Patrick Gerald Walter Sharkey (born 26 August 1953 in

Omagh Omagh (; from , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. Northern Ireland's c ...

) is a former

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. One of just a handful of Omagh-born players to play at the highest level, Pat Sharkey made his name as a teenager with

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

after making three League appearances for

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

in the

1970–71 League of Ireland Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

season. Transferred to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

in September 1973, he had to wait over two years for his League debut, Manchester City held 1–1 at Maine Road on 25 October 1975. Over the following two seasons Sharkey played 18 League games, scoring just once in a 2–1 win at Arsenal in April 1976. He was awarded his only cap against Scotland in May 1976. It was a disappointing match all round. Northern Ireland were again forced to play another "home" match in Glasgow despite the fact England, Wales, Sweden and Norway had all played in Belfast in the previous twelve months. Scotland, 2-0 up at half-time, cruised to an easy 3–0 win with Sharkey replaced after 61 minutes. Never really established at

Portman Road Portman Road is a association football, football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one E ...

, Sharkey made his final top-flight appearance against Middlesbrough on 23 April 1977 and was released that summer. In August he signed with Mansfield Town who were embarking on their first ever season in Division Two. Despite a career best tally of five goals, including a penalty strike against England 'keeper Peter Shilton in a 2–1 win over Stoke, Sharkey couldn't help the Stags avoid instant relegation. New Mansfield boss

Billy Bingham William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, for whom he played between 1948 and 1950. Making a move to England, ...

allowed Sharkey to leave Field Mill in the summer of 1978. Bobby Roberts brought Sharkey to Colchester at the start of the 1978/79 campaign, and he got off to a bad start, missing a crucial penalty in a League Cup tie with Charlton. He never really established himself at Layer Road, his apparent lazy attitude not going down well, and was transferred to Peterborough United on transfer deadline day 1979.

External links

Pat Sharkey
at Pride of Anglia

at Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats *
Pat Sharkey
at Colchester United Archive Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharkey, Pat Association footballers from County Tyrone 1953 births Living people Sportspeople from Omagh Northern Ireland men's international footballers Sligo Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players Portadown F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Ipswich Town F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Men's association football midfielders English Football League players