| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alex Sykes | ||
| Date of birth | 2 April 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle-under-Lyme, England | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Bishops Cleeve | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992-1994 | Mansfield Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1993-1994 | Mansfield Town | 2 | (1) |
| 1996-2000 | Forest Green Rovers | 170 | (43) |
| 2000-2001 | Nuneaton Borough | ||
| 2001 | → Forest Green Rovers (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2001-2004 | Forest Green Rovers | 63 | (8) |
| 2004 | → Bath City (loan) | ||
| 2004-2005 | Bath City | 54 | (13) |
| 2005-2006 | → Gloucester City (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2006-2009 | Gloucester City | 151 | (60) |
| 2009- | Bishops Cleeve F.C. | 63 | (11) |
| National team | |||
| England Futsal | |||
| Teams managed | |||
| 2011- | Bishops Cleeve | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:27, 4 April 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Alex Sykes (born 2 April 1974) is a former English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Mansfield Town as a midfielder. He also played internationally for the England Futsal team. He is currently the first team manager at Southern Football League side Bishops Cleeve.
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Sykes was a product of the youth setup at Mansfield Town[1] and he made his senior debut for Mansfield in a Football League match against Walsall, scoring on his debut. Sykes turned down the offer of a new contract from manager Andy King to attend university in Gloucestershire.
During this time he played for defunct Hellenic League club Endsleigh, and also for Cheltenham Town Reserves. He signed for Forest Green Rovers in March 1996 and was part of their successful double league winning side that won promotion to the Football Conference in 1998.
In 1999, Sykes reached the final of the FA Trophy with Forest Green at Wembley Stadium but Forest Green lost 1-0 against Kingstonian. Sykes finished as top scorer in the competition that season and scored in the semi final second leg against St Albans City.
Sykes then joined fellow Conference side, Nuneaton Borough[2] however was back with Forest Green on loan shortly after. He missed Forest Green's 2001 FA Trophy final defeat against Canvey Island at Villa Park because he had been cup tied from playing for Nuneaton in a previous round.
Forest Green signed Sykes permanently again at the beginning of the 2001-02 season under the management of Nigel Spink. After a few seasons back with Forest Green, Sykes was loaned out to Bath City in September 2003 to gain match fitness and Sykes joined Bath permanently in September 2004.[3]
Sykes suffered from injury problems at Twerton Park and was loaned out to Gloucester City to play under his former manager at Forest Green, Tim Harris. Sykes made his debut against Aylesbury United in December 2005 and played six times in his loan spell before returning to Bath.[4] At the end of the season he was released by Bath and signed permanently for Gloucester.
He went on to make his second full debut against Maidenhead United in August 2006. Sykes played a pivotal role in Gloucester's 2008/09 season as they gained promotion through the Southern League play offs. Sykes scored 27 goals including a hat-trick at home to Mangotsfield United.
Sykes spent a few months of the 2009/10 season with Gloucester City in the Conference North as well as a short loan spell at Hellenic Premier Division side Shortwood United, before departing in December 2009 for Bishops Cleeve to take on the role of player/assistant manager at Kayte Lane.[5]
In May 2011, Sykes was appointed as manager of Bishops Cleeve following the shock sacking of Paul Collicut.[6] [7]
Sykes is a former England Futsal international. He captained his country and scored a hat-trick against Cyprus in May 2006 in a 5-5 draw, this was England's first Futsal international where they avoided defeat[8]. In February 2008, Sykes participated in the Kuala Lumpar World 5's competition.[9]