The football world unites to mourn Jordan Sinnott
STEVE KITTRICK will always remember the conversation he had with Jordan Sinnott as they walked off the pitch following a big win over Basford United.
The 25-yearold, affectionately known as Sinbad, had scored a hattrick for Kittrick’s Gladiators in a 5-0 drubbing in the NPL
Premier Division. Little did anyone know it would be Sinnott’s final senior appearance for Matlock and his tragic death has stunned the whole of football.
“Something that will always stick in my memory is after the Basford game,” Kittrick says. “Jordan scored three, we were walking off the pitch, I put my arm round him and said ‘I’m pleased for you and what you’ve done’.
“He replied ‘I only wish
I’d had these boots on Saturday against Eastleigh’. He’d missed a golden opportunity against Eastleigh in the FA Trophy to put us in front. He said to me, ‘Thanks for the opportunity and believing in me’. Those are memories I will always have of him.
Coup
“What everybody says about him is 110 per cent true. He’s a model professional on the pitch. Off the pitch he’s a respectful lad. If he was left out for any reason, we’d have a conversation, he wouldn’t moan and groan, he’d get on with it.
“What I also liked about him was when some of the younger lads were left out, Jordan would put his arm round them and speak to them.”
Sinnott’s season had been a bit stop-start because of injury but Kittrick – who left Matlock days before the tragic incident – knew exactly the sort of player he had signed.
Son of Lee – the former Port Vale and Altrincham manager – Sinnott had successful spells at Alty and FC Halifax Town, who he played a big part in helping to promotion through the National League North play-offs, and also played in the Football League for Chesterfield.
“When he signed for Matlock it was a bit of a coup for the club,” Kittrick says.
“It was no coincidence that when we played the teams from a higher level, or when we played Basford, who are one of the top sides in our league, he just stood out and shone. I used to tell him he was the icing on my cake.
“There was no better No.10
in Non-League than Jordan Sinnott when he was at it.
“He’d had one or two injuries but he was just getting over things and having confidence in himself again.
“The banter we had was great. On Tuesday, before the game against Alfreton, he came in the changing room and I told him he looked like Compo from Last of the Summer Wine. He looked at me and started laughing and said, ‘I’m just keeping warm gaffer!’
“He made a comment about how I was dressed and we had banter about him being injured – you know, the sort a manager and a player would have.”
Football has united in grief behind the Sinnott family. Along with nearly every club in English football, teams from across the world have donated shirts bearing Sinnott’s name and ‘25’ to be displayed at his funeral before being auctioned off to raise money for Sport Relief.
Learning
“My heart goes out to the family,” Kittrick says. “I can’t tell you how I feel… I feel empty for the family, because I’ve got boys myself so it runs deep. I feel empty for the lad. It’s hurting a lot of people.
“I knew I’d signed a very good player and I knew if he’d kept fit, he wouldn’t have been at Matlock much longer with his quality. But it’s the other side that people didn’t see. The fact he fetched the younger players, talked to the younger players about how football is and how to deal with disappointment.
“Everybody liked him. When he agreed to come I thought, ‘Fantastic’, because the players I’d got had played in the Conference and Conference North. He just fitted in.
“As a manager you’re always learning, he spoke to me about how we wanted to play and he’d say, ‘Have you thought of this?’.
“He will always be my No. 10. It might sound corny but you’re like a father figure to them. You make decisions they probably don’t like in football but at the end of the day you get to know them personally and they’re like your boys. I’ve lost one of my boys.”
THREE men have been named and charged following the death of Jordan Sinnott.
The Matlock Town midfielder died in hospital just before 6pm last Saturday after suffering a suspected fractured skull following an alleged incident in Retford’s Market Place the previous night.
Cameron Matthews, 21, of Denman Close, Retford and Kai Denovan, 22, of Collins Walk, Retford, appeared before Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday charged with manslaughter, affray and common assault.
A third man, Sean Nicholson, 21, of Beechways, Retford, has been charged with affray.
No pleas were made before District Judge Jonathan Taaffe.
The court was told that trouble had started between the three and a group including Sinnott, in the Vine public house, before spilling out into Market Place, where the alleged incident took place.
Sinnott was seen to fall to the ground, but briefly got back to his feet before collapsing in a shop doorway, the court heard.
All three men were remanded into custody to next appear at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday, February 26.