Football Stories: Steven Sharp
Here at Sport Central we are looking at Stoneyburn Juniors coach Steven Sharp. We are looking in depth into Steven's journey from a member of the backroom staff as a first aider at a very successful Junior football team, to coaching the Under 16’s and 17’s at Fauldhouse United. The Steven Sharp we know today has taken front and centre, taking the hot seat as manager of Eastwood Mearns AFC in April 2017. But now, Steven is a coach at Stoneyburn Juniors of the McBookie.com Premier League South league, in the present.
A big part of Steven's development is always trying to learn from people in the highest level of the game, even managing to pick the brains of Mark Warburton. Mark Warburton was not only a successful player, in London, he has been an excellent as a manager for Brentford, Nottingham Forest and of course, Rangers. He has a wealth of knowledge that has been passed onto Steven, and has help him become the excellent coach he is today.
Steven had a very good season at Eastwood Mearns AFC, getting promotion in his first season, getting the club into the Premier Division of Glasgow’s Sunday Central League. In his new role, we are going to have a look at what management means to Steven Sharp and a look at the journey he has been on from first aider to where he is today, the coach of Stoneyburn Juniors.
Proudest Moments in the sport
I spoke to Steven Sharp about some of his proudest moments in football. Steven says about “being able to coach despite health not being the greatest with Crohn’s Disease”. Steven went on to say about how his proudest moment is “seeing players I’ve worked with progress and do well for themselves. Trophies are fantastic and great memories, but knowing I’ve played a part in someone’s development means the world”.
The journey to join Stoneyburn Juniors has been explained by Steven, as he said “I left Eastwood Mearns and had no plans to get back into football until next season as my health wasn’t the greatest, but after two months out I was chatting to Stoneyburn’s gaffer Allan Fleming, who was looking for a coach to join his management team and I knew as soon as I took my first session and discussed the ambition that we have to push the club forward that it was a project that I wanted to get stuck into.” Steven Sharp continued to say, “Stoneyburn over the last 4/5 years have been the so called whipping boys of the East Region and I’ve always been the underdog so it’s the challenge I wanted”.
Stoneyburn Juniors
Since Steven Sharp has joined Stoneyburn Juniors, they have been on an excellent run, winning their past two games, and keep their first clean sheet of the season. Steven mentioned, that this "was the most pleasing for him as he sees how much the management and committee work and he hopes to add something different to push the club forward". Steven has said, "I fully believe theirs a good squad to work with and I look forward to helping push the club forward".
Steven Sharp continued to say, “the club are based in a small village with a small committee and I want to help build something with Allan, Gavin and Keith that people want to be part of. Over the last 3 weeks the buzz is growing and the lads are working hard in training and it’s showing on a Saturday. My goal is just to keep progressing myself as an individual and give my all in whatever role I do whether it’s Manager, Assistant, Coach gone are the days that I get hung up on my job title as long as I’m doing my bit to progress a club and develop football players then it’s job done”.
I asked Steven Sharp what made him begin his coaching/management journey, and what his goals are in the business, and he said, “the man that gave me the buzz to want to coach was my Manager at Fauldhouse United Davie Cowan. He was a former coach at Hearts and his knowledge of football is first class. I was out with him a few weeks ago and hearing him say he’s proud of how well I’m doing means a lot. I still use a few of the drills I learned off him as well as taking his advice and learning to make up drills to make it realistic in terms of what would happen in a game. You see all these YouTube and text book coaching nowadays that have no real benefit or purpose which in my opinion is pointless.”
Management/Coaching Style
I asked the Stoneyburn Juniors coach what his management/coaching style is, and he said "Personally I see it different maybe not your average style I see myself as extremely positive although I can have a rocket mode but for me it’s about installing a belief in the players and passion. If you can install that in a group of players you’ll get an extra 10% out of them and even if they aren’t the best technically it’s amazing how far a bit of belief can take you".
In keeping with how Steven Sharp is away from football, a so much positivity and passion for everything he does, be it football or the huge amount of charity work he has done, he gives absolutely everything to the cause, and loves what he does.
The Newcastle Connection
one of the friendliest guys in football has connections all over, including Premier League club Newcastle United. I asked Sharp about the link with the club, and the day that has come from this.
When asked about the Newcastle United connection, Steven Sharp said, "I’m also extremely fortunate to have a great football mentor in former Newcastle United player Paul Watson who’s been a huge support to me since I started coaching and he’s given me the chance to have some great contacts at Newcastle United. I even had the opportunity to take my former club Eastwood Mearns AFC down for the weekend where they got the chance to sample some professionalism a trip I’m sure they’ll never forget".
The Man Himself
Of course, Steven Sharp has been battling Crohn's disease, but that doesn't hold him back in his coaching career, he has passion and knowledge like no one else, and that shines through his players on match day, be it as backroom staff, coach or manager.
We at Sport Central want to wish Steven Sharp and his new club Stoneyburn Junior all the very best for the remainder of this season, and the seasons to come. We are going to be bringing you more from the club in the coming weeks and through the summer, as they prepare their the next season. If you feel you know a story or you would like to speak about your story in sport, then please get in touch.
Ian, Sport Central