William Grainger (5 June 1913 – 4 November 1985) was an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

player, selector and administrator. He played with club sides

Dohenys Dohenys is a Gaelic Athletic Association club, fielding Gaelic football and Hurling teams in the town of Dunmanway, County Cork, Ireland. It won its only Cork Senior Club Football Championship in 1897. Other titles won include 2 Cork Intermediat ...

and

Clonakilty Clonakilty (; ), sometimes shortened to Clon, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is located at the head of the tidal Clonakilty Bay. The rural hinterland is used mainly for dairy farming. The town's population as of 2016 was 4,592. Th ...

, divisional side

Carbery Carbery or Carbury may refer to: ;People: * Brian Carbury (1918–1961), New Zealand fighter ace * Douglas Carbery (1894–1959), British soldier and airman * Ethna Carbery (1864–1902), Irish writer * James Joseph Carbery (1823–1887), Irish Dom ...

and at inter-county level with the

Cork senior football team The Cork county football team represents Cork in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Cork GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Sen ...

Career

Grainger's club career began at minor level with

in 1930. He quickly progressed to adult level and was part of the Doheny's team that won the Cork JFC title in 1935. Grainger's club performances also earned his selection to the

divisional team that won the Cork SFC title in 1937. He later joined the

club and won back-to-back Cork SFC titles in 1946 and 1947. Grainger first appeared on the inter-county scene with

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

during a two-year stint with the junior team in 1936 and 1937. The latter year also saw him make his first appearance for the senior team. Grainger was at full-back when Cork lost the 1938 Munster final to

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

. He made his last appearance for the team in 1940. Grainger also lined out with

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

in the

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

Retirement and death

In retirement from playing, Grainger was heavily involved in the administrative affairs of the Dohenys club. He also served as chairman of the West Cork Board and was divisional delegate to the Cork County Board. Grainger was also a selector with the Carbery divisional team and with the Dohenys club side that won the Cork JFC title in 1966. Grainger died at the North Infirmary in

on 4 November 1985, at the age of 72.

Honours

Player

;Dohenys *

Cork Junior Football Championship The Cork Junior A Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Junior A Football Championship and abbreviated to the Cork JAFC) is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Cork County Board of ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

South West Junior A Football Championship The Carbery Junior A Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bandon Co-op Carbery Junior A Football Championship) is an annual club Gaelic football competition organised by the Carbery Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association ...

: 1931, 1935 ;Collins *

Cork Senior Football Championship The Cork Premier Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bon Secours Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSFC) is an annual club Gaelic football competition organised by the Cork Count ...

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

;Carbery *

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

Selector

;Dohenys *

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grainger, Liam 1913 births 1985 deaths Dohenys Gaelic footballers Clonakilty Gaelic footballers Carbery Gaelic footballers Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Munster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Gaelic football selectors Gaelic games administrators