James Sharp (11 October 1880 – 18 November 1949) was a Scottish international

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Career

Club

Born in

Alyth Alyth () ( gd, Ailt) is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, northeast of Blairgowrie and about northwest of Dundee. In 2016 the town had an estimated population of 2,400. First mentioned by name in a 12th-century royal charter of William ...

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nor ...

, Sharp began his career with East Craigie and then joined Dundee in 1899. There he was a regular at

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in his five seasons there, where he earned a

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

runners-up medal in

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. In 1904 he moved south of the border to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

, who were then in the Southern League. A year later, in 1905 he was snapped up by Woolwich Arsenal of the First Division and promptly became a regular in the side after making his debut against

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on 2 September 1905. He missed only three league games in his first season and reached the

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semi-finals twice in his first two seasons.

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prised him away in April 1908 for £400. In total he played 116 games for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals. His spell at Rangers only lasted nine months before he moved back to

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again, rejoining Fulham for a transfer fee of £1,000. He spent another four seasons at

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. Sharp then joined Fulham's local rivals

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, leaving upon the cancellation of league football in 1915 due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Sharp then returned to Scotland, joining Dundee Hibernian of the wartime Eastern League in September 1915. He left in April 1916 for military service with the

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, but briefly returned to play for Dundee Hibs in February 1919. He moved back to Fulham in 1919, working as a trainer. However, at the age of 39 he made an unlikely comeback; after Fulham's inside left Harold Crockford missed the team bus to an away game at Bury on 17 April 1920, Sharp returned and scored in a 2–2 draw. Sharp later coached at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

and

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. He died in 1949, aged 69.

International

Sharp made his debut for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 12 March 1904 while with Dundee. He won another three Scotland

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at Arsenal, and one more against Wales on 1 March 1909 during his Fulham spell, to bring his total to five.

References

;Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, James 1880 births 1949 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Dundee F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Footballers from Perth and Kinross Men's association football fullbacks Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Football League representative players East Craigie F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Black Watch soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Dundee United F.C. players Place of death missing

Career

Club

International

See also

References