Martin Grainger (born 23 August 1972) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a defender. He made 380 appearances and scored 44 goals in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. 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.

Playing career

An experienced player, his career started in 1989 at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

, where he made 37 league starts between July 1992 and October 1993, before moving on to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

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, and played for Birmingham in the

2001 Football League Cup Final The 2001 Football League Cup Final was a football match played between Birmingham City and Liverpool on 25 February 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2000–01 Football League Cup, the 41st season of the Fo ...

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 Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

, 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 Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, 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.

Managerial career

In January 2008, Grainger was appointed manager of

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

club

Cheshunt Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Waltha ...

, but left the post after less than a week. In their only game during his tenure, Cheshunt lost 4–0 to Hemel Hempstead Town.

Personal life

After leaving professional football, Grainger worked as a delivery driver and a chauffeur, and in 2015 was training to be a train driver. His son Charlie also became a professional footballer, playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. He joined

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profes ...

in 2009, turned professional in 2014, and has represented England at under-18 level.

Honours

Colchester United *

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called th ...

: 1991–92 Birmingham City * Football League First Division play-off: 2001–02 *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

runner-up: 2000–01 *

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a Association football, football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest County Football Association, county cup comp ...

: 1995–96 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

First Division: 2000–01

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grainger, Martin 1972 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield People from Enfield, London Men's association football fullbacks English men's footballers Colchester United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Premier League players Cheshunt F.C. managers