He joined Birmingham City on 25 March 1996, and quickly became an inspirational player due to his continued consistency and ability from set-pieces.

He picked up the Player of the Season award for 1999–2000,[4] and played for Birmingham in the 2001 Football League Cup Final loss to Liverpool, missing one of the spot kicks in the shootout.

As Birmingham continued to improve in the First Division, and eventually earned promotion into the Premiership, Grainger's playing time became limited.

On 18 March 2004, he was recalled to Birmingham's team due to an injury crisis, and got on the scoresheet in a 2–1 defeat to Manchester United, but was himself injured and failed to appear in any matches for the rest of the season.

[5] In January 2008, Grainger was appointed manager of Southern League Premier Division club Cheshunt, but left the post after less than a week.