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Martin Grainger
English footballer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Martin Grainger (born 23 August 1972) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He made 380 appearances and scored 44 goals in the Football League and Premier League.[3] He was an attacking left back who could also play further up the field or even as a winger and was a dead ball specialist.
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Playing career
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An experienced player, his career started in 1989 at Colchester United, where he made 37 league starts between July 1992 and October 1993, before moving on to Brentford on 21 October for a fee of £60,000. He was a first-team regular throughout his time at the club, making 100 league starts and scoring 12 goals. He joined Birmingham City on 25 March 1996, and quickly became an inspirational player due to his continued consistency and ability from set-pieces.
He picked up the Player of the Season award for 1999–2000,[4] and played for Birmingham in the 2001 Football League Cup Final loss to Liverpool, missing one of the spot kicks in the shootout. As Birmingham continued to improve in the First Division, and eventually earned promotion into the Premiership, Grainger's playing time became limited. He failed to appear for Birmingham due to injury during the first half of the 2003–04 season, and in February he was loaned to Coventry City, for whom he made seven league appearances. On 18 March 2004, he was recalled to Birmingham's team due to an injury crisis, and got on the scoresheet in a 2–1 defeat to Manchester United, but was himself injured and failed to appear in any matches for the rest of the season.
Grainger retired from football on 1 January 2005, having spent 13 years as a player. His goal-scoring appearance against Manchester United, on 10 April 2004, proved to be his final professional fixture. In the years following his retirement, Grainger has continued to be a popular figure amongst supporters of Birmingham City.[5]
Book release:- ‘CUT SHORT' - by Martin Grainger
Foreword by Barry Fry
Writer Rob Carless
https://www.curtis-sport.com/all-programmes/Cut-Short-Martin-Grainger-p749653129
RELEASED: Friday 12th September
PRE-ORDER NOW - Buy a copy and get your name printed in the book.
DEADLINE DATE FOR NAMES - Thursday 31st July - Limited to first 1,000 copies
PLEASE NOTE: Only forename and surname allowed. No nicknames or profanities.
PLEASE NOTE: Existing artwork is not the actual book cover but instead a temporary placeholder.
CUT SHORT tells the story of Martin Grainger’s football career and beyond.
Grainger cut his teeth in the brutal world of non-League football and the lower professional ones in the late 1980s and early part of the 21st century, at a time before English football went through its transformation in 1992.
He was a tough-tackling left-back who liked to get forward and was in some ways very much ahead of his time, scoring important goals for all the clubs that he played for including Colchester United, Brentford, Birmingham City and on loan to Coventry City, before returning back to St. Andrews where he finished his career. Grainger soon became known for his set-piece specialities, scoring many times from all sorts of angles.
He was instrumental in helping Birmingham City get to the Premier League in 2002, but by then his injuries had taken its toll on him and he found first-team appearances hard to come by, but not before scoring his final goal against the mighty Manchester United with a trademark free-kick.
Martin Grainger always gave his all and was well liked by the fans wherever he played.
This book tells the story of how it all happened, as he played for some of football’s finest characters like Jock Wallace and Barry Fry, as well as Steve Bruce and Trevor Francis.
From non-League to the Premier League, CUT SHORT tells the story of how Martin Grainger made it to the top against all the odds and is a MUST-READ for football fans of all ages.
* With all orders for multiple products, the order will be sent when the latest product is printed. Please order separately if you want your programmes delivered individually.
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Managerial career
In January 2008, Grainger was appointed manager of Southern League Premier Division club Cheshunt, but left the post after less than a week.[6] In their only game during his tenure, Cheshunt lost 4–0 to Hemel Hempstead Town.[7]
Personal life
Martin met Nicola at the age of seventeen. They married in Forty Hill, Enfield in 1995. Martin and Nicola have two Sons, Charlie and Sonnie.
His son Charlie also became a professional footballer, playing as a goalkeeper. He joined Leyton Orient in 2009,[8] turned professional in 2014,[9] and has represented England at under-18 level.[10]
Honours
Colchester United[11]
Birmingham City[5]
- Football League First Division play-off: 2001–02
- Football League Cup runner-up: 2000–01
- Birmingham Senior Cup: 1995–96
Individual
- PFA Team of the Year First Division: 2000–01[12]
References
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