DOMINIC KING: The sad story of Graeme Sharp’s Everton exile

The back of Goodison Park’s Main Stand is a sight to behold. From one end to the other, running the length of the field, there is a giant pictorial tribute to the men who set the standards.

Alex Young, ‘The Golden Vision’ as he was called, starts the series. On his right, follow Dave Hickson, Bob Latchford and Dixie Dean before Joe Royle completes the line. However, the image that really stands out is the man we haven’t mentioned yet: Graeme Sharp.

Positioned between Dean and Royle, there’s Sharp with the ball on his left foot, moving gracefully towards goal. No matter how many times you’ve visited Goodison, something about this still makes you stand and stare – the colours, the scale and majesty. It’s a snapshot.

What a player Sharp was: he gave Everton 11 years after leaving Dumbarton in 1980 for £120,000, scored 159 times in 446 appearances and set the foil for great partnerships with Andy Gray, Adrian Heath and Gary Lineker, who carried the weight of the No. 9 wore Jersey.

Only the incomparable Dean can better the proud Scot’s tally, who had a prodigious leap and a shot like a cannon – think back to the volley that settled the Merseyside Derby at Anfield in October 1984. His place in history is secure.

It’s a sad story for an iconic player who painted a mural on the side of Goodison Park

Sharp (back row, fourth from left) is arguably the club’s greatest living player – he was a vital part of their success in the 1980s

However, for the past five months, looking at the image has caused deep sadness. Sharp, who won two league titles, scored the opening goal against Watford in the 1984 FA Cup Final and also won the European Cup Winners Cup, is Everton’s greatest living player.

He is to Everton what Sir Kenny Dalglish is to Liverpool, Sir Bobby Charlton is to Manchester United and Mike Summerbee is to Manchester City: a statesman who has represented the club with dignity and pride around the world.

Can you imagine one of those men not being able to set foot in the stadiums they once dream about?

Yet that is the situation Sharp, now 62, currently finds himself in. The last time he attended a game at Goodison was on 3 January when Everton were sacked by Brighton and lost 4–1. It was a feverish night, with protests against the board of directors.

On the day of the next home game, against Southampton on 14 January, Everton released a statement saying they had been given safety advice that it was not safe for members of the board to attend the game and that this was “a deeply saddening competition was. situation.

A video had been released on social media the previous evening by a group of fans, who lined up with banners on Goodison Road. Between the barbs aimed at chairman Bill Kenwright and major shareholder Farhad Moshiri, a two-word banner that inflicted the deepest cut of them all.

It said ‘Sharp Out’.

What made this all the more surprising was the fact that the person holding it aloft was directly below the photo adorning the main grandstand in tribute to Sharp. There was horror within the club that he had been targeted.

Much of Everton’s season has been marked by vociferous protests, including calls for Sharp’s departure

Sharp had been appointed to an unpaid non-executive role on the board on January 5, 2022, describing it as “one of the greatest honors of all.” He was part of the club’s furniture, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 before being named an ambassador and then president of playing life. He added: “This club is in my blood. I take my role as custodian of our great club very seriously.”

Those words were not hollow. Sharp had always been a regular visitor to Finch Farm, the club’s training base. He would be there, giving advice and encouragement to players when needed, and being a sounding board for managers.

He had been involved in the recruitment and application process when Frank Lampard was appointed, following the sacking of Rafa Benitez, and was desperate for success. The appreciation Lampard had for him in the meantime was beyond dispute. Higher he could not speak of him.

Critics wondered what influence Sharp actually had behind the scenes, given that decisions were ultimately made by Farhad Moshiri or Bill Kenwright, but in a club where chaos often reigns, he would put forward a point of view that is intended to express to challenge and question.

There have been times when there has been a rush to reward players with new contracts quickly, but he would always advise that there was no need to commit large sums to individuals who still had things to prove. He had played at the top and knew what it took to get there.

Everton’s interests have always been central to him. He would be proud to represent the club at every event, would speak with passion and also have a gleam in his eye as he debated with fans of the team at Stanley Park.

Dissatisfaction and anger directed at Farhad Moshiri has spread to the other board members

Unfortunately, that shimmer is gone. Sharp, a humble man who has never wallowed in nostalgia or displayed the memorabilia of his playing career at his home, is deeply hurt that he has not been able to see Everton at the London Stadium since January 21. His wife Anne-Marie – the couple’s proud grandparents – is inconsolable about the criticism.

Who can blame her? Sharp hasn’t visited Finch Farm lately, he won’t be in social situations where a fan could appear with a complaint against the board and there’s the very real prospect that he might never go to Goodison again. What a miserable situation this is.

They sing in the Gwladys Street about ‘when you know your history’ but clearly some of those shouting that aren’t – having a complaint with Moshiri and Kenwright is one thing, making a club legend unwelcome in the place that should be his home is unforgivable.

While all that image in the main stand is stunning, a reminder of who he is and what he was, Graeme Sharp’s presence in Goodison Park shouldn’t be in the form of a photograph. Instead, the empty seat that belonged to him in the driver’s box is the emblem of a sad, sorry story.