John Sharp (15 February 1878 – 28 January 1938) was an English sportsman who is most famous for his eleven-season playing career at Everton from 1899–1910. It saw him win two caps for his country, as well as being a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er for Lancashire County Cricket Club who played in three Test matches for the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engl ...

in 1909.

Life

From 1899 to 1914 Sharp played cricket regularly for Lancashire and played in every match of 1904 when the Championship was won without a defeat. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he played as an amateur and captained the Lancashire side from 1923 to 1925. His position on the football pitch was right winger. After being signed from Aston Villa Sharp went on to be a Championship runner-up on three occasions with Everton, scored a goal in the club's 2–1 defeat to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

in the 1907 FA Cup Final and was an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winner one year previously against Newcastle United. His portrait appeared on 14 editions of cigarette packets, the mark of a popular sportsman at the time. When his playing career ended, Sharp became a director of Everton, a position he held for many years. He started a sports shop in Whitechapel Liverpool, which existed until the 1980s before being taken over by

JJB Sports JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, includ ...

and later closed. There was also a shop in Chester, within the Grosvenor Precinct. His shop was the official supplier of playing strips to both Everton and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

for many years. His brother, Bertram, was also a footballer with Aston Villa, Everton and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

who later became a director of Everton as well as a cricketer with

Herefordshire County Cricket Club Herefordshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty minor county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Herefordshire. The team is currently a member of the Minor Counties Champio ...

Life

References

External links

See also