Matt Grimes

Matthew Jacob Grimes (born 15 July 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Welsh club Swansea City, while also serving as club captain.

Matt Grimes
Grimes warming up for Leeds United in 2016
Personal information
Full name Matthew Jacob Grimes[1]
Date of birth (1995-07-15) 15 July 1995
Place of birth Exeter, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Swansea City
Number 8
Youth career
0000–2013 Exeter City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Exeter City 58 (5)
2015– Swansea City 95 (1)
2016 → Blackburn Rovers (loan) 13 (0)
2016–2017 → Leeds United (loan) 7 (0)
2017–2018 → Northampton Town (loan) 44 (4)
National team
2014–2015 England U20 12 (1)
2016 England U21 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:57, 22 July 2020 (UTC)

He began his career at Exeter City, where he made his professional debut in League Two in August 2013. In January 2015, he was signed by Premier League club Swansea for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £1.75 million. Grimes has also represented England at under-20 and under-21 level.

Club career

Exeter City

Born in Exeter, Devon, Grimes came through his hometown club Exeter City's academy and was given a professional contract by the club in April 2013.[3] He made his League Two debut on 17 August 2013 in a 2–0 victory over AFC Wimbledon at St James Park.[4] In February 2014, Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale described Grimes as the best young player he had seen in his 8 years at the club praising his technical ability and reading of the game.[5] On 18 April, away at Chesterfield's Proact Stadium, he scored his first professional goal for relegation-threatened Exeter, a deflected free kick in the 18th minute to open a 1–1 draw against the highly ranked opponents.[6] Grimes won Exeter's player of the season award at the end of the 2013–14 season and that summer committed his immediate future to the club despite reported interest from various Premier League sides.[7]

Despite leaving the division halfway through the season when he signed for Swansea, Grimes was chosen in League Two's PFA Team of the Year for the 2014–15 season.[8]

Swansea City

On 2 January 2015, Grimes signed for Premier League side Swansea City with Exeter City receiving an undisclosed club record fee, believed to be in the region of £1.75 million.[9] He completed 90 minutes for the Swansea under-21 side in a 2–1 win against Queens Park Rangers on 27 January. On 1 February, Grimes was called up a Swansea matchday squad for the first time, remaining an unused substitute as they won 1–0 away to Southampton.[10] His debut for the team came on 4 April, as a 90th-minute substitute for Jonjo Shelvey in a 3–1 win over Hull City at the Liberty Stadium.[11] He scored his first goal for the club against York City in a 3–0 home win in the League Cup second round on 25 August 2015.[12]

Blackburn Rovers (loan)

On 13 February 2016, Grimes joined Championship club Blackburn Rovers on a loan deal lasting until the end of the season,[13] making 12 appearances.

Leeds United loan spell (2016–17)

On 6 July, Grimes returned to the Championship, joining Leeds United on a season-long loan, signed by his former Swansea manager Garry Monk and assistant Pep Clotet.[14][15] On 5 August, Grimes was given the squad number 16 shirt for the 2016–17 season.[16] On 7 August, Grimes made his Leeds debut against Q.P.R. in a 3–0 defeat.[17] His last appearance for Leeds, was against Sutton United on 29 January 2017 in the FA Cup in Leeds' shock cup exit.[18]

On 17 May 2017, after failing to break into the Leeds team, it was announced that Grimes would be returning to Swansea upon the expiry of his loan deal.[19] After the spell Grimes described his time at the club, "I took a bit of a knocking going to Leeds, it just didn't happen for me.[20]

Northampton Town loan spell (2017–18)

On 18 August 2017, it was confirmed that Grimes would be playing football for Northampton Town for the rest of the season.[21] He made 47 appearances in all competitions scoring 4 goals during his season at Northampton, after being unable to help them avoid relegation from EFL League One.[22]

Return to Swansea City

Grimes was recalled to play for Swansea following the club's relegation from the Premier League. He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–2 loss against Manchester City in the FA Cup.[23]

International career

On 28 August 2014, Grimes received his first call-up to the England national under-20 team for the friendly match against Romania.[24] In March 2015, Grimes came off the bench to captain the Under 20s in a win against Mexico. He also scored a penalty in the eventual shoot-out following a 1–1 draw. 4 days later, he started as captain at Home Park in 2–1 win over the United States, wearing the number 7 shirt.

Personal life

As a 15-year-old he was part of St Peter's AirBadgers Ultimate Frisbee team that won the Junior National Championships for the third year in a row in 2011. He was voted the most valuable player as AirBadgers beat Brighton in the final 13–1.[25]

Career statistics
As of match played 12 July 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Exeter City 2013–14[26] League Two 35110001[lower-alpha 1]0371
2014–15[27] League Two 234101000254
Total 585201010625
Swansea City 2014–15[27] Premier League 300000—30
2015–16[28] Premier League 101021—41
2016–17[29] Premier League 00———00
2017–18[22] Premier League 00———00
2018–19[30] Championship 4514110—502
2019–20[31] Championship 4300010—440
Total 9215141—1013
Blackburn Rovers (loan) 2015–16[28] Championship 130———130
Leeds United (loan) 2016–17[29] Championship 702030—120
Northampton Town (loan) 2017–18[22] League One 44400003[lower-alpha 2]0474
Career total 2141091814023512
  1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in the EFL Trophy

Honours

England U21

Individual

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References
  1. "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 61. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014.
  2. "Premier League Player Profile Matt Grimes". Premier League. 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. "Two scholars handed contracts with Exeter". exetercityfc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  4. "Exeter 2 – 0 Wimbledon". BBC Sport. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  5. "BBC Sport – Matt Grimes 'best Exeter prospect in years' says boss Paul Tisdale". BBC Sport.
  6. "Chesterfield 1–1 Exeter". BBC Sport. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  7. "BBC Sport – Matt Grimes plans to stay at Exeter City despite top-flight rumours". BBC Sport.
  8. "League Two Team of the Year: Matt Grimes in after Exeter stint". BBC Sport. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  9. "Matt Grimes: Swansea City sign midfielder from Exeter City". BBC Sport. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  10. Strickland, Jamie (1 February 2015). "Southampton 0–1 Swansea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  11. Westall, Rob (4 April 2015). "Swansea 3–1 Hull". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  12. "Swansea 3–0 York". BBC Sport. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  13. "Matt Grimes: Swansea midfielder joins Blackburn Rovers on loan". BBC Sport. 13 February 2016.
  14. "SWANS STARLET JOINS ON LOAN". Leeds United F.C. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  15. Phil Hay (7 July 2016). "Leeds United: Signing number five as Leeds land Swansea's Matt Grimes". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  16. "2016/17 Squad Numbers Confirmed". Leeds United A.F.C. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  17. "QPR Claim Opening Victory". Leeds United A.F.C. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  18. "MATCHDAY: Sutton United Vs Leeds LIVE". BBC Sport. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  19. "2017/18 RETAINED LIST". Leeds United F.C. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  20. "Matt Grimes' Swansea City reboot after the Leeds United nightmare that shattered his confidence". Wales Online. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  21. "Matt Grimes: Northampton Town sign Swansea midfielder on season-long loan". BBC Sport. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  22. "Games played by Matt Grimes in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  23. "Grimes: Goal a weight off my shoulders". sweanseacity.com. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  24. "Aidy Boothroyd names U20 squad to face Romania". The FA. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  25. "The rise of Exeter City's £1.75m golden boy: Matt Grimes – from Stoke Hill to the Premier League?". Exeter Express and Echo. 1 January 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  26. "Games played by Matt Grimes in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  27. "Games played by Matt Grimes in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  28. "Games played by Matt Grimes in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  29. "Games played by Matt Grimes in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  30. "Games played by Matt Grimes in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  31. "Games played by Matt Grimes in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  32. Veevers, Nicholas (29 May 2016). "England under-21s lift Toulon title after win over France". The Football Association. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
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