Clyde In Conversation: Ray Grant

Ray Grant became the latest player to have an in-depth chat with club reporter Finn McDermott on his roots into the game, both spells at The Bully Wee, family life and more.

Following In Footsteps

Ray comes from a footballing family, with his dad Peter spending 15 years at Celtic and winning Scotland caps, before playing out the last few years of his career in England and embarking on a coaching career with several big clubs, culminating in his appointment as Norwich City manager in 2006. His older brother Peter also became a professional footballer, as Ray came through the Norwich academy…

“There was never any pressure from my dad to make a life out of football despite him having a fantastic career, but he would always encourage me growing up to play for enjoyment. That’s really why I played and kept playing. We moved around quite a bit when I was younger, I think I maybe had around six or seven different schools. But when we moved to Norwich we decided we would stay based there as Peter and myself had exams upcoming over the next few years so we needed some stability.

“As I got a little older I began to think I could make something out of it, and when Peter began his professional career that encouraged me even more and gave me a goal. I probably looked more towards him than my dad at that point, because I was too young to really remember my dad playing, but I could see first hand the efforts Peter was making to carve out a career and the professionalism he was displaying in his life.

“I think my dad only had a year or so in Norwich then work took him to the Midlands for the next few years with West Brom, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. We were settled in Norwich so he was away quite a bit and my mum made really big sacrifices for me. It’s a fairly isolated part of the country but she would take me to training and games three or four times a week from when I was 12 right up until I went full-time at 18 and could start driving. For someone who doesn’t even like football, she’s done a lot for me! We’re a really close family and I’m really lucky and fortunate in that respect, just with everything they’ve done to give me a platform, and the support they continue to give.”

Joining Clyde

Ray made his debut for Norwich in an FA Cup tie away to Southampton in January 2017, but a year later and after a spell clubless and injured, he became a Clyde player…

“Alex Neil was my gaffer at Norwich and gave me my debut, but he was sacked a few months later and my contract situation was in limbo. I decided I had to move on to progress my career and play some first-team football. I was in training with Fulham to keep fit as my dad was coaching there and trying to find a new club when I got a call from Paul Hartley. He was interested in taking me on loan at Dundee previously but that fell through; he had just taken over as Falkirk boss and Peter was there so he asked him what I was up to now, and I got invited for a trial. I played a reserve game and everything was going well in it, but then I ruptured my ankle ligaments and was out for 3 or 4 months. Paul was really good to me but by the time I was back fit again towards the end of January it was a tough time to take a chance on someone who hadn’t played properly since the previous season.

“Peter had the same agent as Danny Lennon and I got an introduction that way. I know it was part-time and League 2, but it was a good chance to play and get games, perhaps put myself in the shop window over the next few months, so I signed on at the end of January until the end of the season. I moved up and in with Peter and loved those four months.

“Danny himself wasn’t long in the job and had done a lot of recruitment over January. We weren’t doing too well in the league before then but his reconstruction on the team worked instantly and we all really clicked. Our form was really good in that second half of the season and we moved from the bottom to almost sneaking into the playoffs on the last day. It was great on and off the park, Danny wanted to sign me up for the following year and I had absolutely no hesitation in putting pen to paper.”

Going Up

Ray became an integral part of the team Lennon shaped in the summer of 2018, being an ever-present in the League campaign as Clyde battled with Peterhead for the title. The camaraderie and togetherness of the squad shone through as they eventually won promotion in the most dramatic of fashions via the playoffs…

“I think we all felt we were building something really special and we had a great dressing room. We used to socialise a lot too outside of football, which isn’t easy to do when you’re part-time and have day jobs. A lot of the boys are still in contact today, I was actually at Martin McNiff’s wedding the other week and caught up with some of the boys in person there, so it shows how good our bond was. It just brings back really good memories every time you see the guys, I think those two-and-a-half years are the happiest I’ve ever had in my career so far, both on and off the pitch.

“We had a lot of big moments that season, two against Berwick Rangers in particular come to mind. We went down there and were 2-0 down at half-time then came back to win it 3-2, and another at Broadwood where we went three down but came back to get a point and should have taken all three. We did well to recover from the points deduction which could have went the other way and ruined the whole season, but we were determined to make it memorable and we took the title race to the last day of the season against Cowdenbeath. But yeah, that Berwick game away was the day I thought to myself “we’ve got a chance of doing something special here.”

“Obviously the last day didn’t turn out as we hoped but we were right up for the playoffs. I don’t mean this disrespectfully, but even after the first leg of the final we lost down at Annan, we knew we were going to win the tie. It’s not arrogance, we just had so much belief in ourselves. I got home that night and lived with Chris McStay at the time, we just said to each other we knew we would turn it around. We left it a bit later than we had wanted and Goodie going off injured didn’t help. We had scored a ridiculous number of late goals during that season to take points, it epitomised everything about our team.

“We knew there was a lot of pressure on us; the club had been down in League 2 for so long, so we simply had to get promoted. We are still disappointed we didn’t win the league, but we hadn’t come this far to lose out right at the end, and if you look at how we played that season, I don’t think you could begrudge us promotion.”

League 1, COVID, Moving On and Back Again

Grant continued to be a lynchpin of The Bully Wee midfield as they stepped up to the third tier, before the pandemic brought football to a sudden stop. Raymond subsequently moved on to Alloa Athletic and Stirling Albion…

“It was definitely a big step up in terms of opposition, I think we just struggled for consistency, but then we went on that good run of wins right before the season got halted. We had momentum and were starting to think we could maybe even reach the playoffs, but we’ll never know! We had the 100% record over Falkirk so you could see we had the players to compete and we had quality within our squad, I think it just took us a bit long to figure out what was required but again I really enjoyed the step up and felt I developed as a player.

“Playing against Celtic at a sold-out Broadwood was a great experience too. My dad spent most of his career with them so there was that connection, and they had so many top players so it was also intriguing from a personal point of view to come up against guys of that calibre.

“I wanted to stay at the club and a few months before Danny pulled me in for a chat saying he wanted to keep me too, but a few managers had contacted him enquiring about me and there was the chance of full-time football with some discussion of pre-contracts. I wasn’t too fussed though; I was loving it here and full-time wasn’t the be all and end all, I just wanted to be somewhere where I was playing regularly and enjoying myself. We had initially discussed a new deal at Clyde too but then COVID hit and everything halted. A few months later we came back but the club couldn’t offer the same terms as I was promised and that left me a bit disappointed.

“I hadn’t figured out my next steps; I was offered a pre-contract with a full-time club but I wasn’t sold on it to be honest. I took some time to think, but my dad was Alloa manager then and he wanted me too. I actually had the chance to join them the summer before even though they were in a higher league, but I decided to stay with Clyde as I was enjoying it so much. It was a difficult one when your dad is the manager as there’s a whole different dynamic there, but I decided just to go for it for the season.

“It was a really tough year with no fans but I still enjoyed the way we tried to play football and I liked my time with Alloa. I was out of contract again though at the end of the season and had a decision to make. I had a chance to go back to Clyde then, but things were just getting delayed. At the same time my mum was moving back to Scotland and found a house in Stirling; she’d been down in Norwich still so I hadn’t seen her much over the last few years. I knew Stirling wanted me too and they were more decisive so I signed for them fairly quickly. Alloa offered me a new deal too but my dad had just left to take the Dunfermline job and they didn’t have a new manager yet. I didn’t want to sign on when a new manager was going to come in, and maybe didn’t fancy me, so that was the only reason; Alloa were a great club and I thoroughly enjoyed myself there.

“I caught COVID during pre-season so by the time I was fit again I had already missed the League Cup and was playing catch up, I just couldn’t get myself to the level I wanted to be at that season. Again I had only signed for a year and the opportunity to come back to Clyde and Danny popped up again and I decided it was right for me.”

The Injury

After featuring in every game since his return, Ray’s season was cut short on Hogmanay as he suffered an ACL injury against Queen of the South, which kept him sidelined for almost a year…

“That was a really tough one to take because I was back enjoying my football. It was a dark time, but I was lucky in a sense as Peter had done both knees before plus his Achilles, so he was a pillar of support for me as he had been through these horrendous long-term injuries before and came through them to resume his career. It was a little more difficult for me though as he had been full-time when he picked them up so was on top of it, whereas I needed to rehab whilst doing the day job, so it was physically and mentally demanding.

“There was uncertainty at the end of the season too as I was still around six months away from fitness so didn’t know if I would have a club, and with those type of injuries they can finish your career. It was a long road but I got through it and Ian McCall was great with me. He’d just came in as I was ready to return and he could have moved me on as I had been out for so long, but he gave me a new deal and helped my return to playing.

“You are always thinking too “am I going to be the same, can I play the same way?” We were bottom of the league, so for me it felt kind of full-circle, as when I first joined we were at the bottom of League 2. We hit that good run of form thought and to be part of that, coming back when we were so far adrift and then staying up, I was delighted. I felt like the hard work to get back fit and help the club was rewarded.

Brothers In Arms

The Grant brothers finally fulfilled an ambition of playing together when Peter joined The Bully Wee after Ray began his second spell at Clyde in 2022…

“As I alluded to, he’s had a really tough time with his injuries, that’s honestly why he was probably at that level when he joined Clyde. There is no doubt with him being as successful as he was at Falkirk pre-injury, that he could have played at a higher level for longer, but after doing the second knee it’s just not easy to come back from. He had a great career but he’d probably be the first to admit he struggled to adapt to part-time football when he came to us. You’re used to being in an intense environment and to get that balance at part time, it’s not easy.

“I think you see a lot of boys struggled with the adaptation of going full-time to part-time, but those couple months I was playing with him when I was fit, I was absolutely over the moon, it was something we had both always wanted to do. At one point we never thought we’d get the opportunity but we did and it’s something I will always treasure, sharing a changing room with my brother. Even just the long bus journey coming back from Elgin, knowing we are staying up, sharing that with your brother as well, makes it so much more special. It made our parents really happy too.”

The Current Season

Despite high expectations in the summer, it’s been an underwhelming season for The Bully Wee, with Ray struggling with injury for much of it…

“I think if you look at a lot of the games particularly in the early part of the season, we probably should have won a lot more than we did based on possession and chances, but the fact is we didn’t and we only have ourselves to blame. We let Ian McCall down and that hurts me personally as I’ve said he was great getting me back into the team and I’ll always have a lot of time for him. Since then we’ve been trying to catch up but it’s difficult to swing that momentum when you’re on a losing run, and it’s not been helped by the injury list too, I don’t think we’ve had a fully fit squad at any point this season.

“I’ve needed an operation on my groin for around six months but I’ve just continued to play through it, then I got a tear on my hamstring which ended my season a few weeks ago, and that’s a consequence of waiting for my groin to be done.”

The Favourite Moment

With 175 appearances and six seasons under his belt at Clyde, one particular moment stands out…

“It has to be the playoff final, it was so special. The guys you are playing with at the time, we were such a close-knit group, so it made it even sweeter. I would just say in general, my time at Clyde has given me the opportunity to meet people I would have probably never crossed paths with, especially in that first group of players, and that isn’t always common in football.”