Birmingham City will hope to emulate £600k Brentford transfer agreement one day | OneFootball

Martin Grainger will forever be regarded as a cult-hero among Birmingham City fans

The £600k transfer of Martin Grainger will forever be regarded as one of the most 'value for money' signings at St. Andrew's for his long service to Birmingham City.

Grainger introduced himself to English football by starting out at Colchester United in 1989, where he enjoyed playing in his natural left-back role, putting in consistently high performance levels which attracted the attention of London club, Brentford.

After spending four seasons with the U's, Grainger made the move to Brentford for a fee of £60k in 1993, where he established himself as a regular starter due to his dynamism and proven attacking abilities, as well as defensive.

From there on, Grainger's career only kept getting better, as his unique style of play for a left-back in his era of football perked the interest of second-tier side Birmingham City, where he is most notably known for playing. His move to St. Andrews, managed by Trevor Francis at the time, was met with plenty of expectation from Blues fans due to his £600k transfer. No one could have predicted the outstanding career he would go on to have for them.

Martin Grainger is a cult hero at Birmingham City

Grainger went on to make 239 appearances for Birmingham, cementing his name in the history books, and is still regarded to this day as one of their greatest left-backs in the club's history.

The tough, yet talented full-back went on to become a legend at Birmingham due to his nine-year service in the West Midlands, which is still talked about among supporters to this day.

Grainger was a part of a very successful period at Birmingham as he was a key contributor to their progression which led to their play-off triumph in 2001/02. The defender reached the heights of the Premier League the following season as the Blues came out on top in the Division One play-off final as they beat Norwich City on penalties at the Millennium Stadium.

As well as being well-known for what he can do from open play, a specialty of Grainger's was the threat he posed from set-pieces. His wicked free-kick ability is an area of his game that lives long in the memory of Birmingham fans as the full-back scored 28 times for the Blues in his career.

His wand of a left foot from dead ball situations was a real asset to the Blues, who will most commonly remember his strike against Manchester United 30 yards from goal, which flew into the top right-hand corner, clipping the post on its way in.

Martin Grainger unhappy with Birmingham City's treatment of their club legend after his career

The final few years of Grainger's career were nothing more than steady who hung up his boots professionally in 2005 because of constant injury problems in his latter stages which limited his availability for selection. He did have a brief loan spell at Coventry City in 2003 but failed to make any real impact with the Sky Blues as he only featured seven times.

Upon retiring, Grainger was given his own testimonial match but revealed that then co-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan charged him approximately £6,800 for the use of the pitch during his own testimonial. It was a decision from the pair that brought on a stern response from Birmingham fans who backed their left-back hero in deserving better treatment thanks to the good memories he provided.

Grainger's name will be forever be most associated with Birmingham, and will be held in high regard by the Blues faithful for being a player that gave his all for the badge every time he stepped foot on the pitch.