March Is Mike Sheron Month!

March’s fixture list has somewhat bizarrely pitted Blackpool against a further four sides that ex-Seasider Mike Sheron played for – Norwich, Barnsley, QPR and Stoke. A good opportunity therefore to look at the career of a striker who commanded transfer fees of over £5 million in a 15 year career.

Mike Sheron (born 11 January 1972 in Liverpool) played as a striker for several football clubs, including Manchester City, Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City. Sheron was capped by England at under-21 level.

Sheron started his career with Manchester City, whom he joined as a schoolboy. His first league appearance came in March 1991 on loan at Bury, for whom he played five times. His Manchester City debut came in the 1991-92 season in a match against Everton. Sheron a total of 29 appearances over the course of the season, scoring seven times. The majority of Sheron’s Manchester City appearances were in a striking partnership with Niall Quinn, particularly in the 1992-93 season when Sheron scored 14 goals. Following the arrival of Paul Walsh and Uwe Rosler in March 1994, Sheron’s first team opportunities become limited, and in August 1994 he joined Norwich City for a fee of £1,000,000. His time at Norwich was not a happy one. Struggling with injuries, Sheron scored just two league goals for Norwich, and moved to Stoke City in October 1995 in a player exchange deal that took Keith Scott to Carrow Road. Sheron performed considerably better for Stoke, scoring 39 goals in 72 starts, prompting Queens Park Rangers to pay £2.35 million for his services. After 18 months at QPR, the club were facing financial difficulties, and as one of the highest wage earners, Sheron was sold to Barnsley for £1.5 million. Sheron spent four years at Barnsley, making more appearances for them than for any of his other clubs.

Towards the end of his playing career Sheron had short spells at several lower division clubs, playing for Blackpool, Macclesfield and Shrewsbury.

During his time with the Seasiders Sheron netted 8 goals in 38 league appearances, most notably a fine strike at Hartlepool. He will also be fondly remembered for his goal at Sheffield Wednesday in the second leg of the LDV Northern Final which virtually made the tie safe for Blackpool. Sheron also featured in the side that beat Southend 2-0 in the Final at the Millennium Stadium.

After leaving Shrewsbury, Sheron signed for Warrington Town of the Unibond League who he briefly played for before hanging up his boots to join the club’s coaching staff. In June, 2007 Sheron was appointed youth team manager at Bury.