August 10 - Sharpey Shuffles off to Leeds

FOR the benefit of our younger readers, the reality TV star Lee Sharpe was actually once a footballer. A very fine one too, who jostled with Ryan Giggs and John Barnes for a place on the left wing of Manchester United and England respectively. Like Brando in On The Waterfront, Sharpe “coulda been a contender.” But it was on this day in 1996 that Sir Alex Ferguson gave up on the injury-prone party animal from Halesowen and sold him to their cross-Pennines rivals Leeds United.

Sharpe had signed for Manchester United as a YTS player from Torquay for a record £200,000 in 1988 and within a couple of years he had forced his way into the first team with a number of eye-catching displays. A hat-trick at Highbury in a 6-2 League Cup win over Arsenal in 1990 soon followed, as did a call-up from England boss Graham Taylor, as Sharpe looked set take advantage of his obvious potential. And how England could have done with a world-class talent with a left foot throughout the 1990s. However, as we all know, this wasn’t to be the case, as illness and injuries were to put the brakes on Sharpe’s career.

Sharpe quickly gained a reputation for living the high-life at Manchester United. Urban legend has it that Fergie had a network of spies who would tip him off whenever one of Sharpey’s parties was getting out of hand, and the gaffer himself would storm in and, with his typical Glaswegian demure, would break up the party and give Sharpe the famous hairdryer treatment. As time went on Sharpe was spending more time on the treatment table and was even unfortunate enough to suffer from viral meningitis. This enabled a young Ryan Giggs to cement his place in the Red Devils’ midfield and become the most decorated player of his generation.

In 1996 Ferguson had had enough and Sharpe was sold to Leeds for £4.5 million, making him their record signing. The famous “Sharpey Shuffle” goal celebration was in short supply at Elland Road however. Thirty appearances in two seasons for Leeds saw Sharpe farmed out on loan, spending a few weeks with his pal David Platt during his misguided spell in charge of Sampdoria, before signing for Bradford. Like so many before him, Sharpe slowly slipped down the divisions, taking in spells at Portsmouth, Exeter City, Grindavik of Iceland and finally Garforth Town, where he would, somewhat bizarrely, share the pitch with Brazilian legend Socrates.

Nowadays, Lee Sharpe is a well-established member of the reality-TV bandwagon, most famous for his on-screen romance with Abi Titmuss on Celebrity Love Island, a show that Stephen Merchant watched “praying for a tsunami.” Perhaps the clip below is a better way to remember him. Meanwhile, join us tomorrow for a lesson in how to stamp your authority in your new job.

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