George Sykes (footballer)

For the goalkeeper, see George Sykes-Kenworthy.

George Sykes

Personal information
Full name	George Robert James Sykes [1]
Date of birth	(1994-09-14) 14 September 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Buckhurst Hill, England
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Enfield Town
Youth career
	Buckhurst Hill
0000–2012	Barnet
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2015	Barnet	7	(0)
2013	→ Bishop's Stortford (loan)	12	(2)
2014	→ Farnborough (loan)	8	(1)
2014	→ St Albans City (loan)	7	(2)
2014–2015	→ Bishop's Stortford (loan)	14	(1)
2015	→ Canvey Island (loan)	19	(8)
2015–2016	Dartford	25	(1)
2015	→ Canvey Island (loan)	4	(1)
2016–2017	Canvey Island	45	(18)
2017	Braintree Town	0	(0)
2017–2018	Canvey Island	47	(25)
2018	Maldon & Tiptree	7	(2)
2018–2019	Tilbury	32	(11)
2019–2023	Aveley	100	(49)
2023	Bishop's Stortford	6	(0)
2023–	Enfield Town	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:50, 7 October 2023 (UTC)

George Robert James Sykes (born 14 September 1994) is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Enfield Town.

Club career

Sykes joined the Barnet youth team as an under-16 from hometown club Buckhurst Hill ^[2] and was top scorer in the English U-18 youth system in the 2011–12 season with 24 goals. ^[3] He made his senior debut at the age of 17 against Bristol Rovers on 21 August 2012. ^[4] Sykes signed his first professional contract with the Bees in November 2012. ^[5] He won the League Two Apprentice of the Year award at the Football League Awards in March 2013. ^[6] On 15 August 2013, he joined Bishop's Stortford on loan. ^[7]

On his return to Barnet in November, Sykes came on as substitute at home to Cambridge United. With the score at 2–2, Sykes put the ball in the net in injury time after it had dropped from a cloud of smoke caused by a smoke bomb, obscuring the view of the assistant referee, who controversially disallowed the goal, claiming the ball had gone out of play, and Sykes was denied his first goal for Barnet. ^{[8] [9]} His first goal for Barnet came on 30 November, when he scored an 89th minute acrobatic winner in an FA Trophy first round tie against Hayes & Yeading United. ^[10]

Sykes joined Farnborough on loan on 31 January 2014, along with Jon Nurse. ^[11] On 13 March, he joined St Albans City on loan until the end of the season, ^[12] and was part of the team that won the Southern Football League Premier Division play-offs. ^[13]

Sykes re-joined Bishop's Stortford on loan on 22 August 2014 until 1 January. ^[14] Two weeks after his return from loan, he went out on loan for a fifth time, at Canvey Island. ^[15]

Sykes joined Dartford on a free transfer in June 2015. ^[16] After scoring only one goal in the National League South in the entire 2015–16 season, Sykes rejoined Canvey Island for 2016–17.

On 15 June 2017, after an impressive campaign with Canvey Island, Sykes joined National League South side Braintree Town. ^[17]

On 20 July 2017, it was announced that Sykes had rejoined Canvey Island despite only recently signing for Braintree. ^[18] Sykes joined Maldon & Tiptree in September 2018, ^[19] before joining Tilbury in November. ^[20] He then left in October 2019 to join Aveley. ^[21]

Following Aveley's promotion through the Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs, Sykes departed to return to Bishop's Stortford, also newly promoted to the National League North. ^[22]

International career

In September 2012, Sykes was called up by Ricky Sbragia to the Scotland U-19 training camp ahead of qualifying games against Armenia, Romania and Switzerland in October 2012. ^[23]

Career statistics

As of 7 October 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Barnet	2012–13 [24]	League Two	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2013–14 [25]	Conference Premier	4	0	—		—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	1	5	1
	2014–15 [25]	Conference Premier	0	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
	Total		7	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	8	1
Bishop's Stortford (loan)	2013–14 [26]	Conference South	12	2	1	0	—		—		13	2
Farnborough (loan)	2013–14 [26]	Conference South	8	1	—		—		—		8	1
St Albans City (loan)	2013–14 [26]	Southern League Premier Division	7	2	—		—		2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	9	2
Bishop's Stortford (loan)	2014–15 [27]	Conference South	14	1	2	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	17	1
Canvey Island (loan)	2014–15 [28]	Isthmian League Premier Division	19	8	—		—		—		19	8
Dartford	2015–16 [29]	National League South	25	1	1	0	—		0	0	26	1
Canvey Island (loan)	2015–16 [28]	Isthmian League Premier Division	4	1	—		—		—		4	1
Canvey Island	2016–17 [28]	Isthmian League Premier Division	45	18	3	1	—		3 [lower-alpha 3]	2	51	21
	2017–18 [28]	Isthmian League Division One North	43	25	1	0	—		4 [lower-alpha 4]	1	48	26
	2018–19 [30]	Isthmian League Division One North	4	0	1	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 5]	0	6	0
	Total		92	43	5	1	—		8	3	105	47
Maldon & Tiptree	2018–19 [19]	Isthmian League Division One North	7	2	—		—		2	0	9	2
Tilbury	2018–19 [31]	Isthmian League Division One North	25	10	—		—		0	0	25	10
	2019–20 [31]	Isthmian League Division One North	7	1	2	1	—		1 [lower-alpha 5]	0	10	2
	Total		32	11	2	1	—		1	0	35	12
Aveley	2019–20 [32]	Isthmian League Division One North	17	12	—		—		11 [lower-alpha 6]	4	28	16
	2020–21 [33]	Isthmian League North Division	6	2	4	3	—		2 [lower-alpha 1]	2	12	7
	2021–22 [34]	Isthmian League North Division	37	20	3	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 7]	0	43	20
	2022–23 [35]	Isthmian League Premier Division	40	15	2	1	—		7 [lower-alpha 8]	3	49	19
	Total		100	49	9	4	0	0	23	9	132	62
Bishop's Stortford	2023–24	National League North	6	0	1	0	—		0	0	7	0
Enfield Town	2023–24	Isthmian League Premier Division	0	0	0	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	1	0
Career total			331	121	20	6	0	0	39	14	393	130

1. Appearance in FA Trophy
2. Appearances in Southern League Premier Division play-offs
3. One appearance and two goals in FA Trophy, two appearances in Isthmian League Cup
4. Two appearances and one goal in Essex Senior Cup, one appearance in Alan Turvey Trophy, one in FA Trophy
5. One appearance in Alan Turvey Trophy
6. Ten appearances and four goals in FA Trophy, one appearance in Essex Senior Cup
7. One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in Alan Turvey Trophy and one appearance in Essex County Cup
8. One appearance, one goal in FA Trophy, four appearances, one goal in Alan Turvey Trophy and two appearances in Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs

References

1. "Professional retain lists & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. May 2013. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
2. "Hall of Fame". Buckhurst Hill F.C. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
3. Youth Team Profiles Archived 30 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
4. Barnet 1 – 1 Bristol Rovers
5. Sykes signs
6. Barnet striker George Sykes named LFE Apprentice of the Year for League 2
7. Sykes and Lowe leave on loan
8. Hewett, Chris (19 November 2013). "Barnet Football Club appeals to supporters to come forward over smoke bomb let off at The Hive, in Edgware". Times Series. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
9. Davies, Huw (18 November 2013). "Why setting off a smoke bomb could cost your team a goal". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
10. Last minute Sykes goal helps Bees progress
11. Duo join Farnborough on loan
12. Sykes joins on loan
13. Frendo celebrates with a double as Saints secure promotion
14. "By George - he's back!". Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
15. New striker joins ahead of Hendon trip
16. "More player news - Friday 5 June". Archived from the original on 13 June 2015.
17. "Sykes leaves Canvey...but six new faces join club". Basildon, Canvey, Southend Echo. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
18. "George Sykes is Back!". Canvey Island FC. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
19. "Appearances | George Sykes | Football Web Pages.co.uk". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018.
20. Tilbury and Merstham strengthen squads ^[usurped]
21. George Sykes Signs
22. "SYKES IS BACK". www.bsfc.co.uk. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
23. Scotland summon Sykes
24. "Games played by George Sykes in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
25. "George Sykes - Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
26. "George Sykes - Aylesbury United profile". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
27. "George Sykes - Bishop's Stortford profile". Bishop's Stortford F.C. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
28. "George Sykes - Canvey Island profile". Canvey Island F.C. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
29. "Games played by George Sykes in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
30. https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/appearances/george-sykes/120251 ^{[ dead link ]}
31. "Appearances | George Sykes | Football Web Pages".
32. "Aveley | Appearances | George Sykes | Football Web Pages".
33. "Aveley – Appearances – George Sykes – 2020-2021". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
34. "Aveley – Appearances – George Sykes – 2021-2022". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
35. "Aveley – Appearances – George Sykes". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2023.

External links

• George Sykes at Soccerbase