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.
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.
[6] He represented Barnsley boys' team during the 1946–47 season, alongside future Munich air disaster victim Tommy Taylor and cricket umpire Dickie Bird.
[9] Grainger came from a footballing family, and his younger brother, Jack, spent ten years at Rotherham United just after World War II.
[10] His younger sister, Lily, went on to marry Jim Iley, who played as a wing-half for Sheffield United, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest.
[18] He made his first-team debut on 24 February 1951, taking Billy Tunnicliffe's spot at outside-left in a Third Division North match against Hartlepools United at the Racecourse Ground, which ended in a 1–0 home victory.
[21] Demobbed from National Service in October, he made his first-team debut in a 1–1 draw with Charlton Athletic at Bramall Lane on 14 November, taking the place of Derek Hawksworth at outside-left.
[27] However, Grainger scored both goals in a 2–0 home victory over Tottenham Hotspur on 5 September, providing Joe Mercer his first win as a manager.
[27] He impressed Birmingham City manager Arthur Turner sufficiently in a 2–0 Christmas Eve victory that Mercer was forced to reject a transfer offer, as he told the press that "The answer [to enquiries for Grainger] will always be the same: no!
[13] As an England international playing in the second tier he found the league relatively easy, and on 1 September he secured his first career hat-trick in a 6–1 win at Barnsley after taking the bus to Oakwell as it was near the family home in Havercroft.
[30] However, an injury picked up on England duty caused him to miss six weeks going into the new year and upon his recovery Mercer informed him that the club's directors had ordered him to sell Grainger for the best possible price as quickly as possible.
[32] Grainger was firmly against the move, but the Sheffield United board of directors were determined to bring in a large fee to pay off creditors and Mercer illegally handed him £300 as recompense.
[33] Grainger's arrival at Sunderland's Roker Park in February 1957 came at a difficult time as Bill Murray's 18-year reign as manager was coming to an end.
[37] However, he stayed on Wearside and despite beating Portsmouth on the last day of the season, Sunderland occupied the final relegation place after finishing level on points with Portsmouth but with an inferior goal average; it was the first relegation in Sunderland's history since they became founder members of the Football League in 1890 and was the last time Grainger would play in the top-flight.
[40] He played 41 of the club's 42 league matches in the 1959–60 season, missing only a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on 2 January, but Sunderland laboured to a 16th-place finish.
[42] He refused to play any matches for Sunderland in the 1960–61 season, leaving him labelled as a "rebel footballer" in the press, whilst Stan Anderson, Ernie Taylor, Alan O'Neill and Reg Pearce also demanded interviews with the board of directors to voice their dissatisfaction in the running of the club.
[44] Manager Jack Taylor freed him of any defensive responsibilities, with left-back Grenville Hair fit and competent enough not to need any assistance from his outside-left.
[50] He was still out of action at the start of the 1961–62 campaign, and with the club desperate for funds and Albert Johanneson performing well in his absence, Revie made Grainger available for transfer.
[1] On 27 January, he helped his new team to a 0–0 draw at former club Sunderland in the FA Cup fourth round and before the match gave his teammates placebo pills in order to boost their confidence.
[54] The club failed to replicate this form in the league however, and Grainger picked up a groin injury during one of coach Eric Jones's notoriously strenuous fitness sessions.
[55] He took a cortisone injection to get him through the fifth round defeat at Fulham on 17 February and then ruled himself out of action for the rest of the 1961–62 season; Vale went on to end the campaign in a disappointing 12th-position.
[57] A harshly cold winter known as the "Big Freeze" savaged the footballing season and Vale went from 22 December to 2 March without fulfilling a league fixture; however, this aided Grainger as he was able to rest and heal his groin problem rather than rely on cortisone injections to mask the pain.
[58] The Big Freeze's resulting fixture congestion was too much for Grainger to cope with and he again injured his groin in a 2–1 defeat to Barnsley on 29 March and could only feature in three of the club's final fifteen games as Vale went on to finish in third place, four points shy of a promotion spot.
[59] He started the opening game of the 1963–64 season, a 1–0 defeat at Shrewsbury Town, but then missed the next seven months due to his groin injury, and Ron Smith was signed as a long-term replacement on the left-wing.
[62] New player-manager Bill Leivers gave debuts to Grainger and five other new signings on the opening day of the 1964–65 season, a 5–2 defeat away at Bradford (Park Avenue).
[64] He then lost his first-team place at Belle Vue and featured just six times during the 1965–66 season, but turned down an offer from Football League chairman Alan Hardaker to represent Irish club Drumcondra in the European Cup.
[68] However, he instead chose to sign with Cheshire County League side Macclesfield Town after agreeing a contract of £17-a-week and £300 signing-on fee from manager Albert Leake.
[80] Grainger was selected for the British Home Championship match in Belfast against Northern Ireland on 6 October 1956 and forced goalkeeper Harry Gregg into some excellent saves to keep the game as a 1–1 draw.
[81] He won a sixth England cap in a 3–1 victory over Wales on 14 November, but was forced to leave the game early with a twisted ankle after stretching to receive a pass from Johnny Haynes.
[80] His first gig was as a support act to American group the Hilltoppers in Sheffield, for which he was paid £50, singing three songs from the back catalogues of Al Jolson, Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine.