Billy Sharp

Football player infobox
playername = Billy Sharp


fullname = William Louis Sharp
height = height|m=1.75
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1986|2|5
cityofbirth = Sheffield
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Sheffield United
clubnumber = 24
position = Striker, Winger
youthyears =
youthclubs = Sheffield United
years = 2002–2005
2005
2005–2007
2007–
clubs = Sheffield United
→ Rushden & Diamonds (loan)
Scunthorpe United
Sheffield United
caps(goals) = 0020(0)
0160(9)
0820(53)
0380(8)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 11:34, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate =

William Louis "Billy" Sharp (born 5 February 1986 in Sheffield) is an English professional footballer currently playing a striker role at Sheffield United.

Career

heffield United

Sharp started at Rotherham United as a schoolboy in the Academy after leaving his Sunday league team in his hometown of Dronfield, Derbyshire, but opted to join the Sheffield United Academy after Rotherham turned him away.

Sharp signed for Sheffield United as a schoolboy in 2002 but, after leaving the Academy, he failed to establish himself in manager Neil Warnock's squad. He made only two brief substitute appearances for United, the second and final of which coming in the last game of the 2004-2005 season.

Rushden and Diamonds (loan)

In January 2005, he went on loan to Rushden and Diamonds. Despite playing just 16 games Sharp became a very popular figure. Scoring 9 goals, one of them a last minute winner in the 3-2 win over local rivals Northampton Town, he helped prevent another relegation. His hat-trick against Boston Utd. was also memorable.

cunthorpe United

After returning from his loan spell Sharp made two substitute appearances for United before he was sold to Scunthorpe United for £100,000 in August 2005. He soon became a firm favourite at Glanford Park scoring 24 goals in his first season with the league one club.

Sharp scored the 50th goal of his career in the 2-0 win at Carlisle United on 9 December 2006. He was featured on ITV's "The Championship", and Scunthorpe United chairman Steve Wharton claimed he would reject a bid of £2 million for Sharp.

Sharp broke the Iron's 45 year old club record for most goals scored in a season on 28 April 2007. Barrie Thomas was the previous holder.

Sharp netted 30 [citeweb
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_utd/6249576.stm
title=BBC SPORT Football - My Club - Sheff Utd - Sharp gets Blades return ticket
work=BBC News
date=2007-07-04
accessdate=2007-09-12] times in the league in the 2006-07 season guiding his team to promotion into the Coca Cola Championship. This was the highest total in the 4 leagues of England [citeweb
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/football/teams/c/chelsea/6664459.stm
title=BBC SPORT - Football - My Club - Chelsea - Drogba collects Golden Boot award:
work=BBC News
date=2007-05-18
accessdate=2007-09-13] [citeweb
url=http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/DivisionalScorers/0,,10794~20067,00.html
title=Divisional Scorers - The Football League - Stats - FLC
work=The Football League
date=
accessdate=2007-09-13] [citeweb
url=http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/DivisionalScorers/0,,10794~200625,00.html
title=Divisional Scorers - The Football League - Stats - FL1
work=The Football League
date=
accessdate=2007-09-13] [citeweb
url=http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/DivisionalScorers/0,,10794~200626,00.html
title=Divisional Scorers - The Football League - Stats: FL2
work=The Football League
date=
accessdate=2007-09-13] . He scored a header in the televised defeat to Aston Villa, which only served to enhance his reputation across the nation. In all, he scored 56 goals in 95 games for Scunthorpe during his two seasons at Glanford Park.

With his goalscoring feats in the 2006-07 season, there was predictable interest from other clubs in Sharp, and a number of clubs made bids for the striker as the season ended.cite news
title = Sharp must make decision on Owls
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/scunthorpe_utd/6656749.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-05-15
accessdate = 2007-05-15] cite news
title = Iron reject Owls offer for Sharp
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/scunthorpe_utd/6656749.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-05-16
accessdate = 2007-05-16] cite news
title = Iron confirm Norwich's Sharp bid
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/norwich/6701663.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-05-29
accessdate = 2007-05-29] cite news
title = Preston confirm interest in Sharp
url = http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/preston/6672551.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-05-19
accessdate = 2007-05-19] [cite web
title = Sharp in talks with Norwich
url = http://www.pinkun.com/content/ncfc/story.aspx?brand=PINKUNOnline&category=Norwich&tBrand=PinkUnOnline&tCategory=Norwich&itemid=NOED20%20Jun%202007%2012%3A21%3A57%3A380
publisher = The Pink 'Un
date = 2007-06-20
accessdate = 2007-06-20]

heffield United

Ultimately, lifelong Blades fan Sharp rejoined Sheffield United on 4 July 2007 for a fee of around £2 million, a deal that also saw Sheffield United's Jonathan Forte transferred to Scunthorpe and was given the number 24 shirt.cite news
title = Sharp gets Blades' return ticket
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_utd/6249576.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-07-04
accessdate = 2007-07-04]

Sharp made his full Sheffield United first team debut in the opening game of the 2007-08 season, a 2-2 draw with Colchester United.cite news
title = Sheff Utd 2-2 Colchester
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6931101.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-08-11
accessdate = 2007-11-09] He scored his first competitive goals for the club in September, hitting two against Morecambe in a 5-0 third round Carling Cup victorycite news
title = Sheff Utd 5-0 Morecambe
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/7008014.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-09-25
accessdate = 2007-11-09] but had to wait until March to score his first league goal, in a 2-1 win at home against Coventry City.cite news
title = Sheff Utd 2-1 Coventry
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7285092.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2008-11-03
accessdate = 2008-11-03] After finally breaking his duck he went on to score three more times before the end of the season.

Sharp started the 2008-09 season brightly, scoring a hat-trick in the Blades' first home game, against Queens Park Rangers.cite news
title = Billy bags Blades hat-trick
url = http://www.thestar.co.uk/blades/Billy-bags-Blades-hattrick.4398625.jp
publisher = www.thestar.co.uk
date = 2008-08-16
accessdate = 2008-08-22]

tatistics

¹ Last updated 1 September 2008

Notes and References

External links

* [http://www.sufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10418~30427,00.html Official profile at SUFC]
*soccerbase|id=38747|name=Billy Sharp