Former Sheffield United man, Billy Sharp has opened up about THAT game between Wrexham and the Blades in the FA Cup last season.
Cast your mind back to last season, Wrexham welcomed Sheffield United in an FA Cup fourth-round clash in a game which finished 3-3.
This saw Phil Parkinson’s side have to travel to Bramall Lane knowing a win would see them welcome Tottenham to The Racecourse.
It didn’t fall the way of the Reds on the night as they suffered an unfortunate 3-1 loss and were dumped from the cup. The run still left fans with great memories like the 4-3 win over Coventry City in the previous round.
With that being said, there was one moment and player in particular which lives long in the memory of Wrexham fans, even now.
What has Billy Sharp said about Wrexham fans?
It is safe to say that Billy Sharp isn’t a popular figure around The Racecourse for his actions and comments post-game. This saw Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds make comments about the Englishman.
Speaking with former Wrexham man, Ben Foster on The Fozcast, the now free agent has been opening up about the game. He has now made his feelings on the moment clear.
Although his actions weren’t great, he has praised the Reds fans. On that, he said: “People know what I’m like with fans. I take a lot, I give a lot. It’s part of the game. Without fans, football is nothing.
“Wrexham fans were in full noise that day and they were brilliant. They were loud, got right behind their team and it was a proper FA Cup tie over the two legs.”
The Reds fans travelled in huge numbers and definitely made his voices heard, both home and away. The compliment coming from Sharp may not be taken on board by fans given what happened next.
What is his reasoning behind his actions?
The game at Bramall Lane saw the Blades secure a 3-1 win and progress to the next round. Following the full-time whistle, Sharp made gestures to the travelling fans and had a heated conversation with Parkinson.
On his reasons, he said: “A few things happened. First leg, one of our lads got sent off, got provoked. We scored in the last minute when they thought they’d won it. There were other things in the press. The documentary, everyone wanted Wrexham to go on this run.”
This sentiment from Sharp obviously got under his skin and fired him up coming into the game. At the end of the day, any cup game which features a non-league and a soon-to-be Premier League team is going to be spoken about.
In the ‘Welcome to Wrexham‘ documentary, the co-owners opened up about his actions such as the confusion from everyone at Wrexham.
Continuing on, Sharp added: “I’m the Sheffield United captain, the FA Cup means a lot to me personally. We wanted to win. I could see how much Wrexham players, fans, everything wanted to win. I didn’t want that happening on our patch when I was responsible for my team that day.”
It is safe to say that Sharp let Wrexham get under his skin and was affected by a National League team, at the time. The behaviour still confuses fans given what the Blades went on to achieve.