Cats’ singing winger who once shared the bill with the Beatles
Tributes have been paid to former Sunderland player Colin Grainger, a colourful character known as ‘the singing winger’ who once shared a bill with The Beatles, after his death at the age of 89.
Grainger, who also played for Leeds United and Sheffield United, earned a number of England caps and famously scored twice on his international debut against Brazil.
He joined SAFC on February 1957, and was with the club until July 1960, during which time he scored 14 goals in 124 appearances.
But Grainger was also talented with his voice as well as his feet. He signed with the HMVrecordlabelandreleased a single in 1958.
He performed on the same bill as The Beatles in 1963 and during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, was surprised with a video call from England skipper Harry Kane.
SAFC club historian Rob Mason said: “At Sunderland, sadly Colin was part of the club’s first ever relegation side. He scored Sunderland’s first ever second division goal at Lincoln.
"In April 1957, he won his seventh and final cap for England while with Sunderland in aWembleywinoveraScotland side that included future Sunderland manager Ian McColl.
"As well as scoring against the next (1958) world champions Brazil, Colin also scored against World Cup holders West Germany in Berlin in 1956. He also twice won representative honours for the Football League.”
Rob said after a ‘lengthy and eventful career in nonleague until 1978’, Colin scouted for Barnsley, Leeds, Huddersfield, Oldham, Bury, Plymouth and particularly Sheffield United.
Rob added: “For many
years he was a distinctive figure in his long maroon coat watching Sunderland Reserves at Eppleton C.W.”
Colin shared some of his memories in 2019 when he released his autobiography, ‘The Singing Winger.’
And he had much to remember, having played with some of the true legends of the game, including Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney, Duncan Edwards and Len Shackleton.
His touching video call from Harry Kane in 2020 was one of the special moments of the pandemic, and revealed some of his memories.
Grainger said: “I've got some good memories, but my favourite memory is my two goals against Brazil. That's the one.”