Ex-Premier League star was charged £6,800 for his own testimonial and now working as a train driver

Former Birmingham City star Martin Grainger has swapped the pitch for the railways in retirement.

The 53-year-old can now be found driving trains after hanging up his football boots after a long career in the game.

Getty

He works for Govia Thameslink Railway, working on routes taking him through King’s Cross in London to Stevenage Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City.

It is a bit of a change from a 13-year career that saw him start with Wivenhoe Town in 1992.

He then played for Colchester, Brentford and Coventry on loan.

But it was at Birmingham where he had the most success, spending six years at St Andrew’s, even if he was charged for his own testimonial.

He joined the club in 1996 from Brentford and remained there until his retirement in 2005, spending one year on loan at Coventry.

Grainger played 239 times for Birmingham, his biggest club by a distance.

For the three other professional teams he played for, the defender made just 13 senior appearances combined.

At the time of Grainger being with the club, the majority of his appearances came in the old First Division, which is now the Championship.

Once they made it into the top-flight, he only put on a Birmingham shirt 13 times, scoring one goal against Manchester United.

Unfortunately, a serious knee injury ensured that free-kick against Man United was the last ball he ever kicked for the club.

Injury hell

Soon after promotion to the Premier League, Grainger’s problems started.

Speaking about the first injury, he said: “We were playing at Middlesbrough in September 2002. I felt something uncomfortable in my knee.

“It was causing me pain and scans showed I had suffered a ruptured patellar tendon, which required corrective surgery and a lengthy lay-off.  

“Having had the surgery to scrape all the rubbish out, unfortunately I had all sorts of complications with infections so I ended up having three ops to get it cleaned up.”

There was a return for Grainger the following season for three games before facing Man United.

This proved to be the final match of his career, and the story behind the final injury is something else.

“I came on as a sub for Stan Lazaridis after 14 minutes.  I remember taking a free-kick and I felt the knee just pop.   

“I tried to keep going until the end of the first half. Then we got another free-kick about 30 yards out. I didn’t want to take it, knowing my knee was shot to bits.  

“But manager Steve Bruce was shouting across for me to take it, so I stepped up and it sailed in to give us the lead.  

“The moment I got back in the dressing room I knew it was bad, the knee was a total mess — there was a hole at the front of the tendon where it had popped. It was extremely hard knowing I wouldn’t play again.”

Shambles

Unfortunately, that was the end of Grainger’s career, but Bruce offered him a role as part of the coaching staff.

At the time, Birmingham were owned by David Sullivan and David Gold, with Karren Brady also involved.

And they changed the terms of the coaching role, leaving Grainger insulted.

“Brucey sat down with me, with an A4 piece of paper and what he wanted me to do in terms of a coaching role at the club.

“But when I returned a week later, the people in charge had changed everything and I was offered a job for £11,000 a year.

“I had given everything for the club for nine years, helping get promotion into the Premier League. I was insulted by their revised offer.”

Grainger’s mistreatment continued following his testimonial, he was sent a bill by the club for him to pay £6,800.

It’s not clear if he ever did, but Grainger then became a painter and decorator before starting train driving in 2015.

There he has remained, and he is very happy.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to be able to give you a load of squat thrusts in the gym. But I enjoy a game of golf a couple of times a week.”