Sharp Kenny Image 1 Chelsea 1920

Description

Alexandria, Dunbartonshire born inside left Kenny Sharp played for Vale of Leven in 1914 and then Clydebank Juniors in 1918 before joining First Division club Chelsea in November 1919 making his Football League debut against Blackburn Rovers in February 1920, scoring twice in a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge. He had four seasons at Chelsea during which he appeared increasingly regularly, scoring 23 goals in 72 appearances before joining Tottenham Hotspur in March 1923.

However he only played 3 times for The Lilywhites before moving to Leicester City in January 1925, where he was also largely a reserve team player, scoring twice in 12 appearances for The Foxes over two seasons. He transferred to Third Division (North) club Nelson in June 1926 where he bagged 24 goals in his first season to top score for the club, although his second was less prolific producing a modest 11 goals by comparison, and by the time he joined Southport in October 1928 he had bagged 36 goals in 83 appearances for The Admirals. At Southport he scored once in 5 appearances that winter before finishing his professional football career.

NB in the photograph taken at Stamford Bridge on 16th October 1920 prior to Chelsea’s match against Tottenham Hotspur, King George V is introduced to the Chelsea team and shakes hands with Dr John Bell. It is hard to identify other players. The player in the foreground  with high collar looking at the King appears to be goalkeeper Jimmy Molyneux. The player between Molyneux and Bell with arms folded appears to be Kenny Sharp. The player the other side of Bell appears to be Wally Bettridge, and the player with shoulders forward immediately to the right of the King’s bowler hat could be Bobby McNeil. Tottenham won the match 4-0.