EFL legend Billy Sharp, currently at Doncaster Rovers, reveals seven-point plan for those eyeing promotion ahead of the 2025/26 season.
He spoke to FourFourTwo about what helped him and his sides having experienced winning promotion six times throughout his senior career, starting 2004, and is still going strong over 20 years later.
The 39 year old signed a new contract after helping guide Donny to League One last season, and is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.
His seven-point plan for those wanting to win promotion consists of togetherness, momentum, having a prolific striker, to grind it out, to not panic, to seize the moment, and most importantly, enjoy it.
♫ “When my team’s supporters chant my name, and opposition fans shout abuse at me, then I know I’m doing something right.”
✍️ @billysharp10 https://t.co/00luoSbplX
— FourFourTwo (@FourFourTwo) July 24, 2025
Sharp said in an interview with the world’s biggest football magazine, who have just released their new 2025/26 season preview: “The changing room is the biggest thing at the start – everyone has to be pulling in the same direction.
“You’re going to have players who don’t play much, but they’re probably the most important, so it’s all about keeping them onside and enjoying training.
“They’ll be needed at some point. You go through ups and downs in a season, so individuals need to pull everyone together.
“The manager rallies the lads when things aren’t going great and keeps them level-headed when it’s going well.
“At Scunthorpe early in my career, Nigel Adkins was the physio at first, then all of a sudden became the manager and we got promoted.
“Later, he took me to Southampton and we got promoted to the Premier League. I was promoted twice at Sheffield United under Chris Wilder, from League One and then out of the Championship, then with Paul Heckingbottom from the Championship again.
“At Doncaster, it’s been brilliant playing for Grant McCann, too.
“When the season starts, it’s important to bag early wins and get momentum going, which creates belief and hunger.
“We won promotion quite comfortably with Scunthorpe, and with Sheffield United when we got out of League One in 2017.
“We won the latter with three games to go, then there were other things like 100 points to achieve, which we did.
“We’d been in League One for six years, so it was sheer relief to get out of that league – to do it with my boyhood club was an unbelievable feeling.
“The teams that get promoted have a 20-goal-a-season man.
“If you don’t quite get that, it’s important to keep 20-plus clean sheets.
“To score 30 as captain and get Sheffield United out of League One was probably the pinnacle for me, and scoring 32 for Scunthorpe the season I won my first promotion is another great memory.
“I also got 23 in the Championship for Sheffield United when we got promoted in 2019 – only Teemu Pukki, Neal Maupay and Tammy Abraham were ahead of me.
“Even last season, scoring 12 for Doncaster was a big contribution – I didn’t play quite as much, but I felt I contributed to a squad that achieved promotion.
“When my team’s supporters chant my name, and opposition fans shout abuse at me, then I know I’m doing something right.
“I’ve always loved the banter with opposition fans – there’s no better feeling than scoring in front of your own fans, or in front of opposition fans.
“If they’ve given me a bit of stick, I like to give a bit back in that moment!
“The ones who are the most disciplined, most professional and deep down want it the most tend to succeed.
“When the weather’s not great, it’s about grinding out results.
“Then when the sun’s shining at the end of the season, you remember those times in the winter – cold nights, horrible pitches, the times when you’ve stuck together and found results.
“When I was promoted to the Premier League with Sheffield United in 2019, we were battling with Leeds and had to come through a few blips.
“Then we beat them and got promotion.
“At Doncaster last season, we were third, fourth, fifth, stuttering along, then suddenly went top over Easter, won our final home game to secure promotion, and in the end didn’t even need to win on the last day to win the league.
“If you look at the table – I think I only did once, right after the last game – you’d probably say we won the league comfortably.
“I came on as a sub and scored against Walsall late last season, then got sent off against Wimbledon.
“It was a soft red card, but it was stupid from me, I’m experienced enough not to retaliate and react to things.
“I did my punishment over the Easter weekend – luckily the three games I missed were in quick succession and we got seven points.
“I came back to score against Bradford and seal promotion. Quite a month!
“Actually I’d been having a little niggle with my knee, and the rest helped me – I felt great when I came back.
“We were 1-0 ahead, then our goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe made a penalty save and the game stopped for five minutes with crowd issues.
“What happened after was completely surreal. The game was at a standstill, then the whistle went, goal-kick, a flick-on, I was through, scored, and the rest was history!
“We celebrated well last season – the staff came out with us, it was nice to let your hair down and celebrate together after all the hard work.
“When I got out of League One with Sheffield United, Northampton away when we clinched promotion was unreal.
“It was a party for two or three hours on the bus back – the window nearly blew through as the music and the lads were so loud!
“I can remember partying after that, too – two or three weeks of celebrating together.
“My wife was saying to me, ‘When are you going to come home?!’
“We still had games left to play as well – how we won those matches, I’ll never know!”
SHARP’S CAREER:
Youth
Rotherham United
–2004 – Sheffield United
Senior
2004–2005 – Sheffield United – 2 games (0 goals)
2005 → Rushden & Diamonds (loan) – 16 games (9 goals)
2005–2007 – Scunthorpe United – 95 games (56 goals)
2007–2010 – Sheffield United – 64 games (13 goals)
2009–2010 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) – 35 games (15 goals)
2010–2012 – Doncaster Rovers – 51 games (26 goals)
2012–2014 – Southampton – 18 games (10 goals)
2012–2013 → Nottingham Forest (loan) – 40 games (11 goals)
2013–2014 → Reading (loan) – 10 games (2 goals)
2014 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) – 16 games (4 goals)
2014–2015 – Leeds United – 35 games (5 goals)
2015–2023 – Sheffield United – 311 games (116 goals)
2023 – LA Galaxy – 12 games (6 goals)
2024 – Hull City – 13 games (0 goals)
2024– Doncaster Rovers – 44 games (10 goals)
Honours
Scunthorpe United
League One: 2006–07
Southampton
Championship second-place promotion: 2011–12
Sheffield United
Championship second-place promotion: 2018–19, 2022–23
League One: 2016–17
Doncaster Rovers
League Two: 2024–25
Individual
PFA Team of the Year: 2005–06 League One, 2006–07 League One, 2016–17 League One, 2018–19 Championship
PFA Fans’ Player of the Year: 2006–07 League One
Football League One Player of the Year: 2006–07, 2016–17
Doncaster Rovers Player of the Year: 2010–11
Sheffield United Player of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17
EFL Team of the Season: 2016–17, 2018–19
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