Colin Grainger

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. [ 33 ] The club was freely spending money, paying out £22,000 for Don Revie in addition to the £23,000 fee for Grainger, but were struggling near the bottom of the First Division. [ 33 ] Sunderland spent the second half of the 1956–57 season in the bottom four and lost their final three matches, but avoided relegation as they ended the season one position and three points ahead of relegated Cardiff City . [ 34 ] Sunderland were also charged by The Football Association with making illegal payments to players and chairman Bill Ditchburn was handed a lifetime ban from football whilst the club were fined £5,000 and Murray resigned his post. [ 34 ] Murray's successor as manager, Alan Brown , alienated senior players such as Billy Bingham , Don Revie and Len Shackleton , leaving Grainger to later comment that "Brown's presence had created discordance out of harmony, anxiety out of tranquillity" and "football felt like work and training felt like prison". [ 35 ] Having been dropped to the reserves a month in the 1957–58 season, Grainger and goalkeeper Ray Daniel requested transfers. [ 36 ] 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. [ 37 ] Grainger scored the club's first goal in the Second Division on 23 August 1958, in a 3–1 defeat at Lincoln City . [ 38 ] He broke his collarbone in a 1–0 win over Huddersfield Town , causing him to miss five matches at a crucial time when his form was good. He was being considered again for the England squad. [ 39 ] He totalled three goa — Wikipedia