Matt Grimes Interview: The Swansea captain on the build that made him Mr Reliable | Football news

Matt Grimes has been caught off guard recently when he is reminded that 10 years since his move to Swansea is now just a few days away, on January 2nd.

“To be honest, I don't know how I feel,” he explains Sky Sports. “I feel like I've blinked and it's just gone – so fast. “

Technically, the midfielder is not a one-club player; started at hometown club Exeter and spent time on loan at Blackburn, Leeds and Northampton after a slow start to his time in south Wales. But since then, he has been part of the furniture – it is clear that there is only one club for him.

Since joining the Swans at the age of 19, he has made 324 appearances in all competitions for the club. Over the previous six seasons before 2024/25, he had lost just four league games. Forty one more game and he will be in the top 10 appearance makers of all time.

“I feel like the competition is so busy and there's always so much going on, you just take it in game after game and every season going into another season, to another season and I'm 10 years old.

“I just start every season thinking I want to play every game. I feel like that's how you are as a kid. You just want to play and play and play and not I haven't lost that.

“Especially in the last couple of seasons, I've just been determined to play every minute of every game. It's something that I've been proud of it.”

Many will call Grimes a legend — unusual for a player who only turned 29 in July — but he's not sure he's close to deserving that status just yet.

“We have a Hall of Fame wall at the stadium, with club legends like Wayne Routledge, Nathan Dyer, Alan Curtis, Garry Monk, Ashley Williams – all the greats are there,” he said.

“When I see the odds and it's 350, 360, 400, I think, 'Yeah, I'm not far off that now!' But the biggest thing for me is the respect these guys have received here.

“I feel, at the moment, that I am a player who has played a lot of games for one club. My aim is not to play as many games as they do, it is to achieve what they have and leave the club in. a better place than when I broke through here.”

It is definitely on the way. A look at his stats reveals exceptional passing ability. A look at the number of appearances he has made over the past eight seasons shows a reliability that many managers can only dream of.

Including his season on loan at Northampton in 2017/18, Grimes has played in 342 league games – the most of any player in football's top four divisions England.

The numbers are staggering – and his upbringing has been at the heart of that, he says.

“It's kind of become a thing just the way I was raised; my mother and father always wanted the best for me. You cannot go out on Saturday if you have just played or have a game on Tuesday. .

“Anything that was going to interfere with performance was discouraged and I have brought that into my life and how I live now. I won't do anything that puts me in a bad place or means I can't train or anything like that.

“If I play on Saturday and I get another game on Tuesday, I just think, right, played on Saturday, now I've got to do Tuesday and I've got to do next Saturday – and it's just join hundreds of games.

“It's just alive; eat well, sleep well, rest as much as you can. Most footballers know what is good for your body and what is bad for your body, so do as many good things as you can and do as few bad things as possible.

“There are exceptions from time to time and everyone likes to let their hair down from time to time and that's completely normal. very wrong.”

Grimes has worked under nine permanent managers in his decade at Swansea, and four have made a special impact on him. “There aren't really many things now that throw me in any way, to be honest,” he said.

“Graham Potter was incredible. He gave me my chance, he let me break through and he has gone on to do great things. Steve Cooper captained me, which was an honor and I learned so much from him. He proceeded to act unbelievably. good with Forest.

“Russell Martin was fantastic with me. He brought out an aspect of my game that I had worked on over the years, but he brought that out of me and allowed me to control the game like Swansea players want a good understanding of a different side of football; very much based on possession.

“Now we have a manager (Luke Williams) who, for me, is one of those names. I think it's pretty amazing. He manages 100 percent in the Premier League at some point. Ask anyone who has worked with him; His detail and passion to win is second to none, so we are in a good place with him at the helm.”

Despite the caliber of managers who have passed through the Swansea.com stadium doors in recent years, Swansea are still in the Championship, exactly where they were when Grimes arrived. This is their seventh straight season in second place.

They reached the semi-finals in 2019/20 and the final in 2020/21, but were beaten by Brentford on both occasions and have not finished higher than 10th since that.

“Since those playoff campaigns, there have been seasons of transition, to be honest,” Grimes admits.

“Our chairman (Andy Coleman) is absolutely incredible. He is serious, as is the manager, about getting this club back into the Premier League and I think this is the -most relaxing and best place we've been in a long time.”

Swansea sit 10th ahead of their trip to Hull on Saturday – live on Sky Sports+ at 12.30pm – with a gap of seven points separating them from the play-off places at the moment.

There is talk of where they could end up at the halfway point, but Grimes knows he wants to add to his four Premier League games, whenever that might be.

“As I've said before in interviews, I owe everything to Swansea and for what the club has given me in my career.

“It would be a dream come true to bring the club back to the Premier League and that is what we are all fighting for.