| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Albert Sharpley | ||
| Date of birth | December 1890 | ||
| Place of birth | Bow, England | ||
| Date of death | 1 July 1916 (1916-08) (aged 25) | ||
| Place of death | Somme, France | ||
| Position(s) | Left back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1912 | Leicester Fosse | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
William Albert Sharpley DCM (December 1890 – 1 July 1916) was an English professional footballer who played as a left back in the Football League for Leicester Fosse.
Personal life
Prior to 1912, Sharpley enlisted in the Essex Regiment of the British Army. After the outbreak of the First World War, his battalion arrived on the Western Front on 21 August 1914 and saw action at Le Cateau, Marne, Messines and Armentières. Serving as a sergeant, he was mentioned in dispatches and won the Cross of St. George 2nd Class "for conspicuous gallantry in rescuing and bringing in across the open and under fire, a wounded NCO" in late 1914. In February 1916, Sharpley won the Distinguished Conduct Medal for bringing another wounded man in under fire, southeast of Hébuterne. He was killed on the first day of the Somme in an area between Serre-lès-Puisieux and Beaumont-Hamel and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. As a result of his death, Sharpley's sister Kate became an anarchist campaigner.
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leicester Fosse | 1911–12 | Second Division | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| Career total | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
References
- ^ Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 261. ISBN 978-1905891610.
- ^ "William Sharpley | Leicester City career stats". FoxesTalk. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
- ^ "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ McCrery, Nigel (18 June 2015). The Final Season: The Footballers Who Fought and Died in the Great War. Penguin Random House. pp. 122–125. ISBN 9780099594666.
- ^ "Leicester Fosse And The First World War: Part Eight". www.lcfc.com. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  | This biographical article related to association football in England, about a defender born in the 1890s, is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- 1890 births
- Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
- People from Bow, London
- English men's footballers
- Men's association football fullbacks
- English Football League players
- British Army personnel of World War I
- 1916 deaths
- Military personnel from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
- Essex Regiment soldiers
- British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme
- Leicester City F.C. players
- Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal
- Recipients of the Cross of St. George
- 20th-century English sportsmen
- English football defender, 1890s birth stubs