Lee Grant (footballer, born 1983)

Grant began his career at Watford in 1998 but did not make any appearances and joined Derby County as a trainee in 2000. He made his debut for the Rams in the 2002–03 season in a First Division game against Burnley on 7 September 2002, replacing the injured Andy Oakes. He went on to win the club's Young Player of the Year award at the end of the season after playing a total of 30 games.[4] By the end of the season, Grant had established himself as a regular in the England youth set-up, and joined the under-21 team for a training session in Sardinia prior to the European Championship qualifying games against Serbia & Montenegro and Slovakia in June 2003.[5]

Grant finally made his debut for England under-21s on 9 September 2003 after Chris Kirkland injured himself during the pre-match warm-up prior to the European Championship qualifier against Portugal,[6] and went on to make a further three appearances for the youth side. Meanwhile, a string of good performances for Derby following another injury to Andy Oakes earned him a three-and-a-half-year contract extension on 29 January 2004.[7] Grant was voted into fourth place in the fan's Player of the Year award at the end of the 2003–04 season.[8]

Derby's young 'keeper Lee Camp was given a chance during the 2004–05 pre-season after a highly successful loan spell at Queens Park Rangers the previous season.[9] Camp impressed in the game and as a result Grant found himself on the bench at the start of the season despite his recent good form. The move led to press reports that Grant was surplus to requirements at Pride Park, however manager George Burley dismissed the story as "total speculation with no basis in fact".[10] Around the same time, Grant also found himself ousted from the England under-21 squad by Camp.[11]

Grant would have to wait until 19 October to make his first appearance of the season for Derby, when he replaced Lee Camp in goal following Camp's sending-off against Wolves. Grant went on to start the following match against Burnley whilst Camp served a suspension for the red card, but would not play another first team game for the remainder of the season.[12] Lee Camp sympathised with Grant at the time, saying: "It's tough for Granty and I would be frustrated in his situation. He came in for the Burnley game and did nothing wrong but I think I've done enough this season to warrant my place in the side".[13] Grant's woes were added to when he suffered a wrist injury in training in March 2005.[14] The injury was followed by a shoulder problem the following month which required surgery and kept the goalkeeper out of action for several months.[15]

Grant was given a chance by new Derby boss Phil Brown during the 2005–06 pre-season, but was again relegated to the bench by the start of the season. He played his first game of the season on 24 August 2005 as Derby crashed out of the League Cup at the hands of Grimsby Town.[16] Another injury followed a fortnight later when Grant fractured his metatarsal during training, and was out of action for another two weeks.[17]

After playing just three games in 18 months, Grant was allowed to join Championship club Burnley on a one-month loan on 15 November 2005 as cover for the suspended Brian Jensen.[18][19] Grant went straight into the team and made his debut for Burnley against Leicester City on 19 November, but despite a one-month extension to the loan, Grant failed to force Jensen out as first-choice 'keeper and did not play again for the first team before returning to Derby. Grant returned to his parent club on 14 January 2006 with Burnley manager Steve Cotterill claiming that the club were unable to continue to pay his high wages and that "he may go on loan somewhere else where he will play all the time".[20]

On 31 January 2006 he was loaned by Derby to League One team Oldham Athletic on a deal until the end of the season.[21] Oldham manager Ronnie Moore revealed at the time that he feared that the deal would collapse after being agreed by Phil Brown following Brown's sacking as Derby manager on 30 January, however Derby honoured the deal which had already been agreed and the transfer was completed.[22] The deal forced Lance Cronin out of the club as Oldham were unable to pay the wages of three senior goalkeepers.[23] Grant made his debut for the Lactics in the 1–0 home defeat to Port Vale on 4 February 2006. He quickly established himself as first-choice goalkeeper and went on to make a total of sixteen league appearances for Oldham. In March 2006 Moore revealed that he was looking at making Grant's transfer permanent,[24] but despite the player stating that he would like to make the switch permanent,[25] no offer was made following Moore departing Oldham on 1 June 2006.

Grant was again given a chance during the 2006–07 pre-season, and Derby manager Billy Davies awarded him with a starting place for the club's second league game of the season against Stoke City on 8 August 2006. However, the arrival of Stephen Bywater on 12 August 2006 further limited Grant's first team opportunities. Following Bywater picking up a thigh injury and Camp's loan move to Norwich City, Grant was able to string together six appearances in September and October 2006, but after Bywater's return to fitness he was again left out of the team until his final appearance for Derby against Ipswich Town on 14 April 2007 when he came on a substitute after Bywater had been shown a red card. Bywater was handed a one-match ban, however Lee Camp was recalled from his loan and took his place in the following match. Grant's contract expired on 2 July 2007 and an extension was not offered by Derby.[26]

Grant signed a three-year contract with Championship club Sheffield Wednesday on 2 July 2007, joining at the same time as another young 'keeper, Robert Burch.[27] Despite goalkeeping coach Billy Mercer stating that there would be "no number one or number two",[28] Grant was given the number one shirt and, despite some poor early form,[29] established himself as first-choice goalkeeper.

Grant was praised by Brian Laws after the Queens Park Rangers game on 24 November 2007 after making a string of excellent saves, with the manager stating "It was a performance which gives encouragement to everybody and shows what a good goalkeeper Lee Grant can be."[30] Laws again heaped praise on his goalkeeper on 1 January 2008, claiming that he has "probably been the most outstanding keeper in the league in terms of current form."[29] Grant played an integral part in maintaining Sheffield Wednesday's Championship status during the 2007–08 campaign with many excellent performances including a crucial and memorable save on the final day against Norwich City at Hillsborough. In the 2008–09 campaign, Grant won PFA Fans' Championship player of the Month on top of being Wednesdays' current player of the year. In the second Steel City derby of the season Grant pulled off another memorable save from Billy Sharp holding onto Wednesdays' 2–1 lead and complete their first League double over the Blades for 95 years.

On 27 July 2010, Grant returned to Burnley for a fee of around £1 million, after three earlier bids failed. He linked up with his former Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws as backup to Brian Jensen.[31] Grant played 130 times for Burnley in a three-year spell and won the fans' player of the season award in 2012–13.[32]

On 7 May 2013, it was confirmed the Grant would return to Derby County on a three-year contract after his contract with Burnley expired on 1 July 2013.[33] Grant went into the 2013–14 season as the first-choice goalkeeper and has played every minute of every league and cup game so far this season.[34] He made his first appearance for Derby in over six years in a 1–1 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers on 4 August[35] and kept his first clean sheet of the season two days later, pulling off several saves as Derby beat Oldham Athletic 1–0 in the first round of the League Cup.[36] In the following game, he made an important late save to ensure the club's first league victory of the season, in a 2–1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion.[37]

He made another good save in a 3–0 win at Yeovil Town on 24 August[38] and kept his third clean sheet of the season in a 5–0 win over Brentford on 27 August[39] but was at fault for a goal in Derby's 2–2 draw at Bolton Wanderers on 17 September. He made a string of saves and denied Darius Henderson from the penalty spot during The Rams' match against fierce rivals Nottingham Forest on 28 September, but could not stop 10-man Derby from losing 1–0.[40] He recorded back-to-back clean sheets on 9 and 23 November, in a 3–0 win against Sheffield Wednesday and a 1–0 win at AFC Bournemouth, respectively.[41][42] His sixth clean sheet of the season came in a 2–0 win against Charlton Athletic on 14 December.[43]

Grant conceded four goals as Derby lost 4–1 to rivals Leicester City on 10 January, but was powerless to stop them and made several good saves to keep the score down.[44] In the following game, a 1–0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion, Grant made a "stunning" reaction save to deny Matthew Upson's header from a corner and made a great late save to prevent Leonardo Ulloa from equalising.[45] Grant's form drew praise from Derby's goalkeeping coach Eric Steele, who lauded Grant's concentration and said that Grant "will be delighted with his performance and he was part of a [defence] that kept us in the game."[46]

On 31 August 2016, Grant joined Premier League club Stoke City on a six-month loan to provide cover for the injured Jack Butland.[47][48] On 24 September, he made his Premier League debut at the age of 33 in a 1–1 home draw against West Bromwich Albion.[49] Grant then put in a man of the match performance against Manchester United on 2 October 2016 as Stoke earned their first point at Old Trafford since 1980.[50][51] Grant then kept back-to-back clean sheets in wins over Sunderland and Hull City earning praise from Stoke chairman Peter Coates.[52]

On 4 January 2017, after impressing during his loan spell with six clean sheets in 15 league appearances in the 2016–17 season,[53] Grant joined Stoke City on a two-and-a-half-year deal for a fee of £1.3 million.[54] Grant retained his place in the team until Butland returned from injury in April 2017.[55][56] Grant played 30 times in 2016–17 as Stoke finished in 13th position and his performances earned him the player of the year award.[57][58][59] Grant was second-choice to Jack Butland in 2017–18, playing five times as Stoke were relegated to the EFL Championship.[60]

Grant in 2018

Grant signed for Premier League club Manchester United on 3 July 2018 on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee,[61] reported to be £1.5 million.[62] He was assigned the number 13 shirt.[63] Grant made his debut for Manchester United on 25 September 2018, as a substitute for Juan Mata, after Sergio Romero was sent off, in an EFL Cup tie against Derby County, United lost 8–7 on penalties following a 2–2 draw.[64]

He made his first start for the club, and his European debut, on 28 November 2019 in a 2–1 loss away to Astana in the UEFA Europa League.[65]

On 5 March 2020, Grant signed a contract extension with Manchester United until the end of the 2020–21 season.[66] On 2 July 2021, he signed another contract extension with the club until the end of the 2021–22 season.[67] He retired in May 2022.[68]