Lee Sharpe appeared on the scene as I was just old enough to follow football and I was following United regularly when he found himself competing with Danny Wallace. Sharpe's personality made a really strong connection with kids which is part of the reason why he's got a mythical stature with a large segment of fans who started following in the late 80s.
There are multiple layers to this. He was a kid competing against the established figure of Wallace. People tend to have a stronger connection with the kid when they are promising. If someone else had been on the left wing then the sentiment towards Sharpe may have been different. On the pitch, he was fairly direct and quick (at the start of his career). This again plays into the storyline of a dashing young winger. He scored some important goals and he knew how to celebrate which helped you rub it in the face of your friends. You could feel something special was happening at the club and this sentiment mixed with how you felt when you saw the confidence of Sharpe. The win over Arsenal sealed this for a lot of people and I was still winding up my Arsenal friends about this at the end of the season (that game was in November.)
He was important for our Cup Winner's Cup campaign. That was a huge team effort, but for a young kid to again stand out with important contributions got noticed. For me, that was the pinnacle of Sharpe's career. At the time, I was too young to appreciate the other factors that contributed to his downfall, but I recall my dad commenting on how external factors brought down Best and I think he was suggesting that off-field antics were impacting Sharpe. In a way, these were probably a helpful reminder for Ferguson that he needed to intervene to protect players which resulted in even greater success with Giggs and others.
As for what happened later, the injuries were bad, but Sharpe could have adjusted and ended his career differently. He didn't take things seriously and things went more downhil than they should have. I wouldn't change what happened with Sharpe and choose to remember the best bits. While the banter about off-field antics are fun memories for some, they distract from greater and more important memories which survive much longer in the history of our club.
There are multiple layers to this. He was a kid competing against the established figure of Wallace. People tend to have a stronger connection with the kid when they are promising. If someone else had been on the left wing then the sentiment towards Sharpe may have been different. On the pitch, he was fairly direct and quick (at the start of his career). This again plays into the storyline of a dashing young winger. He scored some important goals and he knew how to celebrate which helped you rub it in the face of your friends. You could feel something special was happening at the club and this sentiment mixed with how you felt when you saw the confidence of Sharpe. The win over Arsenal sealed this for a lot of people and I was still winding up my Arsenal friends about this at the end of the season (that game was in November.)
He was important for our Cup Winner's Cup campaign. That was a huge team effort, but for a young kid to again stand out with important contributions got noticed. For me, that was the pinnacle of Sharpe's career. At the time, I was too young to appreciate the other factors that contributed to his downfall, but I recall my dad commenting on how external factors brought down Best and I think he was suggesting that off-field antics were impacting Sharpe. In a way, these were probably a helpful reminder for Ferguson that he needed to intervene to protect players which resulted in even greater success with Giggs and others.
As for what happened later, the injuries were bad, but Sharpe could have adjusted and ended his career differently. He didn't take things seriously and things went more downhil than they should have. I wouldn't change what happened with Sharpe and choose to remember the best bits. While the banter about off-field antics are fun memories for some, they distract from greater and more important memories which survive much longer in the history of our club.