfield, and over a decade later, the Ballers League, which has revitalised the striker’s career, was originally conceived in Germany before arriving in the UK. Sinclair has spent years out of the game after a nomadic journey across the Premier League, EFL, the Netherlands and Bulgaria. He still holds a unique spot in Liverpool’s history as the youngest first-team player in the club’s history. Sinclair was just 16 years and six days old when he was introduced by Brendan Rodgers with nine minutes left of a 2012 League Cup tie. “Everything happened so quickly,” Sinclair recalled about his rise at Liverpool to the Football 25/8 YouTube channel in 2020. “I was in year 11 at the time. My first session with the first team at Melwood was the best I’ve had in my life — everything I touched was a goal. I was just so happy to be there. Rodgers called me over and said, ‘I really like you, you’re going to be up here more’. “Then, at the hotel, I found out I was on the bench against West Brom. Lots of the boys I played with there were ball boys that night. I’ll never forget that moment when the gaffer said, ‘You’re coming on’. At 16, I had no fear.” The emergence of Liverpool’s ‘next big thing’ was so rapid he was mistakenly identified as Jordan Sinclair on the official team sheet. Sinclair became the youngest player ever to represent Liverpool in the club’s 132-year history when he came on against West Brom Carragher speaking after Sinclair starred in Liverpool’s under-21s 2-0 win over Chelsea in 2015 The Hawthorns setting made the occasion extra special for the England Under-17s striker, having been born in Birmingham and been part of West Brom’s youth setup prior to Liverpool signing him. “I gave him my congratulations,” Rodgers said afterwards. “He got a nice round of applause afterwards in the changing room as well. “It was nice that Jack Robinson was the previous [holder of that record] and he was playing tonight. But now Jerome’s hard work begins. It’s no good being the youngest player and then drifting out of it. “But thankfully, he’s a good kid. I’ve worked with him a number of times so far and he’s really focused with good concentration. “He wants to learn, and once you have that hunger, you can take it a long way.” However, Sinclair’s career at Liverpool did not go quite as planned, with only four more appearances at the club over the next four years. A £4m compensation fee was agreed between the Reds and Watford However, it never worked out for the striker at the HornetsGetty Two of those came under Rodgers’s successor, Jurgen Klopp – who witnessed his only Reds goal against Exeter in the 2015-16 FA Cup. A desire to play abroad saw him join…Watford the following summer, with Klopp less than pleased with Sinclair’s agent, Aidy Ward, who masterminded Raheem Sterling‘s transfer to Manchester City. “What we try to do is create a situation where younger players know it is not important to get the highest wages in your life in the first year of your career,” the German explained in 2016. “It is more important to get the real education. “I like Jerome; he is a real talent, and if he wants to stay with us, no problem – absolutely no problem. If not, we cannot force it.” Klopp’s warning ultimately rang true, with Sinclair starting just five games in five years at Vicarage Road. During that ill-fated tenure, Sinclair was loaned out to Birmingham, Sunderland, Oxford, Dutch club VVV Venlo and Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia. At age 26, his football career looked to be over when his Watford contract expired in the summer of 2021 and left him unattached. Oxford, then of League One, took him on trial a year later, but he wasn’t offered a permanent deal and switched focus to business. Sinclair played in Steven Gerrard’s All Star Charity Match at AnfieldGetty “Jerome came in halfway through pre-season. He was a bit behind the other boys, and it was hard for him to catch up,” said then-Oxford manager and current Salford City boss Karl Robinson to the Athletic. “He had been out of the game for a while. Looking back, we probably kept him hanging on longer than we should have done. We just didn’t feel that he was in a moment where he could really help us kick on. “I know he’s based in Birmingham, and he’s got a g
‘A new era of football’ is how the Baller League UK describes itself – and was also what Liverpool fans expected of Jerome Sinclair.
The 28-year-old made his debut for VZNFC on Monday in scenes akin to his historic first outing for the Reds over a decade ago.
In both matches, Sinclair’s teams completed comebacks after falling behind to an early goal, with him appearing as a late substitute.
During his Liverpool debut, German-born Nuri Sahin scored twice in a 2-1 win over West Brom, while Sinclair replaced German Samed Yesil.
It was a German who showed him the exit door at Anfield, and over a decade later, the Ballers League, which has revitalised the striker’s career, was originally conceived in Germany before arriving in the UK.
Sinclair has spent years out of the game after a nomadic journey across the Premier League, EFL, the Netherlands and Bulgaria.
He still holds a unique spot in Liverpool’s history as the youngest first-team player in the club’s history.
Sinclair was just 16 years and six days old when he was introduced by Brendan Rodgers with nine minutes left of a 2012 League Cup tie.
“Everything happened so quickly,” Sinclair recalled about his rise at Liverpool to the Football 25/8 YouTube channel in 2020.
“I was in year 11 at the time. My first session with the first team at Melwood was the best I’ve had in my life — everything I touched was a goal. I was just so happy to be there. Rodgers called me over and said, ‘I really like you, you’re going to be up here more’.
“Then, at the hotel, I found out I was on the bench against West Brom. Lots of the boys I played with there were ball boys that night. I’ll never forget that moment when the gaffer said, ‘You’re coming on’. At 16, I had no fear.”
The emergence of Liverpool’s ‘next big thing’ was so rapid he was mistakenly identified as Jordan Sinclair on the official team sheet.
The Hawthorns setting made the occasion extra special for the England Under-17s striker, having been born in Birmingham and been part of West Brom’s youth setup prior to Liverpool signing him.
“I gave him my congratulations,” Rodgers said afterwards. “He got a nice round of applause afterwards in the changing room as well.
“It was nice that Jack Robinson was the previous [holder of that record] and he was playing tonight. But now Jerome’s hard work begins. It’s no good being the youngest player and then drifting out of it.
“But thankfully, he’s a good kid. I’ve worked with him a number of times so far and he’s really focused with good concentration.
“He wants to learn, and once you have that hunger, you can take it a long way.”
However, Sinclair’s career at Liverpool did not go quite as planned, with only four more appearances at the club over the next four years.
Two of those came under Rodgers’s successor, Jurgen Klopp – who witnessed his only Reds goal against Exeter in the 2015-16 FA Cup.
A desire to play abroad saw him join…Watford the following summer, with Klopp less than pleased with Sinclair’s agent, Aidy Ward, who masterminded Raheem Sterling‘s transfer to Manchester City.
“What we try to do is create a situation where younger players know it is not important to get the highest wages in your life in the first year of your career,” the German explained in 2016. “It is more important to get the real education.
“I like Jerome; he is a real talent, and if he wants to stay with us, no problem – absolutely no problem. If not, we cannot force it.”
Klopp’s warning ultimately rang true, with Sinclair starting just five games in five years at Vicarage Road.
During that ill-fated tenure, Sinclair was loaned out to Birmingham, Sunderland, Oxford, Dutch club VVV Venlo and Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia.
At age 26, his football career looked to be over when his Watford contract expired in the summer of 2021 and left him unattached.
Oxford, then of League One, took him on trial a year later, but he wasn’t offered a permanent deal and switched focus to business.
“Jerome came in halfway through pre-season. He was a bit behind the other boys, and it was hard for him to catch up,” said then-Oxford manager and current Salford City boss Karl Robinson to the Athletic.
“He had been out of the game for a while. Looking back, we probably kept him hanging on longer than we should have done. We just didn’t feel that he was in a moment where he could really help us kick on.
“I know he’s based in Birmingham, and he’s got a good business head on him. He’s got interests outside of football. I just want him to be happy. If that’s playing football again or not, as long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters.”
That same summer, Sinclair had become owner of a Birmingham branch of fried chicken shop chain Morley’s, which the company confirmed remained true as of January 2023.
Then, any return to football seemed unlikely – but now he’s one of the former pros earning £400 per game in the KSI-led Ballers League.
And ‘the next Michael Owen‘ has already offered his advice for any younger stars coming through in the same manner as himself.
“In terms of my experience as a footballer, getting so emotionally invested when things go well or don’t go well affects you so much,” Sinclair added to Football 25/8.
“You can’t let things get to you so much. You can’t get too low or too high at certain points.”
