TIPPED for stardom as a teenager by Sammy Lee and part of the first-ever English side to beat Red Star Belgrade on their own turf, it hasn’t been easy mapping the progress of ex-Wanderer James Sinclair.

Living firmly by the motto ‘have boots, will travel’ the Newcastle-born defender has played his football everywhere from Israel to Puerto Rico since leaving Bolton in 2009.

An athletic record holder in his youth, Sinclair’s raw pace set him apart from the youngsters pushing for a place under Sam Allardyce in his latter days in the Wanderers hot-seat.

He did indeed play in Big Sam’s last game, against Chelsea, in 2007 and kept in Lee’s thoughts, replacing David Thompson in Lee’s first 90 minutes in temporary charge.

A promising summer followed – but surprisingly Sinclair’s only other appearance in a Bolton senior shirt was at the Marakana, the feared home of Red Star, which was memorably silenced by Gavin McCann’s goal to put the Whites on the verge of qualification for the UEFA Cup knockout stages.

Sinclair got a taste for travelling at an early age, his parents both expats in Africa and spent the first three years of his life in Nigeria.

And though Gateshead was the first club at which he was stationed after leaving Bolton nine years ago, his next move to Israeli second division side Sektzia Nes Tziona threw up a very different challenge.

“I had a few moves that didn’t materialise,” he said. “I intended to move to the MLS but unfortunately a couple hamstring injuries prevented that. Also a move to Norway didn’t materialise.

“Then just by chance, I got a call to see if I would be interested in going to Israel. My dad had previously worked over there so he knew what it was really like it was not that of all the negativity and violence we usually see on the news.

“I really enjoyed Israel, even though it was for only around three months. I would have relished to have stayed there longer.”

Puerto Rico was the next stop, Sinclair indulging in a brief stint with Sevilla’s sister club – now poised to join the USL in America.

“I didn’t actually play any games there as my registration didn’t go through before the team folded so it kind of just turned out to be more like a two-and-a-half month training camp in the Caribbean,” he explained. “I guess it is hard to complain about that.”

A chance call then took him to Poland, where second tier side Polonia Bytom had offered him a two-year deal.

“I was coming back from Puerto Rico and one of my good friends, Jaroslaw Fojut, from my time in the Bolton academy had moved back to Poland and recommended that I should come join him,” he said.

“Unfortunately the club I was at had a lot of financial difficulties previously and that continued throughout my time whilst I was there.”

Sinclair finally got his career-defining break in Sweden, where an impressive spell at second-tier club Ljungskile led to a move, and promotion, with Graham Potter’s Östersunds.

“I played more consistently when I moved out there and I think the style of play suited my attributes well,” he said.

“My time in Sweden was the most sociable. I had a lot of English, Kiwi and American team mates and as well as that, pretty much all Swedish people are fluent in English so socially it was easier than Israel and Poland. I met my girlfriend, now fiancée, six months into being in Sweden.

“I would say I am reasonable in Swedish now. I understand more and prefer to reply in English. My fiancée tries to speak more Swedish around the house for me to learn but it is harder as it turns out Swedish people just enjoy speaking English as soon as they can and when they hear the ‘lack of Swedish accent’ when speaking.”

Sinclair spent two more years in Sweden with GAIS but is now back in the UK and looking for a new club a little closer to home.

“I am looking to try and give a go back in England,” he said. “It’s been around eight years since I left to play abroad so I would like to try and establish something back in the UK especially as I am finishing up my degree next summer.

“Who knows where the next adventure will be and what else awaits?”

Things may not have turned out exactly how Sinclair planned when he first knocked on the door of first team recognition at Wanderers but he is thankful to have played alongside some of the modern Bolton greats.

“I would have liked to have had more appearances,” he says. “Especially after breaking through at the end of season and then continuing during most of the following pre-season games.

“It certainly was a real privilege to have been able to train alongside and be around the many big name players that Bolton had through those years I was there. Just being around them all on a daily basis was an incredible experience.”