James (Jimmy) Sharp was born in Jordonstone, Scotland on 11th October 1880. He played for Dundee in the Scottish League and in 1903 won his first international cap for Scotland against Wales. Sharp, who was captain, led the team to a 1-1 draw.

In 1904 Sharp was transferred to Fulham in the Southern League. The following season he joined Woolwich Arsenal. In the 1905-06 season he missed only three league games. The club had a good FA Cup run that season beating Watford (3-0), Sunderland (5-0), Manchester United (3-2) before losing to Newcastle United 2-0 in the semi-final with Jimmy Howie and Colin Veitch getting the goals.

In the 1906-07 season Arsenal finished in 7th place in the league. Once again they had a good cup run beating Bristol City (2-1), Bristol Rovers (1-0) and Barnsley (2-1) before losing to Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 in the semi-final.

During this period Arsenal had a very impressive forward line that included Bert Freeman, Charlie Satterthwaite, Tim Coleman, Bobby Templeton and Billy Garbutt. The defence was also very good with players such as Percy Sands, Jimmy Ashcroft, Andy Ducat and Roderick McEachrane.

However, Arsenal encountered serious financial problems at this time and in April 1908 was forced to sell Sharp to Glasgow Rangers for £400. He only stayed nine months before Fulham purchased him for a £1,000.

Jimmy Sharp won his last international cap for Scotland against Wales on 1st May 1909. Scotland won the game 3-2.

Sharp played 97 games for Fulham before moving to Chelsea in 1912. His professional career was brought to an end by the outbreak of the First World War. He had played 61 games for Chelsea.

Jimmy Sharp died in 1949.

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