Robert Grant (born 1 July 1990) is an English semi-professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who plays as a striker. He was most recently

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

side Radcliffe.

Playing

Accrington Stanley

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

, Grant came through

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

and made his

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football) Association football (more commonly known as football) was first codified in 1863 in England, although games that involved the kicking of a ball were evident considerably e ...

on 5 May 2007 in the League Two clash with

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

at the

National Hockey Stadium National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

which ended in 3–1 defeat for Stanley. In that game, at the age of 16 years 309 days, he became the second youngest player to appear in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for Stanley and the youngest since February 1959. At the beginning of the 2007–08 season he suffered a knee injury which kept him out until January 2008, soon after he signed professional terms. His first goal for Stanley came in a 1–0 home win against Chesterfield on 25 April 2009.

Scunthorpe United

On 24 June 2010 Grant signed for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The te ...

for the fee up to £260,000 and signed a two-year deal at the club. He was awarded a one-year contract extension by the club in May 2012.

Rochdale

In the summer of 2012 Grant signed a two-year deal at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Bor ...

for an undisclosed fee and rejoined John Coleman who was his manager while he was at

. On 17 June 2013 Grant had a transfer request accepted by Rochdale after a successful season at Spotland in which he scored 16 goals from 28 appearances.

Blackpool

On 18 July 2013, Grant signed for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

for an undisclosed fee, on a two-year contract with an option of a further year. He was released in May 2015.

Fleetwood Town (loan)

On 28 February 2014, Grant joined League Two side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed i ...

for the remainder of the 2013–14 season but was injured 38 minutes into his debut.

Shrewsbury Town (loan)

Having not featured for his parent club since December 2013, Grant signed on an initial one-month loan with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

in League Two on 9 October 2014, linking up with former Blackpool teammates James Caton and

Mark Halstead Mark James Halstead (born 17 September 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Torquay United. He began his career at Blackpool, and notably made a single appearance in the Premier League during the 2010–11 season. After ...

. He made his debut a week later, playing an hour as Shrewsbury picked up their first away win of the season against

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. His loan was later extended until the New Year, and he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 home win over

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ye ...

on 15 November. Grant made a brief return Blackpool in January 2015, before extending his loan period at Shrewsbury to the end of the 2014–15 season. After scoring a brace in two matches – in a 2–1 away win at his former club Accrington, and also in Shrewsbury's first ever win at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect Ar ...

against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

, as well as a further goal against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

, Grant won the

Football League Two Player of the Month The EFL League Two Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Originally named the Football League Two Pl ...

award for March 2015. Having featured regularly as the club were promoted back to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

at the first attempt, Grant subsequently returned to Blackpool at the end of the season, although he expressed his interest in a permanent transfer to Shrewsbury should the opportunity arise.

Return to Fleetwood Town

After being released by Blackpool, Grant rejoined

on a two-year deal in July 2015. He signed a two-year contract extension in March 2017.

Wrexham

On 24 November 2018, Grant joined

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

on a short-term loan until January 2019. Bobby Grant made his short-term loan permanent on 2 January 2019.

Return to Accrington Stanley (loan)

Grant stepped up two divisions on 31 January 2020 to re-join

on a six-month loan.

Loan to Oldham Athletic

On 10 August 2020, it was announced that Grant had joined

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

on a season-long loan. He scored on his debut for Oldham in a 3-0

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

win over

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park s ...

on 5 September 2020.

Radcliffe

On 27 June 2021, Grant took a player-coach role at Radcliffe following his release from Wrexham. On 7 October 2021, Radcliffe announced that Grant would be taking over first-team managerial duties until further notice, following the sacking of Lee Fowler. On 29 April 2023, he was announced to have departed the club by mutual consent. He had led the club to their highest league finish, defeat on the final day of the 2022–23 season denying the club a play-off place however.

Style of play

Grant is able to play as a striker, but has often been utilised as an attacking midfielder or winger. He is left footed, and known for his ability to shoot accurately from distance.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Shrewsbury Town * League Two runner-up: 2014–15 Individual *

: March 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Bobby 1990 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English footballers Men's association football forwards Accrington Stanley F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Radcliffe F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Radcliffe F.C. managers Northern Premier League managers English football managers