Billy Sharp

Billy Louis Sharp (born 5 February 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Hull City.

He has played for Sheffield United, Rushden & Diamonds, Scunthorpe United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Reading, Doncaster Rovers and Leeds United.

He began his career with the youth teams of Rotherham United and Sheffield United, before making his first-team debut for Sheffield United during the 2004–05 season.

He joined Rushden and Diamonds on loan in January 2005, scoring 9 goals in 16 games for the club, before moving to Scunthorpe United in 2005.

Sharp joined Scunthorpe on a permanent deal in 2005 for a fee of £100,000.

During the 2005–06 season, Sharp was noted for his partnership with striker Andy Keogh, on loan from Leeds United.

Keogh and Sharp became part of the most potent strike-force in League One, scoring 38 goals between them, Sharp scoring 23 goals, with Keogh netting 15 of them.

Sharp netted 30 times in the league in the 2006–07 season guiding his team to promotion into the 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.

Ultimately, 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 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 League 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.

Sharp signed a season-long loan with Championship club Doncaster Rovers on 1 September 2009.

He was given the number 5 for the season, an unusual choice for a striker.

He made his debut on 12 September against Reading, he scored his first goal just two games later against former club, Scunthorpe United.

With ten goals in seventeen games, meant interest came in from a number of clubs, and Sheffield United would allow the striker to move away during the January transfer market, with both Doncaster Rovers and fellow Championship club Barnsley reported to be looking to sign the striker.

Near the end of the season, a knee injury stopped Sharp's season but he still managed to finish with 15 goals in 33 league games.

During the summer transfer window, Sheffield United rejected an initial bid of what was thought to be £1 million from Doncaster on 20 May, but they hadn't given up hope of signing the striker.

On 29 June, Sharp rejected a move to relegated Premier League side Burnley, despite the £1 million being accepted by United.

Sharp finally signed for Doncaster Rovers on 7 July 2010 for £1.15 million, beating their record fee of £300,000 for Matt Mills from Manchester City.

Three days after the death of his newborn son in 2011, Sharp played and scored the opener in the game, and five days later he was lauded by the Ipswich Town fans following his goal against them.

He and his wife set up The Luey Jacob Sharp Foundation in aid of gastroschisis research and to support other people affected by this condition.

Born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Sharp played for Middlewood Rovers Junior Football Club as a young player.

On 3 March 2011, Sharp told BBC Radio that he would need a hernia operation but would try to hold it till the end of the season so that he could reach a 20-goal milestone.

Sharp signed a three-year contract, which kept him at Keepmoat Stadium till the summer of 2013.

Sharp made his second debut on 7 August, scoring in his first game back against Preston North End.

Sharp also managed to score against another of his former clubs, Sheffield United in a 2–0 victory for Rovers, but was forced off in the first half with a hamstring problem.

It was later confirmed that he would be out for at least six weeks.

In his return, against Leicester City, Sharp managed to score a six-minute opener at the Walkers Stadium.

On 1 January 2019, Sharp scored his 220th goal and became the leading English born goalscorer in English professional football during the 21st century so far, overtaking the record set by Rickie Lambert.

On 8 February 2019, Sharp scored his 100th goal in all competitions for Sheffield United when he scored his second goal in a 3–3 draw against Aston Villa.