His son's death, overcoming soccer, EPL club legend → Fall in the fourth division, but he still plays until he scores 300 goals + 40 years old

Feb 11, 2025

사진=BBC

My father is great.

Sheffield United legend Billy Sharp's unfortunate interview is making headlines. The British Telegraph said on the 10th (Korea time) "Strikers keep their personal goals confidential, but Sharp is open to saying his goal is to reach 300 goals while playing until the age of 40. He scored a career-high 283 goals, and one of the goals that kept that record going was a volley shot that his son Louis made when he met Blackpool days after his death.

Sharp was born in 1986. A veteran striker, he was a young player who grew up in Sefield. Sharp, who made his Sheffield debut, left Sheffield in 2005 and returned to Sheffield two years later. After leaving Sheffield again in 2010, he moved to various clubs, and in 2015 returned to his old club, Sheffield, where he became a legend for the team. It is also a legend who shared Sheffield's historic promotion to the English Premier League (EPL).

Sharp, who failed to prevent Sheffield's relegation in the 2020-2021 season, played for Sheffield even after going to the English Championship (second division), but aging came. He challenged the U.S. professional football league and returned to championship club Hull City, but Sharp was no longer competitive.

It would not be a strange time to announce his retirement right away, but Sharp had no intention of stopping it. He is now in the twilight of his career playing for Duncaster in the English League Two (fourth division). A 39-year-old striker. Now, even if I stop my career, I'm at an age where no one will say anything. Since he has experienced everything from League 2 to EPL, he cannot be evaluated as a failure.

사진=챔피언십

However, Sharp wants to run until he keeps his promise to his son, who has become a star in the sky. In 2011, Sharp got a son who wouldn't get sick even if he saw it. Unfortunately, Sharp's son was not born healthy in his mother's womb. The abdomen was born underdeveloped. Still, I had hope because the survival rate was 97%, but sadly Sharp's son was among the remaining 3%.

Sharp said "What I wanted to do when I lost my son was soccer. It was a safe space and a moment to get out of it. I'll say thank you forever for helping football get through that period. People helped me a lot to overcome," he recalled.

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Since then, Sharp has changed his lifestyle to play soccer for a long time, which still provides the driving force behind his career. Sharp said "I always wanted to achieve the rest of my work in Doncaster because I had a really good time in Doncaster before, but I didn't achieve anything. So at my age, it's good to have a chance to achieve something."I want to continue my career at Doncaster."

Sharp is trying to help young children who are struggling for the same reason as their son through a contest named after his son's Louis. "We wanted people to remember our son's name and help other people and families" he explained.