Ashley Grimes may be rumoured to be leaving Millwall for Sheffield Wednesday this summer, but the word is that a return to his native North-West is firm favourite, with Burnley or Tranmere Rovers set to pounce. Grimes of course began his footballing career with Salford based Barr Hill Lads' Club before signing for Manchester United academy.
After two years there he went to Bolton who released him as a 16 year old. Manchester City liked what they saw at a trial and gave his first full time contract as a trainee in 2006. His first taste of League action came at Swindon on a one-month loan in March 2007 (4 aps all sub).
Millwall manager Kenny Jacket then signed the youngster on a free transfer in August 2008 after some reports of his goal scoring prowess. They were not wrong as he scored away at Chester in the Cup and at Cheltenham in the League but struggled to get a look as he remained down the pecking order. In order to give him regular football Jacket then agreed to help old mate Paul Brush out with loan deal to the Imps.
To say he hasn’t looked back is an understatement, with 16 goals in 21 games. Goal machine Grimes chimes as regularly as a Lincoln church clock. He now has a hat trick and a couple of braces to his name but it is the style and quality of the goals as much as the quantity that makes him a fans favourite.
Although there is no chance of him staying on at Lincoln, according to an interview with BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Grimes will at least give the fans something they have not experienced since Simon Yeo (2004/5) and Gareth Ainsworth (1996/97) reached and surpassed the 20 goal mark.
Ashley told BBC Lincolnshire: "My future's up in the air. I don't know where I'll be next season but I'm a Lincoln player until May and after that, who knows?"
Grimes added: "People are always going to talk about you, whether you're doing good or bad. People will always have opinions but you just have to go out there and play football.
"When I came here my only target was to play as many games as possible and not even think about goals, but now I want to get as many as I can. This is a great club, I love the manager and all the lads have been great."
| Competition | Apps (as sub) |
Goals | Yellow Cards |
Red Cards |
| League | 18 (2) | 14 | 7 | 0 |
| FA Cup | 3 (0) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Name: Ashley Grimes
Nationality: English
Date of Birth: 09/12/1986
Height: 5' 10" (178cm)
Weight: 12st 0lbs (76.27kg)
Previous
Clubs: Swindon Town, Millwall, Manchester City
Position: Midfielder
Youth career
Manchester United
Bolton Wanderers
Manchester City
2006–2008 Manchester City 0 (0)
2007 Swindon Town (loan) 4 (0)
2008 Millwall 21 (2)
2010 Lincoln City (loan) 21 (16)