William Louis "Billy" Sharp (born 5 February 1986 in Sheffield) is an English professional footballer currently playing as a striker for Doncaster Rovers, whom he joined on loan from Sheffield United.

Career

Sheffield United

Sharp started at Rotherham United as a schoolboy in the Academy after leaving his Sunday league team, but opted to join the Sheffield United Academy after Rotherham turned him away.

Sharp signed for Sheffield United as a schoolboy in 2002 but, after leaving the Academy, he failed to establish himself in manager Neil Warnock's squad. He made only two brief substitute appearances for United, the second and final of which coming in the last game of the 2004-2005 season.

Rushden and Diamonds (loan)

In January 2005, he went on loan to Rushden and Diamonds. Despite playing only 16 games Sharp became a very popular figure. Scoring 9 goals, one of them a last minute winner in the 3-2 win over local rivals Northampton Town, he helped prevent the club being relegated.

Scunthorpe United

After returning from his loan spell, Sharp made two substitute appearances for Sheffield United before he was sold to Scunthorpe United for £100,000 in August 2005. He soon became a firm favourite at Glanford Park scoring 24 goals in his first season with the league one club.

Sharp scored the 50th goal of his career in the 2-0 win at Carlisle United on 9 December 2006. He was featured on ITV's The Championship, and Scunthorpe United chairman Steve Wharton claimed he would reject a bid of £2 million for Sharp.

Sharp broke the Iron's 45 year old club record for most goals scored in a season on 28 April 2007. Barrie Thomas was the previous holder.

Sharp netted 30 times in the league in the 2006-07 season guiding his team to promotion into the Coca Cola Championship. This was the highest total in the 4 leagues of England

.He scored a header in the televised defeat to Aston Villa, which only served to enhance his reputation across the nation. In all, he scored 56 goals in 95 games for Scunthorpe during his two seasons at Glanford Park.

With his goalscoring feats in the 2006–07 season, there was predictable interest from other clubs in Sharp, and a number of clubs made bids for the striker as the season ended.

Sheffield United

Ultimately, lifelong Blades fan Sharp rejoined Sheffield United on 4 July, 2007 for a fee of around £2 million, a deal that also saw Sheffield United's Jonathan Forte transferred to Scunthorpe. Sharp was allocated the number 24 shirt.

Sharp made his full Sheffield United first team debut in the opening game of the 2007–08 season, a 2–2 draw with Colchester United. He scored his first competitive goals for the club in September, scoring two against Morecambe in a 5-0 third round Carling Cup victory but had to wait until March to score his first league goal, in a 2-1 win at home against Coventry City. After finally breaking his duck he went on to score three more times before the end of the season.

Sharp started the 2008–09 season brightly, scoring a perfect hat-trick (header, right foot, left foot) in the Blades' first home game, against Queens Park Rangers. He scored the equaliser in a 1-1 home draw to Coventry a few weeks later, but that proved to be his last league goal of the season. Sharp did score twice more in the FA Cup including a goal against Hull City during a fifth-round replay. During the same game, Sharp was incorrectly booked for diving by referee Peter Walton who later apologised for his mistake.With the club rebuilding the team following their failure to gain promotion, Sharp was placed on the transfer list in July 2009.

Doncaster Rovers

Sharp was constantly linked with moves to both Doncaster and Notts County over the summer of 2009, and on transfer deadline day he signed for Doncaster Rovers on a season-long loan. His first goal for Doncaster Rovers came against his former club Scunthorpe United on 26 September 2009. He then scored against Peterborough United F.C. on the 20th November 2009 and bagged a brace against Blackpool F.C. on Halloween. He then scored the first in a 2-0 win over QPR. He is fast becoming a hero to the Rovers supporters

Statistics

Club Performance

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Doncaster Rovers (loan)	2009-10	11	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	6
Sheffield United	2009-10	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
	2008-09	22	4	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	25	5
	2007-08	29	4	4	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	36	6
Scunthorpe United	2006-07	45	30	3	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	50	32
	2005-06	37	23	4	0	2	0	0	0	2	1	45	24
Rushden & Diamonds (loan)	2004-05	16	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	9
Sheffield United	2004-05	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Total		156	71	13	2	9	4	0	0	2	1	179	77

¹ Last updated 26 September 2009

Notes and References

External links

• Official profile at SUFC