Although footballers have dabbled in the world of music for many years – chiefly via team songs or the occasional novelty hit single – few have had any real aptitude in that direction. Colin Grainger, however, had enough musical talent to allow him to make a living with his vocal cords as well as his feet.
An England footballer in the late 1950s, Grainger, who has died aged 89, combined his high-profile exploits for teams such as Sheffield United, Sunderland and Leeds with a parallel career as a crooning solo pop vocalist, earning himself the nickname of “the singing winger” and even a place on the bill with the Beatles in 1963. After he retired from football in 1966, he plied his trade on the club circuit.
