The previous record holder at Anfield was Jack Robinson who made his 2010 debut for the club at 16 years and 250 days old.
England’s youngest ever player is none other than Arsenal’s Theo Walcott who came on as a substitute for his country in 2006 in a game against Hungary when he was aged just 17 years and 75 days old. So Sinclair has just over a year to break Walcott's record.
England’s youngest starter is Wayne Rooney, who after coming on as a substitute against Australia back in February 2003, made his first start for England against Turkey in April of the same year when he was 17 years and 160 days old.
Rooney’s record smashed the previous holder James Prinsep who had held it off for almost 124 years since his 1879 debut against Scotland. He was 17 years and 252 days of age.
Rooney’s and Walcott’s records sit amongst some of the most famous English players in the game past and present – Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, Johnny Haynes, Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole, and Arsenal new boy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, so Sinclair is in esteemed company.
At other top clubs, Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas was the youngest ever first-team player at the club at just 16 years and 177 days, just beating Jack Wilshere who holds Arsenal’s league record at 16 years and 256 days old while Manchester United’s David Gaskell made his debut at just 16 years and 19 days old in the 1956 FA Charity Shield.
Jerome Sinclair’s start to his Liverpool career couldn’t have gone better as Brendan Rodgers’ “outstanding” young side were the victors at The Hawthorns, against Sinclair’s former club.
The Birmingham-born striker joined Liverpool from West Brom as a 14-year-old in 2011. He earned his selection on Wednesday through his industry in the U18s, becoming a prolific goalscorer for the youth side, before working his way into the U21 side.
With Liverpool in desperate need of striking options, having offloaded Andy Carroll to West Ham, and Brendan Rodgers intent on giving youth a chance, who knows, the the youngster may yet get more opportunities this season.
Then that England record may just turn out to be in his grasp...
image: © Sanjiva
Jenny Leigh
@backpagenewsmore stories from Jenny Leigh
Jennifer is a freelance writer and filmmaker from London with a great passion for football - the game, the business, and the culture. Jennifer hopes to provide readership with a high standard of news, analysis, and opinion over a range of football events, stories, and issues.
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