Today would have been the birthday of Colin Grainer, born in 1933. The 'singing winger' passed away in 2022 aged 89.
Colin joined the Lads in February 1957, having found games hard to come by at his first club, Wrexham, but establishing himself as a speedy left winger over four seasons at Sheffield Utd. Born in the mining town of Havercroft, between Barnsley and Pontefract, he’d actually started his working life as a motor mechanic, but a career in football came as no surprise given his family connections. His big brother Jack played about 400 times for Rotherham, his cousins Dennis and another Jack Grainger and Edwin Holliday also played, as did his brother in law Jim Iley.
While at Utd, Colin won the first of his seven England caps, scoring twice, but an ankle injury effectively ended his international career with in a year, and precipitated his move to Sunderland – which he wasn’t keen on. The fee was a hefty £17,000 plus Sam Kemp, and it was with us that Colin played the majority of his football. After a difficult first half-season, Colin requeste