One Glaring Absence

Graeme Sharp was an immobile lump worth 5-8 goals a season by the time I saw him, so I don't even have particularly good memories of him as a player.

And as a man: much much worse — Evertonians have suffered so much over the last 5 years. Whilst our red cousins have played unbelievable football, won leagues and cups & Europe, we've literally been hanging on to our Premier League status, year after year after year.

We've done incredible maths looking at the teams around us, prayed every weekend for about 6 results to go our way… put up with some of the most turgid and ineffective football for so long.

One of the main factors that has kept this great club afloat has been the unbelievable fans. The passion, commitment and energy… by god, the fans wouldn't let the club go down!

So, for a board (of which Sharp was a member) to make unsubstantiated accusations against our fans was unforgivable. Absolutely atrocious.

Just think: lots on here hate Gordon because he wanted out after being confronted by fans – that's a fact. There's video footage. But we hate him for forcing a move to get away from the Everton situation.

Yet we're ready to forgive a man who hasn't even apologised for being part of unsubstantiated accusations!!!

Nah, not for me. Stay away, Sharpie – until you can apologise and/or come clean, you can go and count your blood money and enjoy it.

If that were the case, we've had plenty of high-profile players, fans and officials who could be disbarred.

For me, it's just really simple. He went along with some specific, shameful activities. He's complicit, even if I can accept there may be some human factors in his decision to, at a minimum, go along with it.

He's not been barred from the ground and it really makes no difference to anyone except him whether he's there or not.

But he can't move on. Ultimately, it's his loss.

So what gets me in Sharp's interview with The Scotsman is that he's perpetuating the myths of "headlockgate" and the "clear and present danger" of the board attending games, which is unacceptable.

It appears to me that he's the one who's bitter about the events and how they played out, possibly because of his perceived fall from grace as an Everton Legend and Hero? (which he undoubtedly is).

The fans can hopefully draw a line under the Chairman Bill years when we move into a new stadium with a new owner, but it seems that Sharp can't, and that is regrettable.

I believe he has made his own bed there, as it cannot be denied that before he accepted his 'muppet' role on the Board, he truly remained a true Everton Legend.

I believe, if he were to be honest enough, it would be through his embarrassment that he accepted the salary and subsequent pay-off, were the real reasons he is now a no-show. Even after invitation and refusing any olive branches which were kindly offered by Dyche (apparently), so kudos to Sean there on that one.

He and they are a disgrace – period.

How could Sharp not be a legend for me? I was there for it all. I was at Oxford on 18 January 1984, Rotterdam on 15 May 1985, and Carrow Road on 4 May 1987.

What I don’t think you do adequately in your thinking here Lyndon is to separate that Graeme Sharp from the Graeme Sharp who very happily became a Kenwright crone for two turdy decades. He was:

... The fan liaison officer who criticised the fans.

... The boardroom toad who kept his mouth shut behind the collective snug front of Kenwright’s bunker where lies and false accusations were the familiar soundtrack.

... His own self-made victim after catching Kenwrightitis (the main symptoms are self-denial, silence, gaslighting, pomposity, self-delusion, and not treating fans with the respect that they deserve ) who still believes that he was hounded out of the club by the people he failed to liaise with into what in fact is his self-imposed exile.

... The ex-fan liaison officer who took his place on the parasite board who made no attempt to communicate with fans.

... The self-pitying ‘hurt’ grown up who is a victim more sinned against than sinning who cynically wants us to respond to his pathetic plaintive pleas as Sharp the player and not establishment Sharp who sucked Kenwright’s nipples for nourishment, praise, and money.

... And the grumpy bored resident of somewhere North Wales, starved of attention, who took the decision to speak to the papers because he was worried that he was becoming forgotten.

‘I am not really bothered now’, our former player says. Then why did you run to the papers? Well, he got a golden opportunity to state his sanctimonious self-pity case, blame others, regurgitate false narratives, and create an idea and image of himself as wronged victim, in the full knowledge that there would not be a right of reply because he was once a footy player.

This is the bit that really gets my goat: ‘I just think the stick that I got was totally undeserved’. Am I allowed to call a ‘legend’ a self-deluded narcissistic obnoxious twat? What does he want us to fecking do? Walk en masse begging forgiveness to somewhere North Wales with an amazing technicolour dreamcoat and a chariot of gold to bring him back in self-basking glory through one of the tunnels? Are we supposed to start a facebook/instagram/tiktok petition to free the Everton 9?

I think that Lyndon is reasonably and commendably asking in a very human way for Sharp’s reintegration into the Everton fold. The trouble is that Sharp is not acting like that or in any way deserving. He is ‘not really bothered now’. He projects himself as a hurt victim not a deserving case.

There are some situations when ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ or ‘let bygones be bygones’ can seem trite, hollow, shallow, too easy. Sharp ought not to be let off the hook because he put a self-pity narrative in a paper. He still sucks Kenwright’s nipples in memoriam. He made his bed, choices, decisions, money. He should not be there for The Old Lady’s final bow. His presence will be divisive unless he has the integrity to make amends. He might possibly spoil the occasion for some; one is too many. And isn’t it possible that forty years on some of our mid-80s legends are sick and tired of Sharp’s toad life and would not be arsed if he was not there?

Imagine. Sharp walks into the Goodison lift on that sad last day. The door closes. Sharp looks up. The only other fella in the lift is Neville Southall.

‘I’ll never go back. I can never go back’. You brought it all on yourself soft lad.

On the possible Sharp/Southall lift encounter scenario:

"Sharpy will be my friend to the day I die
We have gone through thick and thin together
Nothing will ever break that friendship
I sit down and wonder what I would have done
The honest truth is I don't know
I think I do but I am guessing"

I'm going for awkward man hug.

It can be really crap sometimes when you peer beneath the veneer of legend or idol to find out what the human said legend or idol is actually like.

And how they got through those pissed up nights in The Weld Blundell on the Formby bypass and Sands and Toad Hall (Sharpy would have been well at home at Toad Hall) in Ainsdale beggars belief.

There was anger and frustration at the time aimed at the dysfunctional way the club was being run and maybe it got a bit heated. It's not the first time. Kendall must go and I remember a march down Goodison Road after a defeat by Tottenham. The Benitez season.

Sometimes the frustration spills over, but only through a desire to see Everton in the position we feel they should be.

I was disappointed at the time that Sharp didn't come out and make a stand. I'm disappointed he has taken this stance rather thanmaking a different statement to reconcile with the supporters who idolised the player.

I hope over the coming months his mind changes and he walks out onto the pitch he once graced with his teammates.

I also think it would be a nice gesture for Colin Harvey to walk them out.

And if I get to meet Sheedy, I'll probably faint!!

What I do know is that he was a great player for us. Many fans have bitter feelings and that is up to them. I have seen a lot of hate over the years that may or may not be justified. I don't know the reality but am happy to move forward. Life is too full of misery and hate at present.

My opinion is that we worry more about the football, continue to support the team. What has gone before has gone. As I said, I don't believe everything that is put out but cannot say what is and isn't true.

Sadly, and I really mean that as a veteran of 1984-87, Sharp might well be the most divisive living figure in the circles that matter in our club with the exception of our absentee landlord and that twat who sits behind Brian Williams shouting shite all through the match.

I imagine that the Scotsman newspaper approached Sharp; I doubt if he ‘sent this self-serving/-pitying shite to the press' or if ‘Then why did you run to the papers?' is accurate.

Again, just my opinion.

I don't understand why he needed to regurgitate all this nonsense at this time but I for one hope he does attend but only if he doesn't sulk.

But I do respect your opinion, Ray. You've studied Everton for longer than I have. But my hunch is that you might possibly be wrong on this occasion, although a part of me really wants you to be right.

There are some right weirdos in that 1% though.

But even then I'd suggest the worst case might be a bit of a drive by shouting.

I had to read that three times.

Tell the truth and shame the devil, Sharpy, unless that truth is so unpalatable from your point of view, you'd rather just whinge.

'Fess up, or at least tell a palatable version of the truth we can all live with, sources close, etc.

Seriously, Graeme, if you read this, mate, I'm being very sincere when I say “Thanks very much for the memories” but like Andy Gray said with a smile, when I echoed that same gratitude to him one night, “I enjoyed it even more than you, you know!”

Everton has been very kind to you, Graeme, and helped give you a wonderful life. Until the silence is removed, then most people will feel you chose the devil, rather than the real soul of Everton Football Club.,

But the real soul is the real soul for a reason, and I'm sure they would welcome you with open arms, if a little bit of humility and truth came their way. I might be wrong… but I doubt it.

You won't get the truth. To be honest I don't really care about it – onwards and upwards. And it's not like we need headlock-gate to be confirmed as false... it sounded ridiculous from the start.

Yes. Howard!

Let's say the headlock did happen, let's say death threats were made. Those very things may have tipped the balance to get rid of Moshiri and his cronies.

Even if Sharp was totally innocent in the whole saga, the actions taken by fans justified the push to get rid of Moshiri and Co.

Without fans acting the way they did, we could well be clapping Sharp, Barrett-Baxendale and Co around the new stadium in The Championship.

Sharp was a great player, not sure how good he was in the boardroom.

There are plenty of Evertonians who won't get to say goodbye to Goodison Park. Sharp not being there won't make any difference to me.

Mind you, they probably wouldn't want to mess with him!!

I have sat in the Goodison Main Stand since the mid-1960s, watching and supporting great Everton sides and very poor Everton sides, and believe me, it was a hard watch at times, during the 1970s.

Over time, I have realized that our supporters (if you can call some that) have become more hostile towards the players and the club. So much so, I decided that I would not be going to the new stadium – I have had enough.

Football is a sport, not a matter of life or death, and some of our so-called supporters should take a long look in the mirror.

No criticism of the people doing the romanticising either by the way. The disgrace is all on the people who have run the club into ground – when we were well placed to secure a rich and rosy future at the top of the food chain.

I look forward to developing some players capable of allowing us to focus on the present and future rather than the distant past.

Of course, those of us who lived through the '80s will remember it with fond memories. I have family who reflect fondly on the Moyes years, whereas I don't.

And those old enough to recall the '60s, with Young, Harvey, Kendall, Ball, Vernon, Gabriel and Royle. My cousin can talk all day about Bob Latchford. And some of a certain generation idolised Duncan Ferguson. It's not a disgrace to reflect on the past.

I do agree with your point about moving forward to a better future, but there is no shame looking back. Don't live in the past, but don't disrespect what made us the club we are. 9 times league champions.

This created a very toxic atmosphere, and wasn't helped by the team surrendering a lead to lose to the bottom team, with another awful performance.

Yerry Mina only had to face up to a few kids (I know this doesn't make what happened right) and it sounded like they were only trying to find out what was going on (judging by the recordings on X) because, let's face it, we don't know the half of it according to the people in high places, and it doesn't sound like anyone wants to tell us anything either.

Sean Dyche has already alluded to this on numerous occasions, but imagine getting the Everton job and being told by the board of directors that they aren't welcome at Goodison so they would have to wish him luck the day before the game.

A sorry saga that has hopefully run its course because it's time for Everton to become a genuinely professional football club once again and leave the unadulterated misery of what has transpired this century behind us as we get ready to move into a stadium that is thankfully befitting of a previous time in our history.

I am sure that a letter from Sharp explaining why he chose not to speak up when Kenwright tried to criminalise the club's own fans would be more than enough.

Of course, hubris might prevent him from doing so. Then it is up to him.

If he decides to come back along with the champions then I'll cheer him, as I did 40 years ago, for the fantastic service he gave the club as a player. No apology required for that. If he doesn't, I'll cope.

If regaining respect from fans, as a human being, means anything to him then he is going to need to build some bridges. This is perfectly possible, but the article is not the way to go about that.

Maybe he's an old man who just doesn't need any of that anymore, in which case, I respect his position and don't expect to hear from him again.

Your last paragraph says it all. Time to move on and behave like a professional and progressive football club and look to the future.

There are plenty of players and fans, some separated by cost, distance, health and some, sadly, by death, who might've liked to be there, so he'll just be one amongst many (like me) who won't have that golden ticket.

On the day, not many in real terms will miss either of us in a vast host of other far worthier absentees.

I am (hopefully) aiming to make it in September between the International Breaks though.

He's just put two fingers up to the whole fanbase, when it's him that took the gold and shafted the fans. Who cares what he thinks.

"not comfortable in the city" - Even if he reveals his wife and kids were threatened and bullets sent in the post with any number of unspeakable threats made, some here would just give a "c'est la vie" shrug of the shoulders.

It will be a desperate omission if he doesn't return and a possible focal point for the red media to exploit, but do we care?

I think so… but you never can tell these days.

And I disagree; I would suggest that if this hypothetical situation were to ever happen, then there would not be one Evertonian on this forum that would condone it.

Did you ask him, like?

Did it go like this?

"Sharpie baby, are you sure this isn't all in your head?"

"Were security messing around with that not turning up for games caper?"

"I bet they're just a gang of jokers having a good laugh - right?"

"Do you like fig rolls?"

I didn't ask him, mate, no and I wouldn't even if I were to meet up with him, it's old and tired news. I would probably want to talk about Everton winning trophies in the '80s as I reckon most Blues would.

As far as the ‘security advisers' are concerned, they have to justify their own existence. The police said nothing was credible..

I think the fans have every right to be furious about this.

Never mind looking back at the past although you might like to remember Keven Sheedy and wish him happy birthday —— Kevin is 65 today!

Sorry, Danny, cancel those celebrations: Kevin was 65 yesterday!

Rob Halligan, who is a very genuine Evertonian nd follows our team wherever they are playing, said that Sharp was in Liverpool the other week, happily posing for pictures in his partner's workplace.

Nothing wrong with that and this doesn't mean he's comfortable, but most of his adult life has resolved around Everton, so he more than anyone knows what scousers are like.

A lot of Evertonians believe that Graeme Sharp could have dealt with things better and to many of us it looks like he chose to stay loyal to his paymasters rather than the people who adored him.

That was his choice, and the one thing life should have taught everyone is that we live and die with our own decisions.

If Sharp made a decision to speak tomorrow, I believe that if what he told us was genuine (you know how cynical some of us can be), then most people would be happy that he's been prepared to give us some truth, rather than him just cynically saying “They don't know the half of it” and just leaving it there to cause even more division, even though this is exactly what the Bill Kenwright era was mostly about.

The time to stand together and unite is now!!!

I hear you but it goes back to the seriousness of the situation.

As you say, he knows scousers and there may be something beyond the normal "whaddya looking at lar?" bravado that concerns him. Equally the level of invective might have been so horrendous he can't bring himself to forgive and has washed his hands of all things Everton.

At the risk of being boring, I have to repeat – I don't know – and the point is nobody else does. Be a terrible shame if he's lost to us.

I'd like to see him alongside the other heroes of that great team who gave us success years ago but he's no hero of mine.

And for anyone wondering whether Sharp may dish the dirt, try reading his biography…

Nice guy but one of the most boring books I've attempted to read and one of the few I never finished.

Genuinely sorry that you feel so strongly that you will not be taking up your seat at the dock John. Your personal history establishes your credentials but adds nothing to this discussion. You completely whitewash Sharp – who you do not even mention by name – in a post that imitates life in Kenwright’s bunker with its disgusting denunciations of our fans: ‘supporters (if you can call some, that)’, ‘our so-called supporters’. Genuine thanks for your wonderful support at The Old Lady, but those sort of views will not be missed at the dock.

Great post Steve Brown (43). A sniper's accuracy.

Interestingly under favourite disciple he lists 'Judas' and favourite Dickens character as 'Uriah Heep'.

In my opinion, Sharp has let himself down badly with his comments now. When Kenwright promoted him to fans liaison officer (I think Joe Parkinson walked away from the position), even then he didn't have the fans' back

But the whole episode with the board's accusations, considering the Merseyside Police came out later and said nothing was reported to them, was the lowest of the lowest by the board.

He made his choice, and he has to live with his actions; he's embarrassing himself now.

Sadly, that's where his legendary status ends. He was an average club ambassador, but more importantly somebody not qualified for a Board Non Exec Director role.

It's not his fault for accepting; Kenwright should never have asked him. But he was always going to suit as a Yes-man in a period when Everton really needed strong Non Execs to apply corporate governance.

He was never equipped for that, and stayed loyal to the Board as expected. The best move he could have made was to resign his position. He didn't have to mention Kenwright et al, just show integrity and resign.

I think his press interviews have made it worse. He could have said…

"I am an Evertonian through and through, I love the club. Pulling the Everton shirt on were the proudest days of my life. I was pleased to work as an Ambassador and then Non Exec Director, but I must confess I didn't have the skill set for such a role. I made mistakes and regret some naive comments. If I have upset any Everton fans then I am truly sorry. They are the last people I would ever want to hurt."

I'm not sure how it would have played out thereafter but some respect would have returned and he would have remained an Everton football legend. Pity it's played out the way it has, from my perspective anyway.

Another favourite was a header when we put Manchester United to the sword and beat them 5 - 0.

But for me, even though not his best, the first goal at Wembley in 1984. In off the post and I knew then, we were going to lift the first trophy in life. Being there was unbelievable.

But that is not the issue here. We need to distinguish between the player we all praise and the Kenwright lap-dog that he became. Pointing out again what he did on the pitch for us only matters I think if you feel that it legitimises and permits the choices, decisions, and justifications that he made in his shameful two-decade long stint as the narcissistic liar's toad and crone.

The fact he feels the need to express himself so strongly would indicate a need to defend his past actions.

“I understand that the club’s security liaison team had not found any evidence to do him (Graeme Sharp) physical harm, though did have evidence of a plan to encircle directors in a confined space and voice complaints against the custodianship of the club,”

That from reporter Ian Herbert.

So no threat of violence but not something I'd have liked to be subjected to.

"Sharp was a great player, not sure how good he was in the boardroom."

I don't know how old you are, mate, but in the '60s and '70s, most cars had a nodding dog on the rear parcel shelf, activated by the movement of the vehicle.

Well even if you don't remember, or were too young, they sum up Sharp's role in the boardroom! :-)

I loved Sharp the player, I don't know Sharp the man, but if I knew that if I went to my local pub, I was going to get even mild abuse, I'd probably just not go.
This is just an example - I'm not likening Everton to my local pub.
UTFT and roll on saturday!

Rather than attend the game, every single one, including Sharp, chose to stay away, then make a statement an hour or so before an important relegation 6-pointer.

Not content with going against the fans, they then withdrew match tickets for Alan Stubbs for speaking some home truths.

Whether Sharp decides to turn up or not, that is his choice; he could have simply kept quiet if it was not bothering him. For me, he should be there for the '85 team… and I reckon he will be there.