Lee Stuart Sharpe ( natural 27 May 1971 ) is an english former master football player, sports television receiver initiate and reality television personality, who as a musician was predominantly a leave winger from 1988 to 2004. Sharpe joined Manchester United from Torquay United as a child in 1988, playing for the club improving until 1996. He won a sum of eight caps for England, but his belated career failed to live up to its electric potential after leaving Manchester United in his mid-twenties. Sharpe moved to Leeds United in 1996, but dogged stifle injuries kept him from making an impact on the police squad, and he was loaned to Sampdoria at the start of the 1998–99 season. Another lend to Bradford City in March 1999 turned into a permanent softwood at the end of the season. He stayed at Bradford for three seasons, but he gradually slipped down the league ladder, finally moving to Iceland to play for Grindavík in 2003. He retired from professional football in 2003, but achieved renewed fame after a total of world television appearances. He briefly returned to football in 2004, playing for Garforth Town, but his recurrence was ephemeral.
Reading: Lee Sharpe
Club career [edit ]
Torquay United [edit ]
Sharpe, who was born in Halesowen, Worcestershire, was an Aston Villa garter, but began his career at Torquay United. He played 14 times for the Gulls in the 1987-88 season as they achieved a guarantee finish in the Football League Fourth Division, and did n’t turn 17 until fair after the season ‘s end. He was soon on the radar of First and Second Division clubs and was sold to Manchester United in June 1988 for £200,000, a record fee at the time for a YTS musician .
manchester United [edit ]
Sharpe made his debut for Manchester United on 24 September 1988 in a 2–0 win over West Ham United in the Football League First Division, aged 17. His first team chances increased in November with the deviation of the clubhouse ‘s first choice left winger Jesper Olsen, and were far enhanced when new sign Ralph Milne performed inconsistently. Sharpe ended the 1988–89 season with 22 league appearances to his mention, although he failed to score and United finished a disappoint 11th in the league a year after finishing second. He played 30 games in all competitions that season, and was on the shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, which was won by Arsenal winger Paul Merson. [ 1 ] The pursuit temper, Sharpe found the final for the inaugural time in a United shirt, scoring in the 5–1 home plate gain over Millwall on 16 September 1989. He managed 18 appearances in the league that season ( and 20 in all competitions ), but failed to make the squad for the FA Cup concluding which United won 1–0 against Crystal Palace in a replay after drawing 3–3 in the first match. Alex Ferguson had chosen new signing Danny Wallace as his inaugural choice left winger for the 1989–90 season. [ 1 ] He played a key depart in United ‘s success in the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup in 1990–91 scoring with a left-foot shoot into the exceed corner in the home peg of the semi-final against Legia Warsaw ( 1–1 ). He besides excellently scored a hat-trick against Arsenal at Highbury in the League Cup fourth circle on 28 November 1990, a match which United won 6–2. Sharpe himself cites this as one of the best memories in his footballing career. [ citation needed ] He was now United ‘s first gear choice left winger ahead of Danny Wallace, although a new equal for the leave wing military position was emerging in the human body of highly promising 17-year-old Ryan Giggs. [ 2 ] Having established himself as a leave winger, Sharpe earned a call up to the England police squad fair before his twentieth birthday, although he was ineffective to replace John Barnes as inaugural option left winger. He was then out of the game for long periods of time through injury and illness ( he suffered from viral meningitis in the fall of 1992 ) and when his fitness recovered, the mannequin of Ryan Giggs meant he had normally to play out of position at left back ( by now the prefer placement for Denis Irwin ) or on the right wing, competing for a set with Andrei Kanchelskis who had arrived in March 1991. His first team opportunities were limited by injury and by the form of Giggs in the 1991-92 season, although he did appear as a substitute in the Football League Cup final victory over Nottingham Forest. He did play in enough games to collect a Premier League title decoration for the 1992–93 season, and added another in 1993–94 with 30 appearances ( four as a substitute ), and scoring nine league goals ( 11 in all competitions ). He scored both of United ‘s goals in their fourthly league game of the season on 23 August 1993 as they beat Aston Villa 2–1 at Villa Park, following with an early goal in the 3–1 win at Southampton in the adjacent game. He managed another double on 22 March 1994 in a 2–2 league draw at Arsenal, and came on as a alternate in the FA Cup final examination against Chelsea. United won the double of the Premier League title and FA Cup that season. Sharpe is well remembered for his memorable goal against Barcelona during the 2–2 draw in the 1994–1995 Champions League season ‘s group stage, when he spectacularly back-heeled a cross from Roy Keane into the corner of the net. He besides got an help in this game, crossing for Mark Hughes, who headed the first finish of the game. [ 3 ] 1994–95 was a difficult season for United, with many players out for significant periods due to injury. Sharpe was one of them, as he missed a string of mid season games due to a fracture ankle, though he had more opportunities to play on the leave wing as Ryan Giggs missed a quarter of the campaign due to injuries. He besides made a number of appearances vitamin a left-back as the even musician in that status, Denis Irwin, spent most of the campaign playing on the right side of defense left vacant by a long absence by Paul Parker, though Irwin was back at left-back towards the end of the season following the emergence of right-back Gary Neville. United ended the season without a major trophy, finishing second to Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League as they failed to manage anything better than a 1–1 draw at West Ham on the final day of the season, and losing 1–0 to Everton in the FA Cup final. By the start of the 1995–96, Andrei Kanchelskis had been sold to Everton and it seemed potential that Sharpe could establish himself as United ‘s right winger – particularly when he scored twice for United in their 3–2 succeed over Everton on 9 September 1995. With Ryan Giggs returning to fitness on the leave wing, and Denis Irwin returning to left back following the emergence of Gary Neville as the baseball club ‘s regular right back, the right handwriting side of midfield seemed Sharpe ‘s best opportunity of even first team action. however, 20-year-old David Beckham made the first team discovery that season and left Sharpe facing a clean struggle for a regular place in the beginning team, though he was selected in the squad for all but eight competitive games that season, during which United became the first English team to win the double twice. He still took to the field in 31 out of 38 Premier League games, scoring four goals. His first goal of the season came at Blackburn Rovers on 28 August, as a relatively strong United english recorded their third consecutive league gain after being beaten by Aston Villa on the orifice day. In their future game at Everton on 9 September, Sharpe scored doubly equally United achieved an impressive 3–2 win. His next ( and final ) league finish for United came on 10 February 1996 when he scored the only goal of the game against Blackburn Rovers, as United kept up the pressure on leaders Newcastle who had been 10 points ahead at Christmas. Sharpe besides managed two FA Cup goals that season, the winner against Manchester City in the one-fifth round at Old Trafford on 18 February, and the second in the last moment of a 2–0 home winnings over Southampton in the quarter finals on 11 March. He was selected as a substitute in the 1–0 FA Cup final winnings over Liverpool on 11 May, but did not come onto the gear, though he still picked up his moment FA Cup winner ‘s decoration, which was ultimately the last major trophy of his career precisely before his twenty-fifth birthday. [ 1 ] In full he played 265 games for Manchester United over eight years, scoring 36 goals and winning a full of seven major trophies .
Leeds United [edit ]
After eight years at Old Trafford, he became Leeds United ‘s joint record sign language on 10 August 1996 when they paid £4.5million for his services, making him the last bless by director Howard Wilkinson, who was sacked the following month to be succeeded by George Graham. Again his time at Leeds was beset by far injuries. He made 26 Premiership appearances in 1996–97, scoring five goals, but a pre-season stifle injury ruled him out for the integral 1997–98 season and he was unable to regain his put in the team on convalescence. In the fall of 1998, Graham ‘s successor David O’Leary loaned Sharpe to Italian Serie A strugglers Sampdoria, where he played under English head coach David Platt, but soon fell out of favor and in the New Year he returned to England .
Bradford City [edit ]
He signed on loan for Bradford City in March 1999 and he helped in securing the cabaret ‘s promotion to the Premiership after 77 years outside the top division. He joined Bradford in a £250,000 batch during the summer and helped preserve the club ‘s Premiership condition in 1999–2000 .
portsmouth [edit ]
In 2000–01, Sharpe lost his place in the Bradford team and barely before Christmas went on loan to Division One Portsmouth. He played 17 matches. He returned to Bradford during the 2001–02 season but when his compress expired at the end of the season he was given a release transfer .
Exeter City [edit ]
Following a brief trial stay with Grimsby Town in the summer of 2002 he was snubbed a compress with the Mariners and he finally signed for Exeter City. During his clock at Exeter he scored once against Hull City. This would prove to be Sharpe ‘s final examination while in English senior football at the age of 31. [ 4 ]
Grindavik [edit ]
He then moved to Grindavík in Iceland. In June 2003 he announced his retirement from professional football at the senesce of 32. just before this, he was rumoured to be on the verge of taking over as player-manager at Bury in Division Three. [ 5 ]
Read more: Sevilla FC
Garforth Town [edit ]
In February 2004, Sharpe made a brief render to football in the Kidderminster Sunday League with Hoobrook Crown before signing for Northern Counties East Premier League side Garforth Town the follow summer .
International career [edit ]
Sharpe was capped eight times by England between 1991 and 1993 .
Honours [edit ]
Manchester United
Individual
In the early 1990s, Sharpe was separate of a new management in football that saw photogenic players like himself, Jamie Redknapp and Ryan Giggs come forth as trade and mass marketed “ bill poster boys ” of the plot, and fronted many football magazine covers and featured in advertisements. By the mid-1990s, these players, some of whom had become known as Spice Boys, had become icons in football already, in an earned run average when football stars had become idols on equality with rock stars and pop stars. [ 7 ] Sharpe was known for his life style off the pitch equally much as he had on it at the fourth dimension, though these second deals quieted down after he left Manchester United in 1996. Lee was engaged to model Emma Padfield for 9 ‘months before she split with him and dated Lee Bowyer. Since 2009, Sharpe has been involved with global football charity, Ambassadors in Sport. His first interest came after a stumble to South Africa and an unscheduled invite to visit an AIS Hope Academy in a south african Prison. Since then he has been involved at different levels with AIS, including Cycle for Hope, a 6-month cycle through Africa which Sharpe was involved in publicity and besides took separate in the last leg .
television receiver career [edit ]
Sharpe has besides developed a career in reality television. He appeared as a rival in the 2005, ITV television show Celebrity Wrestling, under the name “ Sharpe Shooter ”. He is besides known though for appearing in Celebrity Love Island. During his time on the Island Sharpe courted the attentions of many of the read ‘s ladies, most notably television receiver presenter Jayne Middlemiss, who confessed to “ never having felt like this before about person ”, but Sharpe finally dated Abi Titmuss. In 2007 Sharpe appeared as a contestant in ITV ‘s Dancing on Ice. He was eliminated from the competition on 3 March 2007. He was to besides appear in ITV ‘s democratic television receiver soap Coronation Street as an extra in the fictional public house “ The Rovers Return ” as a working class taxi driver from Manchester. [ citation needed ] Sharpe, aboard early Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker, presently fronts a London Underground ad campaign for Nourkrin, a baldness treatment. He is billed as “ Of Celebrity Love Island fame ! ” In 2008, Sharpe starred in Dec ‘s team on Ant versus Dec, on Saturday Night Takeaway ITV1. Sharpe besides starred as the fame ‘hider ‘ in an episode of the CBBC express Hider in the House. He besides appeared in the 2008 television serial Superstars on Channel Five. In August 2009, he appeared in the RTÉ One celebrity boxing serial, Charity Lords of the Ring. [ 8 ]
Media career [edit ]
After retirement in 2004 and 2006, Sharpe became a football initiate for ESPN Star in Singapore in Asia, and together with Les Ferdinand, is a fame host on the crippled show “Kickoff” where he is known as “ Sharpey ”. Sharpe was previously a initiate on BBC ‘s Match of the Day 2 and Football Focus, and during the 2006 World Cup presented a cup blog [ permanent dead link ] from Germany with video clips and photos for Yahoo. Sharpe appeared in one episode of the footballing drama Dream Team. Sharpe was one of the football pundits hired by Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, for their exclusive coverage of the Premier League. On 25 August 2005 Sharpe ‘s autobiography My Idea of Fun was published, describing his fourth dimension as a football player and his resulting celebrity condition
References [edit ]
Read more: Paris Saint-Germain F.C.