Bob Sharpe (footballer)

Robert Sharpe (20 December 1925 – 21 February 2014) was a Scottish footballer who played as a right back in the Scottish League for Raith Rovers and in the English Football League for Darlington.[1][3]

For the Bradford City A.F.C. manager, see Bob Sharp (football manager).

Bob Sharpe
Personal information
Full name Robert Sharpe[1]
Date of birth (1925-12-20)20 December 1925[1]
Place of birth Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Date of death 21 February 2014(2014-02-21) (aged 88)[2]
Position(s) Right back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Dunfermline Athletic 0 (0)
1947–194? Thornton Hibs
194?–1951 Rosyth Recreation
1951–1952 Raith Rovers 1 (0)
1952–1953 Darlington 14 (0)
– Blackhall Colliery Welfare
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

Sharpe was born in Kirkcaldy.[1] He played for Dunfermline Athletic in the 1945–46 wartime league[4] before being reinstated as a junior with Thornton Hibs in 1947.[5] By 1949 he was at Rosyth Recreation,[6] helping the club to the top of the Fife Junior League.[7] In February 1951, after Rosyth had beaten them in the Scottish Junior Cup, the Luncarty club protested Sharpe's inclusion, claiming that his reinstatement as a junior was faulty because he had never previously played as such, having moved directly from juvenile football to a senior club. The Scottish Junior Football Association concurred.[8]

Sharpe moved on to Raith Rovers of Scottish League Division One, for whom he appeared for the reserves[9] but only once in a League match.[3] He became one of several Scots recruited in the 1952 close season by Bob Gurney for English Third Division North club Darlington.[10] He played 14 League matches in the 1952–53 season, and then moved into non-league football with Blackhall Colliery Welfare.[3]

He settled in Darlington, County Durham, where he worked at a garage and as a taxi driver[11] and continued to attend Darlington F.C.'s matches.[12] He was married to Jean and had a son. He died in February 2014.[2]

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1998). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–1998. Queen Anne Press. p. 491. ISBN 978-1-85291-585-8.
  2. "Deaths: Robert (Bob) Sharpe". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  3. "Bob Sharpe". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  4. "Cup-tie stuff at Kirkcaldy". The Courier. Dundee. 24 September 1945. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "75 seniors wanted to come back". The Courier. Dundee. 24 July 1947. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. 'Fifer' (19 December 1949). "Cup dates for Fife big three". The Courier. Dundee. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "No 'wrecks' in Rosyth's ranks". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. 25 March 1950. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Luncarty win protest". The Courier. Dundee. 8 February 1951. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Raith changes". The Courier. Dundee. 28 September 1951. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Bob signs Scots". Motherwell Times. 11 July 1952. p. 13 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. Amos, Mike (13 March 2014). "Robson's choice". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  12. Amos, Mike (29 January 2008). "The day Greener's Darlington made FA Cup clowns of Chelsea". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
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