A former footballer once scored a thunderous free-kick against Manchester United before a dramatic career shift
Martin Grainger made a memory of a lifetime against Manchester United(Image: Getty Images)
Former Premier League footballer Martin Grainger is regarded as a Birmingham City icon by some – whilst others recognise him as their train driver during the daily commute.
The 53-year-old enjoyed a 16-year professional playing career that began at Colchester United before reaching the pinnacle of top-flight football with the Blues. The former defender spent nine years at St Andrews and contributed to their Premier League promotion in 2002, whilst also featuring in their 2001 Football League Cup Final defeat to Liverpool.
Nevertheless, Grainger is most fondly remembered for his spectacular 30-yard free-kick against Manchester United in April 2004, which proved to be his final appearance in professional football.
The set-piece specialist, who currently drives trains for Govia Thameslink railway, gave Birmingham the lead but they ultimately fell to United courtesy of strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha.
Tragically for Grainger, his playing days ended abruptly following that match due to a severe knee injury that compelled him to retire aged just 31. He previously disclosed: “We were playing at Middlesbrough in September 2002. I felt something uncomfortable in my knee.
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“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.”
He made a comeback three months later and participated in three more matches before being loaned out to Coventry. His tenure with the Sky Blues was short-lived, lasting only a month.
Upon his return to Birmingham, he confessed that after taking a free-kick, he felt his knee “pop”. He elaborated: “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.”
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Grainger’s career has taken quite a turn since his footballing days, and he now spends his time operating Great Northern routes from King’s Cross and Moorgate in London to Stevenage, Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City.
Speaking about his role as a train driver on the Blues Talk Podcast at the onset of the pandemic, he remarked: “It’s strange. There are some days when there’s not a lot of people around, and the other day I had 200 or 300 people on the train.”
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2026-02-22 12:00:00
