Anthony Grant (footballer)

Anthony Grant

Personal information
Full name	Anthony Paul Shaun Andrew Daure Grant[1]
Date of birth	4 June 1987
Place of birth	Lambeth, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Port Vale
Number	42
Youth career
2000–2004	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2004–2008	Chelsea	1	(0)
2006	→ Oldham Athletic (loan)	2	(0)
2006–2007	→ Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	40	(0)
2007–2008	→ Luton Town (loan)	4	(0)
2008	→ Southend United (loan)	10	(0)
2008–2012	Southend United	149	(10)
2012–2013	Stevenage	41	(0)
2013–2015	Crewe Alexandra	81	(4)
2015–	Port Vale	38	(1)
National team
2002–2003	England U16	1	(0)
2003–2004	England U17	2	(0)
2005–2006	England U19	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 17 April 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals)

Anthony Paul Shaun Andrew Daure Grant (born 4 June 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays for League One side Port Vale as a midfielder.

Grant began his career at Chelsea, progressing through the youth ranks before making his first-team debut in 2005. Grant was loaned out four times during his time at Chelsea; briefly playing for Oldham Athletic in 2006, before spending the 2006–07 season at Wycombe Wanderers. He then joined Luton Town on loan in November 2007, spending a month with the club. Grant later joined Southend United in January 2008, on loan until the end of the 2007–08 campaign. He signed for Southend on a permanent basis ahead of the 2008–09 season, and spent four seasons with the club. In June 2012, Grant signed for Stevenage on a free transfer. After one season at Stevenage, Grant joined Crewe Alexandra. He remained with Crewe for two years, and moved on to Port Vale in June 2015.

Club career

Early career

Born in Lambeth, Greater London, Grant began his career at Chelsea as a trainee, progressing through the youth ranks and later becoming a regular for the reserve side.^[3] In May 2005, Grant made his professional debut for the club, coming on as a 90th-minute substitute for Joe Cole in Chelsea's 3–1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.^[4] Due to Grant's impressive performances for the reserve side, he was named in the first-team squad for the 2005–06 season, for which he had been allocated the squad number 42.^[3] However, he made no first-team appearances for Chelsea during the campaign.^[3][5] In January 2006, Grant was loaned to League One club Oldham Athletic, signing for the club on a one-month loan deal.^[6] He made his debut for Oldham a day after signing, playing the whole match in a 3–0 away defeat against Nottingham Forest.^[7] He went on to make just one further appearance during his brief loan spell,^[8] playing the first 67 minutes in a 2–0 victory against Gillingham at Boundary Park.^[9][10] He returned to his parent club in early February 2006, and featured regularly for Chelsea's reserves for the remainder of the season.^[3]

Ahead of the 2006–07 season, Grant joined League Two side Wycombe Wanderers on a season-long loan.^[11] Wycombe manager Paul Lambert had previously tried to sign Grant during his time at Livingston a year earlier, although no transfer materialised due to the distance Grant would have to travel to play for the club.^[12] He made his Wycombe debut on the first day of the season, playing 69 minutes in a 1–1 home draw with Wrexham.^[13] A week later, on 12 August 2006, he was sent-off for the first time in his career in a 1–0 defeat to Notts County, receiving the red card for two bookable offences.^[14] Grant also helped Wycombe reach the semi-final of the League Cup, playing in all five games up until the semi-final,^[15] but was unable to take part in the two legged semi-final as Wycombe were drawn against Grant's employers, Chelsea.^[16] He was almost ever-present during the campaign, making 49 appearances as Wycombe finished the season in 12th place.^[15][17] He was offered a contract extension at Chelsea in March 2007, and signed the deal on returning to the club at the end of the campaign.^[18] In November 2007, Grant was loaned out, this time joining Luton Town until January 2008.^[19] He made his debut in a 1–0 victory over Southend United, coming on as a second-half substitute.^[20] Grant's first four appearances for Luton were as a late substitute.^[19][21] He started his first match for the club in a match against Bristol Rovers on 26 December 2007, but was one of three players to be sent-off for Luton in a game that saw them draw 1–1, despite Bristol Rovers' numerical advantage.^[22][23] Grant was given an immediate three-game ban, which put an abrupt end to his loan spell; the club were in administration and under a transfer embargo, so were unable to renew the loan.^[24]

Southend United

In January 2008, Grant went out on loan for a fourth time, joining Southend United of League One on loan for the remainder of the 2007–08 season.^[25][26] He made his debut as a 78th-minute substitute in Southend's 2–1 home win over Bournemouth on 16 February 2008.^[27] He went on to make ten appearances for the club during the campaign, all of which as a substitute.^[21] In July 2008, Southend manager Steve Tilson stated he was interested in signing Grant on a permanent basis after he was made available for transfer by Chelsea.^[28] He subsequently trained with the club during pre-season and played in a number of the club's pre-season friendlies.^[28][29] Two days before the start of the 2008–09 season, on 7 August 2008, Grant signed for Southend on a free transfer.^[30][31] He featured in the club's first game of the new season, coming on as a late substitute as Southend got off to winning start after beating Peterborough United.^[32] Grant started his first game for the club three days later in a 1–0 extra-time defeat to Cheltenham Town in the League Cup.^[33] He scored his first ever professional goal in September 2008, coming off the bench to score an 88th-minute winner as Southend beat Crewe Alexandra 4–3.^[34] Grant made 42 appearances during his first full season with the Essex club, scoring once,^[35] as Southend finished five points short of a play-off place in League One.^[36]

Grant was offered a new contract by Southend in October 2009,^[37] and shortly after signed a two-and-a-half year contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2012.^[38][39] He suffered an ankle injury following Southend's 2–2 draw against Swindon Town in February 2010, and subsequently missed two months of the season.^[40] He made 41 appearances during the 2009–10 campaign,^[41] in a season that witnessed Southend suffer relegation back to League Two following financial difficulties.^[42] Despite the club's relegation, he remained at Southend for the 2010–11 season, with Southend under new management in the form of Paul Sturrock.^[43] Grant ended his 79-game goal drought shortly into the new campaign when he scored a 25-yard strike in a 2–0 away victory against Bradford City.^[44][45] A week later, he doubled his goal tally for the season when he "stroked home" Ryan Hall's inswinging corner in a 2–1 home victory over Torquay United, thus ending Torquay's winning start to the season.^[46] He went on to score in the club's next two matches; a 2–1 defeat to Northampton Town,^[47] and a 35-yard strike in the club's 3–2 home loss to Morecambe,^[48] consequently taking his tally to four goals in as many matches.^[49] Grant soon scored his fifth of the campaign, scoring a low driven effort in an away defeat to Chesterfield on 9 October 2010.^[50] He also netted in a 1–1 draw with Shrewsbury Town at the New Meadow a month later, scoring a "stunning volley" late-on to rescue a point for Southend.^[51][52] As a result of Grant's impressive form during the first half of the season, he attracted interest from a number of Championship clubs,^[53] but later issued a statement stating his intention to see out the remainder of his contract at Southend.^[54] He scored two further goals during the season; finishing "calmly" from inside the area in a 2–0 win against Barnet in January 2011,^[55] as well as netting against Wycombe Wanderers on the last day of the season.^[56] He ended the season having scored eight goals in 51 appearances, with Southend finishing in mid-table.^[49][57]

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, it was again reported that Grant would be leaving Southend in favour of a move to a Championship club, although ultimately no move materialised.^[58] He made 41 appearances during the season, scoring once, a long range volley in a 2–0 home win over AFC Wimbledon in April 2012,^[59] as Southend narrowly lost in the League Two play-off semi-final.^[60] During his four years at Southend, Grant made 184 appearances and scored ten goals.^[61]

Stevenage

In June 2012, Grant rejected the offer of a contract extension at Southend,^[62] and opted to sign for League One side Stevenage on a free transfer.^[63][64] He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 win over AFC Wimbledon in the League Cup on 14 August 2012, in Stevenage's first game of the 2012–13 season.^[65] Grant made 45 appearances in all competitions during his first season with Stevenage,^[66] as the club finished the season in 18th place in League One.^[67] He was placed on the transfer list in May 2013.^[68] With Grant entering the final year of his contract at Stevenage, new manager Graham Westley felt he would not play as much as he would have liked, and therefore it was "better for all" that Grant "move on to develop his career".^[68]

Crewe Alexandra

Having not returned to pre-season with Stevenage ahead of the 2013–14 season, Grant signed for divisional rivals Crewe Alexandra in July 2013, joining on a two-year contract.^[69] He signed for Crewe on a free transfer, having been released from his contract at Stevenage by mutual consent.^[70] In November 2013, Crewe manager Steve Davis made Grant and fellow midfielder Brad Inman available on loan because he was unhappy with their attitude: "Their attitude has got to be better, for the moment, for the benefit of the squad, they're better not around it."^[71] He remained at Gresty Road however, and went on to divide opinion with "Railwaymen" supporters, some welcoming his physical approach and ability to break up play whilst others criticised him for slowing down the play of Crewe's otherwise highly technical midfield.^[72]

Despite being featuring 48 times in the 2014–15 season he was not offered an extension to his contract as the coaching staff were not convinced he represented "value for money".^[73] He was voted second in the club's Player of the Year award behind goalkeeper Ben Garratt.^[74]

Port Vale

Grant remained in League One after leaving Crewe, and signed a two-year contract with nearby rivals Port Vale in June 2015.^[75] He started the 2015–16 season in good form, and was described by local press as the club's outstanding player during Vale's unbeaten run of six games to open the campaign, whilst captain Carl Dickinson said that "I can't see why he isn't playing higher".^[76] However his combative style of play left his with ten yellow cards before the new year, and as a result he was suspended for two games.^[77] He went on to collect 15 bookings and so was suspended for the final three matches of the campaign.^[78]

Career statistics

Club	Season	Division	League^[A]		FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[B]		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chelsea	2004–05[79]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Oldham Athletic (loan)	2005–06[80]	League One	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	2006–07[81]	League Two	40	0	2	0	5	0	2	0	49	0
	Total		40	0	2	0	5	0	2	0	49	0
Luton Town (loan)	2007–08[82]	League Two	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Southend United (loan)	2007–08[83]	League One	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
Southend United	2008–09[84]		35	1	5	0	1	0	1	0	42	1
	2009–10[85]		38	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	41	0
	2010–11[86]	League Two	43	8	2	0	2	0	3	0	50	8
	2011–12[87]		33	1	1	0	1	0	6	0	41	1
	Total		159	10	9	0	6	0	10	0	184	10
Stevenage	2012–13[88]	League One	41	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	45	0
	Total		41	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	45	0
Crewe Alexandra	2013–14[89]	League One	38	2	2	1	1	0	2	0	43	3
	2014–15[90]		43	2	2	0	2	0	1	0	48	2
	Total		81	4	4	1	3	0	3	0	91	5
Port Vale	2015–16[91]	League One	38	1	3	0	2	0	2	1	45	2
	Total		38	1	3	0	2	0	2	1	45	2
Career totals			366	15	20	1	18	0	18	1	412	17

A. ^ The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League and Premier League.

B. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League Trophy.

References

1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/11/2009 and 30/11/2009" (PDF). The Football Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
2. "Anthony Grant – ESPN". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
3. "Anthony Grant – Chelsea Profile". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
4. "Man Utd 1–3 Chelsea". BBC Sport. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
5. "Anthony Grant – Soccerbase Profile". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
6. "Judge rules in favour of Latics". Sky Sports. 13 January 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
7. "Nott'm Forest 3–0 Oldham Athletic". Nottingham Forest F.C. 14 January 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
8. "Games played by Anthony Grant in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
9. "Oldham Athletic 2–0 Gillingham". Gillingham F.C. 21 January 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
10. "Oldham 2–0 Gillingham". Oldham Athletic A.F.C. 21 January 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
11. "Wycombe capture Chelsea youngster". BBC Sport. 20 July 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
12. "Chairboys bring in Chelsea boy". Sky Sports. 20 July 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
13. "Wycombe 1–1 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 5 August 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
14. "Notts County 1–0 Wycombe". Wycombe Wanderers F.C. 12 August 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
15. "Games played by Anthony Grant in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
16. "Conflict of interests means Grant can't play in semi". Daily Mail. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
17. "English League Two 2006–2007 : Table". Statto.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
18. "Grant offered Blues deal". Sky Sports. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
19. "Anthony Grant – Luton Town Profile". Luton Town F.C. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
20. "Luton Town 1–0 Southend United". Southend United F.C. 24 November 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
21. "Games played by Anthony Grant in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
22. "Bristol Rovers vs Luton Town". Luton Town F.C. 26 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
23. "Bristol Rovers 1–1 Luton". Bristol Rovers F.C. 26 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
24. "Luton's Pesch injury blow". Sky Sports. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
25. "Southend sign Grant and Mulgrew". BBC Sport. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
26. "Grant handed Blues loan". Sky Sports. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
27. "Southend 2–1 Bournemouth". Southend United F.C. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
28. "Shrimpers hopeful on Grant". Sky Sports. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
29. "Shrimpers close on Grant deal". Sky Sports. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
30. "Grant set to join Southend". Sky Sports. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
31. "Southend snap up Chelsea's Grant". BBC Sport. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
32. "Southend 1–0 Peterborough". BBC Sport. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
33. "Southend 0–1 Cheltenham (AET)". Southend United F.C. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
34. "Crewe vs Southend". Southend United F.C. 20 September 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
35. "Games played by Anthony Grant in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
36. "English League One 2008–2009 : Table". Statto.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
37. "Shrimpers eye Grant deal". Sky Sports. 19 October 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
38. "Sawyer ends Southend stay". Sky Sports. 19 October 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
39. "Grant signs new Southend contract". BBC Sport. 26 October 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
40. "Southend midfielder facing two-month lay-off". Sky Sports. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
41. "Games played by Anthony Grant in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
42. "English League One 2009–2010 : Table". Statto.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
43. "Paul Sturrock named as new Southend United manager". BBC Sport. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
44. "Bradford 0–2 Southend". BBC Sport. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
45. "Grant calls for more focus". Sky Sports. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
46. "Southend 2–1 Torquay". BBC Sport. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
47. "Northampton 2–1 Southend". BBC Sport. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
48. "Southend 2–3 Morecambe". BBC Sport. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
49. "Games played by Anthony Grant in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
50. "Chesterfield 2–1 Southend". BBC Sport. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
51. "Shrewsbury Town 1–1 Southend United". BBC Sport. 20 November 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
52. "Southend United playing Sturrock's way – Anthony Grant". BBC Sport. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
53. "Grant chase heats up". Sky Sports. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
54. "Grant happy at Roots Hall". Southend United F.C. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
55. "Barnet 0–2 Southend". BBC Sport. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
56. "Wycombe 3–1 Southend". BBC Sport. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
57. "English League Two 2010–2011 : Table". Statto.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
58. "Race on for Grant". Sky Sports. 23 July 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
59. "Southend 2–0 AFC Wimbledon". Sky Sports. 9 April 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
60. "English League Two 2011–2012 : Table". Statto.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
61. "Anthony Grant – Soccerbase". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
62. "Grant makes Stevenage move". Southend United F.C. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
63. "Boro seal Anthony Grant deal". Stevenage F.C. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
64. "Southend's Anthony Grant to make Stevenage move". BBC Sport. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
65. "Stevenage 3–1 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
66. "Games played by Anthony Grant in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
67. "English League One 2012–2013 : Table". Statto.com. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
68. "Four released and three listed". Stevenage F.C. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
69. "Grant signs two-year deal". Crewe Alexandra F.C. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
70. "Anthony Grant: Crewe Alexandra sign Stevenage midfielder". BBC Sport. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
71. "Crewe Alexandra: Brad Inman and Anthony Grant available for loan". BBC Sport, 25 November 2013. BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
72. Sharpe, Rich (24 June 2015). "Crewe Alexandra Extra Time: Anthony Grant, the man who divided opinion right until the end". The Sentinel. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
73. Morse, Peter (28 May 2015). "Anthony Grant 'value for money' questioned by Crewe Alex". Crewe Chronicle. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
74. Baggaley, Mike (24 June 2015). "Valiants sign ex-Crewe midfielder Anthony Grant". The Sentinel. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
75. "Port Vale: Anthony Grant and Ben Purkiss sign for League One club". BBC Sport. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
76. "Carl Dickinson baffled that Crewe didn't fight harder to keep Anthony Grant". The Sentinel. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
77. Baggaley, Mike (26 December 2015). "Anthony Grant ban leaves Rob Page considering options". The Sentinel. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
78. Baggaley, Mike (19 April 2016). "Port Vale: FA confirms Anthony Grant's ban". The Sentinel. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
79. "Chelsea 2004/2005 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
80. "Oldham 2005/2006 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
81. "Wycombe 2006/2007 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
82. "Luton 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
83. "Southend United 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
84. "Southend United 2008/2009 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
85. "Southend United 2009/2010 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
86. "Southend United 2010/2011 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
87. "Southend United 2011/2012 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
88. "Stevenage 2012/2013 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
89. "Crewe 2013/2014 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
90. "Crewe 2014/2015 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
91. "Port Vale 2015/2016 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 July 2013.

External links

• Anthony Grant career statistics at Soccerbase