Interview with Matt Grimes

IT’S BEEN A BIG FEW WEEKS IN THE LIFE OF MATT GRIMES. THE SWANSEA CITY SKIPPER HAS BECOME A FATHER FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND HE HAS COMMITTED HIS LONG-TERM FUTURE TO THE CLUB AFTER SIGNING A NEW CONTRACT. HERE, HE REVEALS THE ON AND OFF-FIELD FACTORS THAT WERE KEY IN HIM EXTENDING HIS TIME AS A SWAN.

Matt, congratulations on the new contract. It’s great news for you and the club. How do you feel now it is signed, sealed and delivered?

I am buzzing. It is a fantastic project, and obviously everyone knows how much I love the club. I am really happy to get it over the line.

You have looked to be really enjoying your football this season, the style of play seems to suit your strengths. How big a part did that play in this decision?

It has been massive. Since the manager came in, I just knew straight away that I would take to hi style. I am enjoying my football so much more than I probably have in any other year.

It is such a big part of a footballer’s life, to be enjoying your football and the football you are playing.

I know it might sound silly, but it has been a huge factor in me staying at the club and I could not be happier.

How do you see the progress the side is making? Russell Martin has only been here for three months but I think the supporters – and you as players – can see and feel that strides are being made?

I think, for sure, you can see the work we have done already over the last three months. I know we had a slow start, but obviously the manager was only in about three days before the start of the season.

So, it was a bit of a slow start while we adjusted and got used to the way he wants us to play. We have also had to get conditioned to the way he wants us to play, as well. But, really, after that first international break I feel we have really shown what we are about. We have shown we can dominate games and the direction we are going in.

Like I say, I just wanted to be part of what I think is a really exciting project.

Your new deal could potentially see you bring up 10 years with the Swans having joined in January 2015.

Well, I don’t know if I would count the first three years because I spent a lot of time out on loan!

But, like I say, I do love the club with all my heart. My partner loves it here and my daughter was born here so it’s the perfect place to be.

And I’d imagine that’s all the more the case because you had to go through some hardship in your first few years here? It’s not always been easy, has it?

No, that’s true and I think that would be the case for any footballer. I don’t think anyone’s journey is ever easy and I know there will still be bumps in the road from this point on.

It is not just going to be plain sailing but I am enjoying my football and I have gone through a fair few tough times to get to the position I am in today.

So I am just really happy that this is done and I have another three years and more to look forward to.

It obviously wasn’t an easy summer, you were linked with a move away and were entering the final year of your contract. How was that from your perspective?

It wasn’t easy, and it was a bit of a topsy-turvy summer with the old manager leaving. I think quite a few of the lads were wondering where they stood and what direction things were going to go in.

But the club have appointed a fantastic manager in Russell Martin, and we are on the way to doing something really special here, I believe.

He has been a massive driving force in that and all the lads see it, hopefully the fans see it too, and we are making really good progress.

Has there been a particular period this season where you could feel yourself moving towards signing a new contract?

I think it has been a progression since the window shut, to be honest. As I said it was a topsy-turvy window for myself and my family so I took a little bit of time to gather myself and just enjoy my football.

There are so many games I would love to pick out and say it was the moment (I decided to stay), obviously Cardiff at home would be a good one!

But it was even games like Derby away where, even though we didn’t win, the amount of dominance we had, the way we played. The amount of ball we had was just excellent and if we carry on in that way and carry on improving then the sky is the limit.

That is the on-field element of the decision, but there is an off-field one too with you having become a father. Congratulations to you and your family on that. What role has that played?

Of course, how we feel about the city is part of it. I have lived in Swansea quite a long time now and I have loved it.

My girlfriend moved in with me three or four years ago, and she loves it here too.

Her family are originally from Saundersfoot, which is about an hour down the road, so there are family ties and the birth of Myla Rose has really just cemented that.

I could not be happier here and to bring my daughter up in a place I love, and that I know she will love as well, was a massive factor in my decision.

I know your daughter is only a few weeks old, but how have you found becoming a father? Being a parent is obviously such a massive moment in anyone’s life.

I have found it brilliant, there is nothing in the world like it, and it is the best feeling in the world.

Obviously, Angela has been fantastic with her and she is the foundation of our little family. I just have to thank her, thank her family and my family,

my mother, father and brother for supporting me through all these years.

It’s a massive thing, and I am just over the moon.

You’ve spoken a lot of your love for the football club. You are likely to pass 200 appearances this season, with many more hopefully still to come. That will put you in the company of some stellar players who have represented this club. What do those things mean to you?

I have always thought of those things as being things you look back on at the end of your career. My aim is to keep playing and to keep playing well.

I want to keep proving myself moving forward and take this club forward in a successful manner. I really do believe we can do something special here.

If I rack up 200 or 250 appearances in my time here that will be great, but I think it is something I will look back on at the end of my career.

For now, I need to keep working.

There’s a long time left in the season, what do you feel can be accomplished?

I don’t think we need to put a number on it so much this year. Obviously, the intention of the club, the manager and myself is to get the club back in the Premier League. But this year is one of transition and we just need to keep building and keep improving.

If we can keep progressing the way we have been in the short period of time we have been working under the manager then the sky is the limit.

We will see where it will take us.

And can you talk us through that process of adapting to the new manager? The style of play has a lot of hallmarks of some great Swansea sides, but it does have its own individual stamp.

I think every manager’s ideas are unique. I think if you just copy the ideas of another manager youa re at a disadvantage already.

But you can see how we have been playing and his ideas are fantastic, and they are not the same as previous.

You can see whenever we step on the pitch that everyone knows what they are doing, everyone knows their roles and the lads are enjoying it, first and foremost.

That is the main thing, you need to be enjoying it, and all the lads here are enjoying playing and coming in to train every day.

We just need to keep going.