Columns are added by observing `adminhtml_block_html_before ` https://github.com/magento-hackathon/GridControl/blob/d3e03fdd83b8e630c7e5d3f9dd8bf9c196f4a62f/src/app/code/community/FireGento/GridControl/etc/config.xml#L19 `setFilterValues` happens before that event fires, so the columns are not available when it tries to match filter -> column. https://github.com/OpenMage/magento-mirror/blob/magento-1.9/app/code/core/Mage/Adminhtml/Block/Widget/Grid.php#L449-L461