Billy Sharp told Wrexham players to “shove it on the documentary” in a tense tunnel face-off in the aftermath of Sheffield United ’s FA Cup victory over the non-league side.
The striker scored in stoppage time at Bramall Lane with Sander Berge also getting in on the act to see the Blades progress to the fifth round of the competition. His post-match interview has gone viral with Sharp accusing the Wrexham players and staff of being disrespectful.
Speaking after the full-time whistle, he said: “I thought there was a lack of respect towards us. Whoever runs their Twitter account wants to be careful because they thought they were playing Spurs before they beat us.
“There were a few comments from their players which I won't say, they know who they are. I'm glad we've beaten them tonight.”
Those comments have stirred an unlikely rivalry between Sharp and Wrexham, with it being revealed that the 37-year-old had some choice words in the tunnel after the game including referencing the Disney+ 'Welcome to Wrexham' documentary that the club feature on.
“I feel like a bit of a dampener has been put on the game with the way they’ve acted in the tunnel. They showed a real lack of humility,” defender Ben Tozer said after the final whistle.
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“But that’s the way they want to be and I feel like if we won that game we would’ve shown a lot more humility and respect. They should show more respect to us. They were telling us to ‘shove it on the documentary’.”
The comment from Sharp did not go down particularly well with the Wrexham squad or management team. Tozer has since revealed that he had a word with the Sheffield United frontman following his actions.
He added: “I feel like he’s [Sharp] fabricated stuff in his head to make that acceptable for himself if I’m honest. I said to him face-to-face, ‘show a bit more humility’. We’ve congratulated them on the win, we haven’t sulked, we’ve walked down the tunnel as normal and it’s just a shame that that’s the way it’s ended.”
Meanwhile, Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has taken aim at the veteran striker. “I was a bit disappointed with Billy, with some of the things he was shouting down the tunnel,” he said. “He’s a fantastic player but I thought he was disrespectful after the game.
“The way their players celebrated was a mark of how tough we made it for them. My message to Billy is: you’re better than that. My players are humble people and they’re a credit to the football club.”
Sharp and Sheffield United will now look forward to their fifth round tie with Tottenham, whilst Wrexham are forced to concentrate on their bid for promotion to League Two.
