Ask any Sheffield United supporter what the name Billy Sharp means to them, and you’ll be met with a similar revering response.
“He’s a Blade like us, and every goal he scores means as much to him as it does to us. There’s no player in my lifetime that compares with Billy,” is how diehard Sheffield United fan Hal puts it.
Smashing new goal records with staggering regularity, Sharp can now be fully acknowledged as one of the most prolific goalscorers English football has seen in recent times.
With the Blades captain currently locked in contract negotiations with Sheffield United bosses as the club vies to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, it seems as good a time as ever to delve deeper into his achievements in the red-and-white and what he truly means to United’s supporters.
The fan on the pitch
A Sheffield lad born and bred, Billy Sharp is the quintessential local sporting hero. An academy graduate at Sheffield United, the 36-year-old has represented his boyhood club on three separate occasions in a career which has seen him score goals in each of the top four divisions in English football.
Billy Sharp is currently ranked 9th in Sheffield United’s all-time leading goalscorer standings on 115 goals, just two behind former Blades striker Jimmy Hagan.
“Two more (behind Jimmy Hagan.) would mean a lot to me to beat that as he was my grandad’s hero.”
Billy Sharp on being on the all time top Sheffield United league scorer list. 👏 pic.twitter.com/Dlc6mZbHNH
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) March 14, 2022
Hal, co-host of the multi-award-winning podcast and YouTube channel Sheff United Way, says Sharp has played out every Blades supporter’s dream.
“He’s like me in that he’s a Sheffield United fan, and like me he dreamed of playing for Sheffield United. Unlike me, he had the ability,” Hal outlines.
A player who seems to thrive off the energy of the crowd, both adulatory and hostile, Sharp’s humility may be best observed from his Twitter bio which reads as – “I’m just that fat lad from Sheffield.”
For Jason Holyhead, freelance writer and author of Sheffield United book Ain’t Got a Barrel of Money, there is something extra special about celebrating Billy Sharp goals at Bramall Lane.
Jason says: “I think the atmosphere when he scores is better than for anyone else. When everybody’s singing ‘we’ve got Billy Sharp’ and he’s getting abuse off the away fans and things like this.
“He plays up to all that. He’s a good character is our Billy,” he adds.
Billy the bagsman
“You know, on paper, if you were just to write down what Billy is good at, you might not sign him,” Hal quips.
Standing at 5ft 9in tall and not blessed with blistering pace, it is in the mind where Billy Sharp has found an advantage over his opponents over the years.
A terrific striker of the ball with both feet, Sharp has the golden knack of being in the right place at the right time and pouncing on any loose ball in or around the box.
He is not just a ‘fox in the box’ as is widely perceived, however. With seven Championship assists to his name so far this season, the Blades’ number 10 is also adept at linking the play and creating chances for his teammates.
Hal goes on to describe Billy Sharp as the master of simplicity.
He says: “Billy doesn’t score world-class free kicks, he doesn’t do these sorts of ridiculous Rabona moves and stuff like that. What he does do is the simple things exceptionally well, and then there’s occasional moments of sheer brilliance.”
Becoming the Championship’s all-time leading goalscorer in January of this year, notching his 122nd goal in English football’s second tier at London Road against Peterborough, the Blades skipper’s reputation as one of the country’s sharpest shooters was further crystallised.
For James Ray, writer for the72.co.uk and Football League expert, it is Sharp’s longevity which sets him apart from other distinguished Championship hitmen of the past.
“There’s being able to do it for a couple of seasons and then there’s being able to do it your entire career and into your mid-30s,” James underlines.
It appears as though Sharp’s lack of natural physical advantages has allowed him to cast an almost evergreen football figure, having now scored professional goals across three decades.
“Billy’s the same speed now as he was when he was 18. So it shouldn’t make any difference as he’s never been about knocking the ball past the defender and running around him. That’s never been his game,” Hal remarks.
What next?
Describing Sharp as a “future manager in waiting”, Hal believes Sharp will eventually become the latest Blades supporter to find a place in the Bramall Lane managerial hotseat, after the likes of Micky Adams, Neil Warnock and Chris Wilder before him.
With regards to his legacy at the club, Jason believes the local lad’s influence will remain felt long after he decides to hang up his boots.
Jason says: “I think his legacy will be that he is 100% Blade. I don’t like to use the word legend but he will be if he’s not already. If you did a survey on whether or not there should be a statute of him in [Bramall Lane] car park most fans would say yes.”
With Sharp’s contract situation still as of yet unresolved, and the division in which the Blades will compete in next season undetermined, his future at Sheffield United appears uncertain.
One thing is for sure, Sheffield United supporters are best served to cherish their local hero’s goalscoring exploits whilst they still can.
Who knows what the future holds, but a statue with the tagline “I’m just that fat lad from Sheffield” outside Bramall Lane, immortalising his achievements at the club, would be more than deserved for Billy Sharp.
