On 8 March 1978 at
Dalymount Park,
Dublin, Grimes played in the first ever
Republic of Ireland U21 game; he went on to win six under-21 caps, scoring two goals, both from penalty kicks. Grimes, who played as a defender and midfielder, began his career with junior side Villa United before joining Stella Maris Football club. He had a trial with
Manchester United in August 1972, but returned to
Bohemians. After a second trial, he joined Manchester United in March 1977 for £35,000. Between 1977 and 1983, Grimes made 107 first-team appearances and scored 11 goals for Manchester United, where he won an FA Cup-winner's medal as a non-playing substitute in the
1983 final against Brighton. He subsequently joined
Coventry City for a fee of £200,000. After only one season he moved to
Luton Town where he made 117 appearances and scored 4 goals. In 1988, he won a
League Cup winners medal, coming on a substitute and crossing the ball to set up Luton's last-minute winning goal as they achieved a shock
3–2 victory over
Arsenal to secure the first major trophy in their history. In 1989, he joined
Osasuna, making his
La Liga debut on 8 November 1989 against
Celta Vigo. Grimes played 15 games for CA Osasuna in total before returning to England to play for
Stoke City where he made 15 appearances in
1991–92. He retired from playing in May 1992 and became youth team manager at Stoke and
Celtic under
Lou Macari and later at
Huddersfield Town. He joined the coaching staff at Welsh side
Colwyn Bay in February 2013. ==Career statistics==