He was educated at Shrewsbury School, and then studied business at Oxford Brookes University. The club finished fourth from bottom in 1993-1994, under threat of relegation to the non-league Football Conference.
Sharpe"s grandfather Dave Whelan took control of Wigan Athletic in February 1995, when the club was in the Football League Third Division, then the fourth tier of English football. Having taken control of the club, under Whelan it was promoted to the Second Division in 1997, the First Division in 2003 (renamed the Championship from 2004-2005), and to the Premier League in 2005. The club failed to secure immediate promotion in 2013-2014, and was relegated to League One in 2015.
The Whelan family continues to own all of the shares in the company that controls Wigan Athletic.
At age 23, he became one of the world"s youngest football bosses.
