"I feel like a bit of an imposter" – Matt Grimes sympathises with long-suffering Coventry City fans ahead of Premier League return

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Coventry captain Matt Grimes will end his own long wait for Premier League football(Image credit: Getty Images)

It's been a long road for Matt Grimes to earn himself a chance to play Premier League football once again - but for Coventry City, it's been even longer.

Grimes made just four top-flight appearances for Swansea as a youngster after joining from Exeter more than a decade ago, and spent the past ten years trying to find his way back to the very elite.

But Coventry's wait has been more than twice as long – and they have virtually been to hell and back in the meantime.

"To win the league like we did... I don’t think people realise the magnitude of it"

Frank Lampard has led Coventry into the Premier League (Image credit: Getty Images)

Coventry's relegation in 2001 was followed by 11 years mostly in the bottom half in the Championship before the club slid all the way down to League Two in 2017.

Along the way in their rise and gradual climb back up the pyramid, Coventry fans went through exile from their stadium, protests, uncertain ownership situations, and the heartbreak of Championship play-off final defeat.

Coventry City are back in the big time (Image credit: Getty Images)

Having only joined the club in January last year, Grimes admits he can only really imagine the depths of despair Coventry fans must have reached during their darkest days.

But he was delighted to finally be able to give them a big moment to celebrate when they mathematically confirmed promotion with a late 1-1 draw away to Blackburn in April.

Grimes told FourFourTwo: “The club have been down to League Two, had to groundshare, all of that.

"So I feel like a bit of an imposter talking about it, because I haven’t endured it the same as the fans have.

"But to give that back on that night when we got the club promoted in front of 7,000 away fans, who travelled all the way to Blackburn on a Friday night, it was very, very fitting."

Matt Grimes joined Coventry in January 2025 (Image credit: Getty Images)

That promotion was the culmination of several years of going close to promotion, first under Mark Robins and then Frank Lampard.

Grimes believes that doesn't make the way they did it any less remarkable, though, saying: "When teams come down from the Premier League, it’s normal that all the bookmakers have them to be top two or top six

"So to win the league like we did, 11 points ahead of second... I don’t think people will realise the magnitude of it until maybe a couple years down the line. It was a season where most of what we touched turned to gold.”

Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.

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