A local boy's secret look around Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday's begrudging respect for Billy Sharp
Billy Sharp confirmed his retirement from football over the weekend - surely most Sheffield Wednesday fans would secretly admit a begrudging respect for the Blades legend?
They didn’t like him, they certainly didn’t love him. But over the weekend there’ll have been a quiet, secret, begrudging respect from a great many Sheffield Wednesday supporters for a local boy done good.
Speaking with barely-concealed emotion, Billy Sharp announced his retirement from football live on television to prompt tributes from across the game and the region, lead of course by the club where he became a legend over three playing stints; Sheffield United. For some, the 40-year-old was the Bladiest of Blades that so many Owls fans loved to hate.
Of course, many simply hated him, a product of the glorious nature of a city rivalry. Whether celebrating in front of Wednesdayites or supporters of any club, there was no doubt Sharp was an agent of ‘housery who will appreciate that fans across the city will feel the same way about him as he presumably did towards, say, David Hirst all those years ago.
That he never scored against the Owls in a derby proved to be a career regret. In fact, a tally of one goal and one assist in 13 appearances against the blue and whites is an aggregate far below his average career output and perhaps there’s something in that. Six wins and four draws against Wednesday in all colours suggest a greater success from a results perspective, though he never featured in a Steel City Derby win - three draws and three defeats all coming as he watched on from the bench on ‘Bouncing Day’.
Imagining Sharp in a Wednesday shirt is difficult after a stunning 299-goal career so indelibly entwined with United, but attempts were famously made. Brian Laws sought to bring the forward to S6 in the summer of 2007 after he had earlier given the youngster the platform to launch his career at Scunthorpe United - signing him for just £50k and placing him alongside Andy Keogh in a famous Irons strike partnership.
A secret meeting at Hillsborough took place after Wednesday were given permission to speak with Sharp, though Laws doesn’t recall a fee having been agreed. The stadium was submerged in water amid huge floods. That same summer he’d eventually make a return to Bramall Lane for a fee exceedingly £2m and the rest is history.
“I knew his connection with Sheffield United, and that his dad in particular meant they were very much a Sheffield United family,” Laws told The Star, remembering his audacious transfer attempt some 19 years on. “Of course, that connection between both clubs I knew was always going to be difficult, but I always felt I worked really well with him and we had a really good relationship. To be fair to him, we did approach and we were allowed to speak to him.
“He did oblige, and he came down to have talks. But I could see in his eyes that this just didn't feel right. In fact that when I actually did show him around the stadium, it was when the pitch was flooded.
“I remember saying to him, ‘If you can't score goals, you'll definitely be a good swimmer by the time I finish with you.’ I thought I might be able to entice him but he openly said, ‘I only come here out of respect for you, and my dad will kill me!’ But the fact that he came across, I appreciated that. I just looked into his eyes and I could tell that it was uncomfortable.
“It doesn't surprise me that he went on to have the career he had, because he's still got the enthusiasm as he was when he was 20 to where he is now. Whether he’s scoring goals in a match or in training, he gets a real buzz out of it. And he's got a real knack of getting the most out of wherever he’s playing. That consistency that he's shown over a long period tells you what a terrific player he was. For any club, wherever he's been, he'd score goals for you, and he finished on a hat-trick as well. Bloody hell, just fantastic.”
Used as a guest on a recent US television broadcast discussing the start of the EFL season, Sharp stood amongst a group of Wednesday fans and shared jibes back and forth. On the same show, Owls CEO David Bruce jokingly confirmed that the club would not be seeking to bring the Blade to S6. Once upon a time, they tried.
Sheffield isn’t the best at celebrating its own glories and the career of Billy Sharp is certainly one. Go on, admit it. Quietly, if needed.