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 to 1910. It saw him win two caps for his country, as well as being a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er for

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire Cricket Club represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire in Cricket in England, English cricket. The club has held first-class cricket, first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's ho ...

who played in three Test matches for the

England cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

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. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

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 Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

winner one year previously against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. 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 port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

who later became a director of Everton as well as a cricketer with Herefordshire County Cricket Club.

Life

References

External links

See also