Hearts legend Danny Grainger's season is null and void despite being 10 points clear in promotion race

Young manager is left reeling from English FA’s decision
Danny Grainger's first season as a manager has been declared null and void.Danny Grainger's first season as a manager has been declared null and void.
Danny Grainger's first season as a manager has been declared null and void.

Your team are ten points clear and romping towards the title in your first year as a manager. Then, with seven games left, the league is declared null and void. This is the reality for former Hearts defender Danny Grainger.

Still only 33, he took charge at Cumbrian club Workington Reds last summer following their relegation to North West Division of England's Northern Premier League. As an exhilarating debut campaign neared its climax, The Reds had built a ten-point advantage over second-placed Ramsbottom United when coronavirus forced all levels of football into shutdown.

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Last week, the English FA declared non-league competitions null and void for season 2019/20. Grainger's emotions, and that of everyone connected with Workington, instantly spiralled into a mix of frustration, disappointment and anger.

His first year as a manager wasn't supposed to end like this - particularly inside a footballing pyramid worth many billions of pounds. He maintains that, if the English Premier League intends to finish, then everyone should be allowed to follow suit.

Recalling the euphoria of Hearts' 2012 Scottish Cup win, when he scored in the 5-1 final win against Hibs, he explained why his players deserve to experience that winning feeling themselves.

"I don't want the season finished now, even on points per game," the left-back told the Evening News. "We want that feeling. I've been lucky enough to experience it, the best feeling ever, with Hearts in the cup final. That feeling of hearing the final whistle knowing you have won. It's the best feeling you will ever have in football.

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"I want my players to experience that - the last day when the final whistle goes, and you know you're promoted as champions. Nobody can take that away from you. I don't even want to see it on a computer that we go up on average points per game.

"We want to play the matches. If we lose them and don't go up, then it's our fault and we'll accept that. But somebody is striking a pen through season 2019/20 and it's not fair."

Commitment

Grainger learned of the decision to void the campaign through social media of all places. He is officially player-manager at Borough Park but has made only four appearances this season. His time has been devoted to rejuvenating a club steeped in the local community on the banks of the River Derwent.

Despite the commitment shown by him and so many others – players often lose wages from their full-time jobs through taking time off to play for Workington – promotion back to the National League North now looks a forlorn hope. "Hearing the decision was hard, although I'm aware football isn't the most important thing right now," he continued.

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"Football will be back eventually and, when that time comes, we should be finishing our games. If the season starts then it should finish, whether that's two months down the line or a year down the line.

"This has taken away a year's hard work for my boys. They have taken financial hits because some of them need to take a half day from work to play on a Tuesday night if we need to travel. That's all done to be successful and create memories.

"I don't think it's fair that a season which hasn't started takes precedence over one which is 75 to 80 per cent complete. Even teams who are battling relegation in our league don't want the season ended now because they don't think it's fair. It's not just the teams fighting for success.

"If it was a blanket decision from the top to the bottom, it would be easier to accept. We all know that isn't going to happen. The English Premier League won't scrap their season. I'd hate to be in the position of having to decide all this but, in my opinion, the decision has to be universal. Next season can be altered. This one should get to finish.

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"Teams who have been successful are being punished. Teams who haven't been successful are getting a second chance. It's hard to accept it and we will get on with our jobs. It's difficult talking about it."

Appeal

The locals are rallying, thankfully. An appeal to raise £20,000 to keep The Reds alive during the shutdown has caught the imagination. Some fans are still buying match tickets and even pies for games which will no longer take place.

"Our supporters back the club relentlessly, like most," explained Grainger. "We've had people paying for match tickets and pies just to help. I've seen that sort of thing at Hearts when things were at their very worst. We appealed to the public to raise £20,000 a couple of weeks ago. Our fans have raised £8000 already, but we're lucky. Other clubs won't have that support.

"The money within the football pyramid has to be filtered down now to make sure no club goes out of business. Our club is run by volunteers who cut the grass, clean the changing rooms and wash the kit. Communities need these teams. There is so much money in the English football pyramid. Some of it should be filtered down to look after smaller clubs."

Winning feeling

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Grainger is fully aware his own exasperation is just a microcosm of the situation. As managerial apprenticeships go, he has learned enough harsh lessons already to make the grade. He is your stereotypical tough lad from the north west, yet this has tested even his strength of character.

"Anybody who knows me knows I wear my heart on my sleeve," he said. "I've put everything into my first year in management, as I would any year. Workington were relegated last year, we had to make cutbacks and change the club's mentality.

"It has been very tough to accept the decision. Everyone at Workington Reds has worked so hard to turn this club around. Now, when we're seven games from the finishing line, it's cut short when we're ten points clear.

"I suppose it's another learning curve for me as a young manager. I can't see the FA changing their minds. I've had to speak to the players so now it's a case of regrouping them to go again, whenever that is. We need to make sure Workington Reds are back at the top of the tree this time next season."

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