Sinton won 12 caps for England

AFC Telford United have appointed former England international winger Andy Sinton as their new manager on a two-year contract.

Sinton, 44, enjoyed a successful playing career with QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham and Wolves.

He spent five years as Fleet Town manager before resigning this summer.

Telford have been looking for a new manager since Rob Smith was sacked last season as the Bucks fell short of the Blue Square North play-offs.

Bucks chairman Lee Carter told BBC Radio Shropshire: "The recruitment process was very thorough and very intensive. We spoke to lots of people and took advice from lots of quarters.

"The outstanding applicant had to come and prove that they or their management team had a good knowledge of people at this level, and what is required to get out of this league. Andy has ticked each and every one of those boxes with a passion, desire and determination."

Sinton was only 16 when he made his Football League debut for Cambridge.

He was signed by Brentford in 1985 for just £25,000, but they netted £350,000 for him when he moved to QPR four years later.

He went on to play 160 league games and score 22 goals at the London club before moving to Sheffield Wednesday for a then-club record £2.75m in August 1993.

He spent two and a half years at Hillsborough but returned to London early in 1996 to link up with former Rangers boss Gerry Francis at Tottenham Hotspur.

He made his last Premiership appearance for Tottenham in 1999 before spending three years with Wolverhampton Wanderers and then signing for non-league Burton Albion in August 2002.

Sinton was appointed manager of Hampshire side Fleet Town in 2005, having spent the previous season as the club's football development officer.

He and Town assistant Steve Mellor were responsible for improving the club's fortunes, leading them to their highest ever position - second in the Southern League Division One South and West in 2008.

Fleet lost three successive play-off semi-finals and finished sixth in this season's Ryman Division One South.

Under his leadership, they won the Hampshire Senior Cup, the Russell Cotes Cup, Aldershot FA Senior Cup, Basingstoke FA Senior Cup and North Hants FA Cup.

Sinton, who made his England debut in a 1-1 draw in Poland in November 1991, won 12 caps and was part of Graham Taylor's squad that failed to reach the 1994 World Cup.

You can hear Telford's new manager Andy Sinton on BBC Radio Shropshire 96 FM and at bbc.co.uk/shropshire from 1700 BST on Wednesday.

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