[6] Darlington won 2–0, Grieve scored both goals, and he caught the eye of the Lancashire Evening Post by his "pushfulness and sense of leadership".
[8][6] In the second half of the season Grieve took over as first choice at centre forward, and contributed a further ten goals from 20 matches, including a hat-trick in a 6–3 win against local rivals Hartlepools United in which "Wellock, Grieve, and Coates shot at every conceivable opportunity, on the half turn, the volley, the half-volley, and on occasions when their backs were turned to the goal".
[6] He accepted terms for a second season,[10] but an attempt to convert him to outside left was unsuccessful:[11] he played little and without scoring,[12] and was given a free transfer.
In November 1934, he turned down an offer from the FA Cup-holders, Manchester City, preferring to keep his job in Newcastle with the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER),[11] and he stayed with Annfield Plain until 1939.
[14] The 1939 Register shows the unmarried Grieve working as a labourer for the LNER and living in Shields Road, Newcastle, with his parents and four younger siblings.