January 18th 2016. That was the date Liam Grimshaw put pen to paper on a two-and-half-year deal at Deepdale.
This came after 48 hours of an in-depth medical that revealed an issue in the youngster’s knee that needed to be resolved before he could become a full part of the squad in PR1.
The deal was done with all parties entering into it open eyed that there would be a spell before Liam could pull on the lilywhite shirt for the first time.
Speaking to The One And Only at Springfields this week he explained that despite being fully aware that he would have to wait for his chance, it has still be a frustrating period for him.
“It was disappointing when I realised I had to have the operation,” he told the matchday programme. “It looked like the move was going ahead and then I had the medical and I knew I had to have the operation.
“Being injured is part of football and you have to expect it as some point and you just have to work hard to get back as soon as possible and then when I get back I can hopefully show everyone what I can do; but it is still disappointing to start like this.
“It is frustrating, because I have not had the opportunity to show the manager, my team-mates and the fans what I can do, but you have deal with these things when you are a professional footballer.
“When I do get back I know I will have to work hard and get fit and then hopefully start improving and playing my part.”
Grimshaw celebrated his 21st birthday in the period between signing and today and he looks on his return to running as a late present: “I’m getting to do some running on the Alter-G (anti-gravity treadmill) machine at Preston College and then hopefully I can progress to being outside and the target is to try and be up and running before the end of the season and then I’ll have to come in a few days a week during the summer to be ready to go when pre-season gets underway in July,” he continued.
“I saw what Chris [Humphrey] said in last weekend’s programme and it will be pretty much the same for me this summer. I will probably have to be in a couple of days a week to keep working on my fitness.
“I will see how well it goes over the next few weeks, when hopefully I can make some significant progress, which will mean that over the summer I can just keep things going.
“As long as I am fit for pre-season, then it doesn’t matter what it takes, because being ready to go with the rest of the lads is the most important thing.”
As a local lad Liam is disappointed to have missed the derby games against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers and even more so to be sat out tonight as his current employers take on his boyhood team.
However, despite this disappointment, he is looking forward to getting back fit and being ready to take part in the games next season.
“It has been frustrating to miss out on the games, especially the derby games,” he told the matchday programme. “Those are the sort of games you want to be involved in, even more so as I am a local lad.
“Derby games are the ones you want to impress in even more and you want to make sure you get the results and the lads have done that.
“I’ve not had the opportunity this year, but it looks like we will add Wigan to the list next season and even though we will probably lose Burnley, there is still a lot to look forward to and plenty of opportunities for local games and hopefully I am fit for those.”
There are also interviews with Jermaine Beckford, Chris Humphrey, Anders Lindegaard, Calum Woods and Callum Robinson in our latest edition of The One And Only. We also have 11 pages of content about the visitors and much, much more crammed into the 84 pages of perfect bound content – on sale for just £3 from the Friday afternoon from the Club’s retail store or inside and outside the ground on match night.
The deal was done with all parties entering into it open eyed that there would be a spell before Liam could pull on the lilywhite shirt for the first time.
Speaking to The One And Only at Springfields this week he explained that despite being fully aware that he would have to wait for his chance, it has still be a frustrating period for him.
“It was disappointing when I realised I had to have the operation,” he told the matchday programme. “It looked like the move was going ahead and then I had the medical and I knew I had to have the operation.
“Being injured is part of football and you have to expect it as some point and you just have to work hard to get back as soon as possible and then when I get back I can hopefully show everyone what I can do; but it is still disappointing to start like this.
“It is frustrating, because I have not had the opportunity to show the manager, my team-mates and the fans what I can do, but you have deal with these things when you are a professional footballer.
“When I do get back I know I will have to work hard and get fit and then hopefully start improving and playing my part.”
Grimshaw celebrated his 21st birthday in the period between signing and today and he looks on his return to running as a late present: “I’m getting to do some running on the Alter-G (anti-gravity treadmill) machine at Preston College and then hopefully I can progress to being outside and the target is to try and be up and running before the end of the season and then I’ll have to come in a few days a week during the summer to be ready to go when pre-season gets underway in July,” he continued.
“I saw what Chris [Humphrey] said in last weekend’s programme and it will be pretty much the same for me this summer. I will probably have to be in a couple of days a week to keep working on my fitness.
“I will see how well it goes over the next few weeks, when hopefully I can make some significant progress, which will mean that over the summer I can just keep things going.
“As long as I am fit for pre-season, then it doesn’t matter what it takes, because being ready to go with the rest of the lads is the most important thing.”
As a local lad Liam is disappointed to have missed the derby games against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers and even more so to be sat out tonight as his current employers take on his boyhood team.
However, despite this disappointment, he is looking forward to getting back fit and being ready to take part in the games next season.
“It has been frustrating to miss out on the games, especially the derby games,” he told the matchday programme. “Those are the sort of games you want to be involved in, even more so as I am a local lad.
“Derby games are the ones you want to impress in even more and you want to make sure you get the results and the lads have done that.
“I’ve not had the opportunity this year, but it looks like we will add Wigan to the list next season and even though we will probably lose Burnley, there is still a lot to look forward to and plenty of opportunities for local games and hopefully I am fit for those.”
There are also interviews with Jermaine Beckford, Chris Humphrey, Anders Lindegaard, Calum Woods and Callum Robinson in our latest edition of The One And Only. We also have 11 pages of content about the visitors and much, much more crammed into the 84 pages of perfect bound content – on sale for just £3 from the Friday afternoon from the Club’s retail store or inside and outside the ground on match night.