Former Manchester United star Lee Sharpe has made the decision to close his bar in Spain after claiming it "wasn't working" for him and his family.
Sharpe, who was part of United's first ever Premier League winning squad in 1992-93, moved to Spain in 2021 and opened an Irish pub called 'Sharpey's'. Just one year on, however, he is moving on from the venture.
In more than a decade and a half as a professional footballer, Sharpe played top-flight football in three different countries and won eight senior caps for England. Since retiring, he has taken up golf professionally and moved to the Costa Blanca, but he has accepted the need to move on from his latest venture.
"As a family it just wasn’t working for us with my name on the door,” the 51-year-old told The Olive Press in a statement. "The bar has closed due to myself not being able to give it the time needed, which made it so special in the beginning.
"I wanted to part ways before the standards dropped beyond my control," he added. The former England international has revealed he has other business ventures in the pipeline, but was unable to share further details.
Sharpe's business partners were reportedly keen to find a new investor to replace the ex-footballer, who retired from the game in 2003. The Sun reports that another local expat family is poised to take over the business in the town of Javea.
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Sharpe broke through at Manchester United after being signed by Alex Ferguson from Torquay United as a teenager. He started the 1991 Cup Winners Cup final as Ferguson's team beat Barcelona to lift the trophy, and made 27 league appearances as his team won the inaugural Premier League in 1992-93.
After a career which featured spells at Leeds United, Serie A side Sampdoria and Icelandic outfit Grindavik, he turned his attentions to a different sport. Sharpe was 49 years old when he became a pro golfer, with a friend telling the Sunday Mirror he had his sights set on the European Senior Tour.
"I tried to play a lot of golf [as a footballer], but Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t keen on us playing too much because he said it saps the energy out of your legs and damages your back," Sharpe told Worldwide Golf in 2020. "We had to sneak off to different courses where we didn’t think he would know where we were. I have always loved the sport to the point where I was almost slightly obsessed with it.”
Away from sport, Sharpe also embarked on a TV career after hanging up his boots. He has worked as a football pundit for a number of broadcasters, and was also one of the contestants on the first series of Celebrity Love Island back in 2005.
