Martin Francis Gritton (born 1 June 1978) is a Scottish 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 ...

and sports co-commentator primarily for

BBC Radio Devon BBC Radio Devon is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Devon. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Mannamead area of Plymouth. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

. As a player he was a striker from 1998 to 2012. He was a journeyman player and has previously played for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

, Shelbourne,

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, Lincoln City,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and y ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and ...

, Chesterfield,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, Yeovil Town,

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

and

Truro City Truro City Football Club ( kw, Klub Peldroes Truru) is an English football club based in Truro, Cornwall. They currently play in the Southern League, at the seventh tier of the English football league system. They are the highest ranked clu ...

Career

Although born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, Gritton moved to South-West England at an early age and played for

Cornish Cornish is the adjective and demonym associated with Cornwall, the most southwesterly part of the United Kingdom. It may refer to: * Cornish language, a Brittonic Southwestern Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Cornwa ...

non-league sides Perranwell,

, and

Porthleven Porthleven () is a town, civil parish and fishing port near Helston, Cornwall, England. The most southerly port in Great Britain, it was a harbour of refuge when this part of the Cornish coastline was infamous for wrecks in the days of sail. Th ...

while studying at the

University of Portsmouth The University of Portsmouth is a public university in Portsmouth, England. It is one of only four universities in the South East England, South East of England rated as Gold in the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework. With approximately 28 ...

helping the latter reach the quarter-finals of the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...

in 1998. He impressed

manager

Kevin Hodges Kevin Hodges (born 12 June 1960) is an English retired football player and manager who played as a midfielder, and now works as assistant manager at Dorchester Town. He spent the majority of his playing career with Plymouth Argyle of the Foot ...

in a trial in the summer of 1998 and joined the Pilgrims initially on a non-contract deal to allow him to complete his degree. His league debut came as a substitute on 8 August 1998 in Plymouth's 2–1 home win against Rochdale. Although doing enough to earn himself a full-time deal at Home Park, he never fully established himself in the starting line-up and was allowed out on loan, to Yeovil Town in February 2001 and to Irish side Shelbourne in November 2001. In August 2002, after playing only twice in Plymouth's 2001–02 promotion side, he joined Torquay United on loan, signing permanently on a free transfer the following month. He settled in well at

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of ...

scoring 16 times in his first season and helping the Gulls to automatic promotion the following season. With Torquay struggling in the higher division and looking to cut costs he was allowed to move to

in December 2004 for a nominal fee . Although linked with a welcome return to

, he joined Lincoln City on 30 January 2006. The timing of this move meant that he played against Torquay United in two consecutive games. He was mostly used as a substitute in the 2006–07 season due to the form of

Jamie Forrester Jamie Forrester (born 1 November 1974) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker between 1991 and 2010. He played in France, the Netherlands and his native England. He notably played for Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe Unit ...

. In January 2007 he joined

on loan for the remainder of the 2006–07 season. On 30 January 2007, he scored a hat-trick against his former club Torquay. He was released on a free transfer the following May, joining Macclesfield a few weeks later. On 8 January 2009, Chesterfield purchased Gritton from Macclesfield Town for a fee of £40,000 on a 2 and a half-year deal. He re-joined former club Torquay on loan for the start of the 2010–11 season. He returned to Chesterfield in January 2011 and had his contract cancelled by mutual consent. He then joined

Chester F.C. Chester Football Club is an association football club based in Chester. They are currently members of and play at the Deva Stadium. The club was founded in 2010 following the liquidation of Chester City. In its inaugural season it competed ...

, and on 22 March 2011 signed on a short-term contract with Yeovil Town until the end of the 2010–11 season. He was informed by the club at the end of the season that he would not be awarded a new deal. In June 2011 he signed a one-year contract with

. He played eleven games for the club before being released in March 2012. He subsequently joined

on a non-contract basis, scoring his first goal in a 3–0 win against

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The ...

Personal life

After leaving Truro, Gritton retired from football and moved to London. Gritton has worked as a co-commentator for

's coverage of Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United games. He has also occasionally appeared for

BBC Radio Humberside BBC Radio Humberside is the BBC's local radio station serving East Yorkshire and North & North East Lincolnshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Queen's Gardens in Hull. According to RAJAR, the stat ...

covering Grimsby Town matches. His brother, Kevin, was the drummer in the 1990s indie band Adorable who were signed to

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

and released two albums. Martin was the band's roadie on their 2019 reunion tour.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gritton, Martin 1978 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Association football forwards Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Chester F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Truro City F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players National League (English football) players Alumni of the University of Portsmouth Anglo-Scots Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland