Man United hero Lee Sharpe hoping to make the cut for European Senior Tour

An ex-footballer who plays golf is nothing new, but former Manchester United winger Lee Sharpe takes the game more seriously than most.

After being plucked as a raw 17-year- old from Torquay United in the old Fourth Division, Sharpe quickly won trophies and tabloid notoriety under Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in the early 1990s, but his professional football career faded thereafter with injury-hit spells at Leeds and Bradford, before Exeter City released him, aged just 31, in 2002.

Since then he has made a living in reality TV, punditry, several ambassadorial roles and on the after-dinner speaking circuit. He has also been playing rather a lot of golf.