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Have goals, will travel. Or in the case of Sunderland’s new £4million striker Will Grigg, have goals and a song.
The 27-year-old has become synonymous with the ‘Will Grigg’s On Fire’ song that was posted online by a supporter of Wigan Athletic, his former club.
The tune earned the Wigan fan a free season ticket and Grigg’s fame across Europe when the Northern Ireland fans saluted their squad member around France during Euro ’16.
Sunderland’s new £4m striker Will Grigg has described himself as humble and professional
Grigg still finds it delightfully surreal, although with 120 career club goals for Walsall, Brentford, MK Dons, Wigan and now Sunderland to his name, he has lived up to the lyrics more often than not.
The subject of this week’s Sky Bet EFL Q&A, the Northern Ireland international also recalls the night his goal caused one of the great modern-day FA Cup shocks a year ago this week and reveals an unusual choice of pre-match music.
Describe yourself on the pitch in 3 words.
Poacher. Unselfish. Clever.
Describe yourself off the pitch in 3 words.
Family man. Professional. Humble.
Best moment of your career so far?
I’ve had four promotions so they are as special as each other, but as a single moment it would be the win against Man City in the FA Cup (Wigan’s 1-0 win in the fifth round in February 2018).
It was a special moment and a special day, especially how Man City were playing at the time. They were the best team in the country, probably the best team in the world at the time. It was also the nature of how it happened and it was in the FA Cup.
Getting the goal as well makes it that extra bit special. It was one of the two or three times that I actually touched the ball in the whole game, but to see the stadium like that and to be able to share the experience as well with my family was very special.
Even though we beat them, you would still want one of their shirts. You still respect them. They are special players and they are playing at that level for a reason. It’s not just that game, it’s what that person has done throughout their whole career.
Grigg scored the only goal as Wigan knocked Manchester City out of the FA Cup last season
When you beat them it’s nice, but to get a shirt would always have that memory with it. You would be able to show off the win as well. Having said that, I didn’t get a Man City shirt that day. I tried to get Aguero’s, but didn’t manage it.
The first time I heard ‘Will Grigg’s On Fire’ in the stadium was good as well. It was a bit strange how it came around. There was a Wigan fan, Sean Kennedy, who did a few videos with certain players and certain songs. Mine seemed to catch on and went viral.
It was a during a free-scoring period for myself when I was scoring goals left, right and centre. It started off with a section of the crowd at the DW Stadium and then before you know it, it’s the whole stadium and then it’s at the Euros. It was a very, very surreal moment, but it’s something that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Who is the hardest opponent you have faced?
It would be from that Man City game. Aymeric Laporte and John Stones were the two centre-halves, but I thought that Laporte was something special – the way he handled the ball and the way he defended as well.
He put a lot of pressure on me. Even though City had a lot of possession, he made it very difficult for myself. And the way he played on the ball and manipulated it was something I hadn’t quite seen before.
He differed from a Championship defender or a League One defender in the sense that he was a lot cleverer in terms of his positioning. He read the game really well.
Obviously there were a lot of clearances from the Wigan players and balls that I would usually have been able to get to and hold up.
Just the way he positioned himself and read the game was what gave him that extra yard and what made it extra difficult for me.
Grigg believes Aymeric Laporte was one of the toughest defenders he’s ever faced
Most embarrassing moment in football?
I haven’t had that many but in my first home game for Sunderland against Blackpool this month, I took the ball around the keeper and then managed to miss from eight yards out with an empty goal waiting.
That was pretty embarrassing because it was my first home game and because the club had paid a big fee for me. That certainly added to the scenario.
I’ve scored enough goals and missed enough chances to be able to bounce back from something like that, but at the time it was pretty embarrassing because you don’t want the Sunderland fans to think that’s what you’re like.
Which song gets you in the mood for a match?
I’m a bit weird actually. Most people like to listen to dance music to get them in the mood and ready for a game.
Obviously everybody listens to the same music in the changing room but if I’m driving to the game, I’ll listen to a bit of Hans Zimmer or instrumental stuff. It’s not really a cool list or probably what you were expecting, but then my music selection isn’t.
Hans Zimmer writes film scores. He did the Batman soundtrack, ‘Inception’, ‘Gladiator’ and stuff like that (also the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ scores).
It just gets me head-strong. I like to think I’m quite calm and collected on the pitch and that gets me in the zone. I don’t like to be too stressed out or thinking about too many things before a game.
I like to get in the same mind frame each game, concentrate on my job, concentrate on what I need to do in the game. That music relaxes me and enables me to concentrate.
What’s your guilty food pleasure?
It sounds boring but I do like a Nando’s. And I’ll probably go for a few Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I’ll probably buy a share box, I think it’s a shared dozen, but I wouldn’t really share it with anyone.
But I look after myself and I’m pretty professional, so that’s definitely once in a while.
Which player in history would you like to play alongside – and why?
Zinedine Zidane. As I was growing up, he was always the player that I’d watch and just think he was unbelievable. He was always someone I’ve looked up to.
I know we play different positions, but in the way he played, his control and his calmness on the ball was something I’ve never seen, not to this day.
If I made a run, he would certainly find me with the ball.
The Northern Ireland forward would have liked to have played along Zinedine Zidane (right)
Which famous manager would you have loved to play for – and why?
It’s probably a common one, but Sir Alex Ferguson because of the teams he had and the success he had. I’d just like to experience – I wouldn’t personally like to experience it obviously – his half-time or full-time screaming and shouting. I’d like to witness that. Probably not more than once but I’d like to see it.
And just the way he managed to motivate his players week in, week out. And not just week in, week out, but season in, season out. To continually do that at one of the biggest clubs in the world is just unbelievable. He must have been very special.
What would you be if you weren’t a footballer?
I would definitely have stayed somewhere in the sports science field. Before I turned professional (with Walsall), I was actually doing a college course that was basically half football, half sports science, so I would have gone into sports science.
I’m not sure whether I would have ended going down the physio route or the strength and conditioning route, but I would have definitely stayed along sport lines and at some point have chosen the football path. I would have always liked to have been behind the scenes.
I can imagine myself still doing that after my career. It’s obviously something I’ll have to start thinking about, something that I’ll definitely consider and ask advice about. There are a lot of people who have been there and done it in the game so when it comes around to it, that might be an avenue open to me.
Grigg would have also liked to have played for former Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson
Tell us a secret that fans won’t know…
When I was growing up, I had two goldfish called Del Piero and Ronaldo (the Brazil Ronaldo). I was quite young so it seemed acceptable. None of my friends knew, but they will now, so thanks for that.
At one point, Del Piero had to go to a special goldfish farm, so we got a new one called Ollie. That wasn’t really on theme and I’m not sure who decided on that name.
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