A full back, Sharpley started his league career in 1926 with Footscray and played with them for a season and a half before moving to Hawthorn where he played with his brother Keith. In 1930, Sharpley won Hawthorn Football Club's Best and Fairest award, later known as the Peter Crimmins Medal, and finished equal fourth in the Brownlow Medal.
^Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 806. ISBN978-1-921496-32-5.