Exclusive:'We both get it' - Sheffield United heroes Chris Wilder and Billy Sharp together reflect on their footballing journey
Chris Wilder and Billy Sharp sat down together to talk about their careers, Sheffield United, their relationship and the future
Chris Wilder and Billy Sharp were both recently honoured at The Star’s annual Football Awards. The Blades boss picked up a Lifetime Acheivement Award and Sharp was entered into the Hall of Fame.
At the end of the night, we sat both together to talk about the awards, their footballing journey and why they get along so well.
Chris Holt: Billy, Chris, Lifetime Achievement, Hall of Fame, two big awards. Chris, how does it feel for you, first of all, to be recognised in that way?
Chris Wilder: Yeah, I think we're both sons of the city, so personally I imagine Bill will say the same thing, to be recognised by the football people and the people of Sheffield is an enormously proud moment, personally for me, as I said in my speech.
For the football club, my pals and my family, it's been an incredible journey. I think when you look at the people that have won the award, it's quite humbling. Sometimes you look at that and go, I'm not sure I deserve to be on there, but to get the award is a great feeling for myself, personally.
CH: Billy, I suppose the same with you. When you look through the names that have been on there, the players, the real greats of this city of football, it must be a great honour for you that they add your name to it.
Billy Sharp: Yeah, I've been coming to this night for quite a few years now and we usually come here when we've been successful or won promotion, so to win, to be in the Hall of Fame of South Yorkshire football, it does mean a lot to me.
Growing up as a boy, you just wanted to firstly make it professionally and then to have the opportunity to play for Sheffield United and captain and score goals for them is something that I could only have dreamt of. And then awards like this, to get recognised along with my manager and people that have played for Sheffield United that I grew up watching, it's a real honour. To be sat next to Chris, it's nice to receive this award.
It's something that I look back on in maybe ten years' time and see the rest of the names coming along underneath us, which I'm sure there'll be more good footballing people, like the Gaffer said, that win this award, but to win something like this is very nice.
CH: Chris, it's not just what you've done in the last three years, the last ten years, you've been a player, you've been part of the fabric of Sheffield football in all levels and beyond South Yorkshire.
CW: I don't think people really understand the journey that I've been on from a Sheffield point of view as well. As I said, I started watching Sheffield United versus Walsall in 1981 as a Sheffield United fan, being 12 and 13, watching us go down, playing for Sheffield Boys as a kid, right the way through to under-14, under-15, leaving to go to Southampton, coming back to Sheffield, playing for my hometown club, getting relegated, getting promoted, being a ball boy and everything associated with what comes with the journey, the highs and lows, as we understand.
And being proud of our city as well is the biggest thing. Pals playing on a Sunday, pals playing on a Saturday, going to watch them, the whole fabric of what football means to the people of Sheffield, whether United or Wednesday, and obviously the surrounding areas as well, Rotherham, Barnsley and Chesterfield and Doncaster, it's such a unique, in my opinion, area of the game. It produces players, it produces coaches, it produces managers, it wins games, it loses games.
People talk about Liverpool, talk about London, talk about Manchester, but for me, Sheffield is right up there... and the surrounding areas.
CH: Do you think that's maybe part of why you and Chris got on and worked well together, because you have that similar background and experiences?
BS: Yeah, definitely, I think we both came back because we love the club.
But yeah, I think, as Chris said, we have had similar journeys, because I've been at Southampton as well, played for Sheffield Boys, I've been a ball boy, I've played for Sheffield United like Chris has as well. Like he says, the surrounding areas have been very good for me as well, with Doncaster, which I had to go away from Sheffield United to get my career back on track, on loan. I had some great times there, and that's the one that gave me the stepping stone to go and first play in the Premier League with Southampton.
So yeah, South Yorkshire football has been amazing for me throughout my journey from five, six, seven-year-old, playing from grassroots football to Sheffield Boys, to then obviously making it at Sheffield United, with a little stint at Rotherham in between that, which Chris obviously did as well. Like I said, the memories that we've had together at Sheffield United, you just can't beat them. When you see things around the city, or fans coming to talk to you about certain things, yeah, it makes you smile definitely.
CW: It's just one difference, I play right back. So, one goal for Sheffield United.
BS: But he's got the one that I needed.
BS: I remember going on the pitch, and he probably doesn't remember, because there was loads of people on the pitch, but I've actually still got his shin pads from back in the day, some white pads with his signature on, which I don't know why I find it strange, but his signature's not changed one bit. I may have told him this before, but yeah, it's nice to have the memories and the moments that we've had together. I'll never ever forget that.
CW: I think Chris, we both get it. I think that's the biggest thing, we both get what playing for the football club is. I think people talk a lot about the tactical part of it, and all that type of it, and what people think that playing for a football club is all about. But when you take a deeper dive in it, and you dig a little bit deeper with it, the culture, the culture carriers, which Bill was for me, is incredibly important to trying to build a successful team. We both get it. I think that I've enjoyed some success here because I get it, and the reason that Bill has enjoyed success and will enjoy success in the future is because he gets it.
CH: A lot of managers or players may mention, "my old manager used to do this, or I had a player that used to do this." I don't want to presume you're like this, but in your heads, would you, Billy, as a would-be coach, be constantly thinking, "I remember Chris did this?" And would you as a manager, now, think, "I want my captain to be like Billy was, to do these kind of things?"
CW: "From my point of view, 100%. Because it works, and it suits our culture. I'm not speaking for Bill, and he'll answer the question, but I think this is [how we look at it], we're not a Millwall, we're not a Swansea, we're not a Brighton, let's be us. Let's just be what we're about and what's made us successful.
And Bill's been a major part of that journey from coming in in 2016 to leaving, and I'm sure the ambition of coming back and being involved in the next episode, as you like to talk about, of our progression. I always think that's really important, that people recognise that, and everybody recognises that, and you go for the highs and the lows, but this is what a good Sheffield United player looks like, a good Sheffield United captain looks like, and a good Sheffield United team looks like.
CH: Will you take a lot of it from Chris? Will you learn from Chris in your coaching career? Presuming you go that way.
BS: Yeah, he's the reason I want to go that way. He inspired me to... When he named me that captain, I'd never been a captain, so that was a huge honour. I had to ring people who had been captains of Sheffield United before, and a lot of people helped me. Chris Morgan, Nick Montgomery, Phil Jagielka.
I had to grow into that role, and he gave me that opportunity to do that, and I made mistakes along the way. He goes on about tactics and stuff like that, but the three tactics that always stand out in my mind is tackles, headers and risks. If you win them, you're going to compete in a game. Obviously, you need a little bit of... At the top end of the pitch, you need special moments to win games, but if you're competing, which that's what he wants from your team every single day, standards in training, standards from individuals and standards from the leaders who bring the ones who sometimes aren't doing it together. I think that's maybe why Sheffield United haven't done as well as Chris and the fans and myself would have thought they were going to do this season.
I believe that when he came in, there was no doubt they were going to stay up, but I thought they'd gone on a run to get them in the play-offs, and I think you're probably saying that the standards probably wasn't right day in, day out. It becomes easier at the weekend. That's what he always used to say to us.
Do it right Monday to Friday, and it'll become easier on the Saturday.