# Wilf Sharp

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{{short description|Scottish footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name= Wilf Sharp
| image= 
| fullname= Wilfred Sharp
| height = 5 ft 10 in<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-dispatch-football-guide-1936-vii/134492706/ |title=Bradford. Backs wanted. Directors show no lack of enterprise |newspaper=Sunday Dispatch Football Guide |location=London |date=23 August 1936 |page=vii |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
| position= [Wing half](/source/Midfielder)
| birth_date= 8 April 1907
| birth_place= [Bathgate](/source/Bathgate), Scotland
| death_date= June {{death year and age|1981|1907}}
| death_place= [Sefton](/source/Sefton%2C_Merseyside), Merseyside
| youthyears1= 
| youthclubs1= 
| years1= –
| clubs1= [Pumpherston Rangers](/source/Pumpherston_Rangers_F.C.)
| caps1= | goals1= 
| years2= –
| clubs2= [Bathgate](/source/Bathgate_F.C.)
| caps2=  | goals2= 
| years3= –
| clubs3= [Kirkintilloch Rob Roy](/source/Kirkintilloch_Rob_Roy_F.C.)
| caps3=  | goals3= 
| years4  = 1925–1929
| clubs4= [Clydebank](/source/Clydebank_F.C._(1914)) 
| caps4= 94 | goals4= 4
| years5= 1929–1934
| clubs5= [Airdrieonians](/source/Airdrieonians_F.C._(1878))
| caps5= 148 | goals5= 6
| years6= 1932–1933
| clubs6= [Tunbridge Wells Rangers](/source/Tunbridge_Wells_Rangers_F.C.) (loan)
| caps6=  | goals6= 
| years7= 1934–1936
| clubs7= [Sheffield Wednesday](/source/Sheffield_Wednesday_F.C.)
| caps7= 48 | goals7= 2
| years8= 1936–1937
| clubs8= [Bradford Park Avenue](/source/Bradford_(Park_Avenue)_A.F.C.)
| caps8= 17 | goals8= 0
| years9= 1937–1939
| clubs9= [Burton Town](/source/Burton_Town_F.C.)
| caps9=  | goals9= 
| totalcaps= 307 | totalgoals = 12
}}
'''Wilfred Sharp''' (8 April 1907 – June 1981) was a Scottish professional [footballer](/source/Association_football) who played for [Clydebank](/source/Clydebank_F.C._(1914)), [Airdrieonians](/source/Airdrieonians_F.C._(1878)), [Sheffield Wednesday](/source/Sheffield_Wednesday_F.C.) and [Bradford Park Avenue](/source/Bradford_(Park_Avenue)_A.F.C.). Sharp was a [right half](/source/Wing_half) whose career lasted from 1925 to 1936, he only made 65 appearances in the English League but in that time he won a [FA Cup](/source/FA_Cup) winners medal while with Sheffield Wednesday in 1935.

==Playing career==
===Early days===
Sharp was born in [Bathgate](/source/Bathgate), [West Lothian](/source/West_Lothian). He played for [Bathgate](/source/Bathgate_F.C.), [Pumpherston Rangers](/source/Pumpherston_Rangers_F.C.) and [Kirkintilloch Rob Roy](/source/Kirkintilloch_Rob_Roy_F.C.)<ref name="robroy">[http://www.robroy.org.uk/col.asp?cid=60 Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926163124/http://www.robroy.org.uk/col.asp?cid=60 |date=26 September 2010 }} Confirms he played for Kirkintilloch Rob Roy.</ref> before signing as a professional for [Clydebank](/source/Clydebank_F.C._(1914)) in 1925, aged 18. He stayed at [Clydeholm](/source/Clydeholm) for four years before signing in 1929 for [Airdrieonians](/source/Airdrieonians_F.C._(1878)).<ref name=litsterprewar>{{cite journal|title=A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players|author=John Litster|publisher=Scottish Football Historian magazine|date=October 2012}}</ref> Sharp stayed with Airdrieonians for five years although he did have a short spell as a professional at [Tunbridge Wells Rangers](/source/Tunbridge_Wells_Rangers_F.C.) in 1932. In August 1934 he was spotted by [Sheffield Wednesday](/source/Sheffield_Wednesday) manager [Billy Walker](/source/Billy_Walker_(footballer%2C_born_1897)) and signed for The ''Owls'' for a fee of £750 on 11 August.

===Sheffield Wednesday===
Walker signed Sharp as a possible replacement for Wednesday's long-serving half back [Alf Strange](/source/Alfred_Strange) who at 34 years old was in the twilight of his career. Even without Strange in the team, there was strong competition for the half back positions with [Horace Burrows](/source/Horace_Burrows) and [Gavin Malloch](/source/Gavin_Malloch) keeping Sharp out of the team for the early months of the 1934–35 season. However, an injury to Malloch on 1 December 1934 in a home draw with [Sunderland](/source/Sunderland_A.F.C.) led to Sharp making his debut the following Saturday in a 1–0 victory at [Leicester](/source/Leicester_City_F.C.). Sharp showed good form and kept Malloch out of the side for the rest of the season as Wednesday went on a fine run of results, eventually finishing third in [Division One](/source/Football_League_First_Division) and winning the [1935 FA Cup final](/source/1935_FA_Cup_final). The following season saw the team struggle to avoid relegation, Sharp (who was not involved in the [1935 FA Charity Shield](/source/1935_FA_Charity_Shield)) played 24 matches and eventually asked for a transfer as his wife could not settle in [Sheffield](/source/Sheffield). In his two years at Wednesday, Sharp played 48 league games and 10 FA Cup games, scoring two goals.<ref name="allfootballers.com">[http://allfootballers.com/ Since 1888.] Gives career statistics.</ref><ref name="SWFC Archive">[http://www.adrianbullock.com/swfc/stats/play0530.htm Wilf Sharp], Sheffield Wednesday Archive</ref>

===Bradford Park Avenue===
The hoped-for switch back to Scottish football did not materialise, and Sharp signed for [Bradford Park Avenue](/source/Bradford_(Park_Avenue)_A.F.C.) in May 1936, playing 17 league games in his single season with them before moving to [non league](/source/Non-League_football) [Burton Town](/source/Burton_Town_F.C.) in August 1937.<ref name="Wednesday Boys">''"The Wednesday Boys"'', Jason Dickinson & John Brodie, {{ISBN|0-9547264-9-9}} Page 264 Gives biographical information.</ref><ref name="Tony Matthews">''"The Men Who Made Sheffield Wednesday Football Club"'', Tony Matthews, {{ISBN|978-0-7524-4156-6}} Gives details of Sheffield Wednesday career.</ref>

Sharp retired from football before the outbreak of [World War II](/source/World_War_II); he died in June 1981, aged 74 in [Sefton, Merseyside](/source/Sefton%2C_Merseyside).

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Wilf}}
Category:Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C. players
Category:Clydebank F.C. (1914) players
Category:Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players
Category:Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Category:Scottish men's footballers
Category:Men's association football wing halves
Category:1907 births
Category:1981 deaths
Category:English Football League players
Category:Scottish Football League players
Category:Scottish Junior Football Association players
Category:Footballers from Bathgate
Category:Tunbridge Wells F.C. players
Category:Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players
Category:Burton Town F.C. players
Category:Bathgate F.C. players
Category:20th-century Scottish sportsmen

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wilf Sharp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilf_Sharp) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilf_Sharp?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.