‘I won seven major trophies at Man Utd but now play pro golf with Ryder Cup stars’ Bradford city may look on this man
EXCLUSIVE: Lee Sharpe was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson and won seven major trophies at Manchester United, but now he’s taking the golf world by storm.
Lee Sharpe may not have envisaged the glory he would go on to enjoy under Sir Alex Ferguson when he joined Manchester United in 1988, given the Scot’s rocky start to life at Old Trafford. But he almost certainly wouldn’t have predicted the different career bases he would touch after retiring from football.
Sharpe made his United debut in September 1988 after switching from Torquay United, going on to make 265 appearances, scoring 36 goals and lifting seven major trophies.
In between, he was named the PFA Young Player of the Year for the 1990/91 season and played an important role at the start of Sir Alex’s era of dominance.
Sharpe produced many a memorable moment in red, including his strike against Legia Warsaw en route to the 1991 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
‘I won seven major trophies at Man Utd but now play pro golf with Ryder Cup stars’
EXCLUSIVE: Lee Sharpe was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson and won seven major trophies at Manchester United, but now he’s taking the golf world by storm.
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Lee Sharpe won the Premier League with Manchester United, now he’s a pro golfer.
Lee Sharpe won the Premier League with Manchester United, now he’s a pro golfer. (Image: American Golf)
Lee Sharpe may not have envisaged the glory he would go on to enjoy under Sir Alex Ferguson when he joined Manchester United in 1988, given the Scot’s rocky start to life at Old Trafford. But he almost certainly wouldn’t have predicted the different career bases he would touch after retiring from football.
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Lee Sharpe, 52, also did TV work after retirement from football.
Lee Sharpe, 52, also did TV work after retirement from football. (Image: American Golf)
Sharpe made his United debut in September 1988 after switching from Torquay United, going on to make 265 appearances, scoring 36 goals and lifting seven major trophies.
In between, he was named the PFA Young Player of the Year for the 1990/91 season and played an important role at the start of Sir Alex’s era of dominance.
Sharpe produced many a memorable moment in red, including his strike against Legia Warsaw en route to the 1991 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
His hat-trick against Arsenal in the League Cup and delightful backheel against Barcelona in the Champions League three years later wasn’t bad either.
And his United career may very well have been extended if it wasn’t for the emergence of young prodigies named Ryan Giggs and David Beckham in the early ’90s.
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Permanent stints at five clubs – most notably Leeds United and Bradford City – followed his three Premier Leagues, three Charity Shields, two FA Cups, one League Cup and a European Cup Winners’ Cup at Old Trafford.
He walked away from his football career – which also featured eight England caps – in 2003, finding renewed fame as a TV personality.
Celebrity Wrestling, Celebrity Love Island, Dancing on Ice, and even Coronation Street are among his credits. But in 2021, he decided to invest time into his true passion – golf.
“I’ve always loved golf. I started playing when I got to United when I was 17, so I was a bit of a late starter,” Sharpe said in an exclusive interview with Express Sport.
“But I always loved it, and I had a mate who was a golf pro on the European Tour at the same time I was trying to get my handicap down as an amateur to scratch.
“The idea was that I was going to try and qualify for the British Open as an amateur, and he was going to try and qualify as a pro. Move on a few years down the line, and I turned pro in the UK.”
Sharpe now resides in Spain, and he’s on a mission to enter professional status overseas, too, so he can enter the Legends Tour.
He continued: “Over here in Spain, it’s a bit of a different regime, and I’ve got to go down a different route to do it. That’s what I’m trying to do at the moment: turn pro in Spain.
“Then I can become a fully-fledged PGA pro and play as many tournaments as I can, as many tours, and then the ideal goal would be to get on the European Senior Tour, to that standard of golfer.”
It’s not uncommon for footballers to try their hand at professional golf after retirement, given the sport’s popularity amongst players.
Gareth Bale’s exploration into golf has been widely documented. Sharpe name-dropped fellow ex-Red Devils star Clayton Blackmore and Jimmy Bullard as other retired footballers talented with a club.
The 52-year-old believes he has carried plenty of traits across from football, but none more than a strong mindset, which Sir Alex undoubtedly helped instil at United.
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