Colin Grainger

Colin Grainger
Personal information
Full name Colin Grainger[1]
Date of birth (1933-06-10)10 June 1933[1]
Place of birth Havercroft, West Yorkshire, England[1]
Date of death 19 June 2022(2022-06-19) (aged 89)[2]
Place of death Skelmanthorpe, Yorkshire, England[2]
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Position(s) Outside left
Youth career
194?–1949 South Elmsall
1949–1950 Wrexham
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1950–1953 Wrexham 5 (0)
1953–1957 Sheffield United 88 (26)
1957–1960 Sunderland 120 (14)
1960–1961 Leeds United 41 (6)
1961–1964 Port Vale 39 (6)
1964–1966 Doncaster Rovers 40 (3)
1966 Macclesfield Town 3 (0)
1969–1972 Newmillerdam
1972–1978 Woolley Miners Welfare
Total 328 (54)
International career
1956 The Football League XI 2 (1)
1956–1957 England 7 (3)
Managerial career
1969–1972 Newmillerdam (player-manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Colin Grainger (10 June 1933 – 19 June 2022)[4] was an English footballer, as well as being a former singer and recording artist. As a footballer, he played as an outside left and had a 16-year career in the Football League from 1950 to 1966. He came from a footballing family: brother Jack Grainger, brother-in-law Jim Iley, and first cousins Dennis Grainger, Jack Grainger and Edwin Holliday all played professionally. He got married in 1956 and had two children.

Raised in the mining village of Havercroft, he was working as a car mechanic when he was signed on apprentice forms at Third Division North club Wrexham in July 1949. He turned professional the following year and made his first-team debut in February 1951. Though National Service prevented him from establishing himself at the club, he still managed to build a reputation as an exciting young prospect. He was purchased by Sheffield United for a £2,500 fee in June 1953. A regular in the starting eleven in the First Division, he was called up for the first of his seven England caps in May 1956. His international career lasted just 11 months, though he did score two goals against Brazil and one against West Germany. He was also twice selected for The Football League XI.

His career then declined as he struggled with an ankle injury sustained on England duty, and he was sold on to Sunderland for £17,000 plus Sam Kemp (valued at £6,000) in February 1957. Sunderland were relegated out of the First Division at the end of the 1957–58 season, and he was sold on to Leeds United of the Second Division for a club record £15,000 in July 1960. His damaged ankle hindered his form at Leeds, and he was sold to Third Division side Port Vale in October 1961 for £6,000. He helped Vale to knock former club Sunderland out of the FA Cup the following January but missed the end of the season with a groin injury that dogged him for the remainder of his time at Vale Park. He was not retained at the end of the 1963–64 season and signed with Fourth Division side Doncaster Rovers in August 1964. He made 41 appearances across the 1964–65 campaign, though he was dropped the following season and was released in the summer of 1966. He then had a brief spell with Macclesfield Town in the Cheshire County League, before retiring to focus on his singing career. He later spent 1969 to 1972 as player-manager of non-League village team Newmillerdam, before playing for Woolley Miners Welfare in the Yorkshire League from 1972 to 1978.

Grainger performed his first professional music gig in 1956, supporting the Hilltoppers. He appeared on television and radio and also had a ghostwritten column in the Sport Express. He was signed with the HMV label and released "This I Know"/"Are You" as a single in 1958. His footballing career restricted his singing opportunities, though he did share a bill with the Beatles in June 1963. He ended his singing career in August 1970 to focus on his new career in sales. He also supplemented his income scouting for a succession of clubs: Barnsley, Leeds United, Huddersfield Town, Oldham Athletic, Bury and Sheffield United.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference kent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Sunderland AFC - Statistics, History and Records - from TheStatCat". www.thestatcat.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  3. ^ Dykes, Garth; Lamming, Doug (2000). All the Lads: A Complete Who's Who of Sunderland AFC. Great Britain. p. 162. ISBN 9781899538157.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).