Grant Holt

Grant Holt
Holt playing for Norwich City in 2010
Personal information
Full name Grant Holt[1]
Date of birth (1981-04-12) 12 April 1981[1]
Place of birth Carlisle, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Norwich City (academy coach)
Youth career
Carlisle United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999 Workington
1999–2001 Halifax Town 6 (0)
2001 → Sorrento (loan)
2001 → Barrow (loan) 10 (4)
2001 Sengkang Marine 17 (12)
2001–2003 Barrow 59 (31)
2003–2004 Sheffield Wednesday 24 (3)
2004–2006 Rochdale 75 (34)
2006–2008 Nottingham Forest 96 (21)
2008 → Blackpool (loan) 4 (0)
2008–2009 Shrewsbury Town 43 (20)
2009–2013 Norwich City 154 (68)
2013–2016 Wigan Athletic 20 (3)
2014 → Aston Villa (loan) 10 (1)
2014 → Huddersfield Town (loan) 15 (2)
2015–2016 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 4 (0)
2016 Rochdale 14 (2)
2016–2017 Hibernian 30 (5)
2017 King's Lynn Town 3 (1)
2017–2018 Barrow 24 (0)
Total 608 (207)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Grant Holt (born 12 April 1981) is an English former professional footballer who is currently an academy coach at Championship club Norwich City.

During his playing career, Holt played for a number of non-league and professional clubs, making nearly 100 league appearances for Nottingham Forest before signing for Shrewsbury Town in 2008 where he became top goalscorer. A year later, he signed for Norwich where he won the Norwich City Player of the Year award in three consecutive seasons, helping Norwich to back-to-back promotions, and became the sixth highest goalscorer in their history.[2]

Playing career

Early career

Holt began his career as a youth player at his hometown club Carlisle United, but joined Workington after being released aged 18.[3] While playing for Workington, Holt worked for a year as a tyre-fitter.[4] Following success at Workington he signed for Halifax Town in the Third Division. He scored one goal for Halifax in the Football League Cup against Tranmere Rovers,[5] and also went on loan to Australian club Sorrento for one month in 2001[6] and then to Barrow. He left in 2001 to play for the summer in Singapore with Sengkang Marine, under the understanding that he would be signed by Carlisle United on his return. However, Carlisle entered administration and were unable to complete the transfer.[3] Holt moved back to Barrow, taking a part-time job in a factory in the town.

Holt spent two seasons at Barrow in the Northern Premier League.[7] He had trials with full-time teams but did not get signed until 2003, when Sheffield Wednesday signed him in March 2003. He made 30 appearances, half of them as a substitute, but only managed four goals. Holt dropped down to League Two, signing for Rochdale, for whom he made 83 appearances and scored 42 goals.[8] Holt views his time as Rochdale as his major break-through[3] and it made him a target for many higher league clubs. It was Nottingham Forest who paid £300,000 to secure his services in January 2006.

Nottingham Forest

Holt made a slow start to his time with Forest, scoring four times in as many months at the end of the 2005–06 campaign. In November 2006, he turned down a move to Bristol City due to personal reasons, after the two clubs had agreed a fee.[9] However, despite being on the bench for approximately half of Forest's matches in the 2006–07 season, he managed to score 18 goals in all competitions to become the club's top scorer. Forest fans recognised Holt's performances by handing him the 'Player of the Season' award.[10]

In the summer of 2007, Holt and Forest boss Colin Calderwood reached an "uneasy truce" after the striker had a transfer request rebuffed, when Forest refused to give him an improved contract.[11] Holt made it clear that he would be "happy to stay" with Forest for the 2007–08 campaign, while Calderwood admitted "he's not a player we want to see leave".[11] However, Holt failed to impress by only scoring three times all season, although he played out of position as a winger for the majority of the season.

In March 2008, Holt signed on loan with Championship club, Blackpool, making his debut as a late substitute against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on 22 March.[12] He made four substitute appearances before returning to Forest in the summer of 2008, saying he would like to stay and fight for his place in Forest's team next season, despite interest being shown from his home town club Carlisle United.[13]

Shrewsbury Town

On 24 June 2008, Shrewsbury Town broke their club transfer record by signing Holt for £170,000.[14] Holt opened his scoring account for the Shrews on his debut, scoring from the penalty spot against Macclesfield Town, in a game the Shrews won 4–0.


On 7 October 2008, in a Football League Trophy 2nd Round match against Wycombe Wanderers, Holt scored five goals in the Shrews' 7–0 win.[15]

In the March 2009 edition of FourFourTwo, it was stated that Holt was the player to cover the greatest distance per game in both Leagues One and Two, averaging 4.8 kilometres per game.[16] At the end of the season, Holt finished as joint-top scorer with Jack Lester for League Two, with 20 League goals, as well as, winning League Two Player of the Year, Shrewsbury Town Player of the Year and named in the League Two PFA Team of the Year for the 2008–09 season.

Norwich City

On 24 July 2009, Holt transferred to Norwich City after Shrewsbury Town accepted an undisclosed bid, thought to be £400,000.[17] Holt signed a three-year contract with the option of a further year at Carrow Road.

Holt made his debut in the heavy 7–1 opening day defeat to Colchester United at Carrow Road,[18] and scored his first Norwich goals with a hat-trick against Yeovil Town in a first round League Cup tie on 11 August 2009.[19] His first league goals came with a brace against Wycombe Wanderers on 22 August 2009. Starting with that game, new manager Paul Lambert made Holt team captain. He won the League One Player of the Month award for October 2009, for "excellent performances throughout October", a month in which he scored "an impressive five goals in as many league fixtures".[20] He reached the landmark of 20 goals for the season in the home game against Millwall on 26 December 2009.[21] Holt received his first red card for Norwich City against Brentford on 23 January 2010. He finished the season winning the Norwich City Player of the Year award, having scored 30 goals in 44 appearances in total, as the club finished as champions of League One and earned promotion to The Championship.

Holt scored his first goals of the 2010–11 season in the League Cup first round against Gillingham, netting a brace. His first league goal of the season came during stoppage time in a 1–0 away win over Scunthorpe United on 14 August 2010. He scored his first league hat-trick against local rivals Ipswich Town on 28 November 2010.[22]

During his time at Norwich he passed the landmark of 150 career goals with a penalty in the first minute in the 3–1 win over Bristol City. He reached the landmark of 50 goals for Norwich City on 2 April 2011 when he scored a hat trick in a 6–0 win against Scunthorpe United at Carrow Road. He was then nominated for the Championship Player of the Year in 2011, but was beaten by Adel Taarabt.[23] He was the winner of Norwich's player of the season for a second consecutive year as the club were automatically promoted to the Premier League.[24]

Holt started the first game of the 2011–12 Premier League season in Norwich's 1–1 draw at Wigan Athletic, partnering Steve Morison in attack, meaning he had played in all four English divisions.[25] He scored his first Premier League goal in the third game of the season, scoring against Chelsea following an error by the goalkeeper Henrique Hilário.[26] For the first part of the season Holt was used mainly as a substitute, becoming a regular starter again later in the campaign, scoring 15 league goals and being voted the player of the year for the third season in succession.[27] He was inducted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame on 20 March 2012.[28] Holt's impressive opening season in the Premier League earned him much acclaim by pundits and managers alike and even conjured talk of a possible place in Roy Hodgson's first England squad for the 2012 European Championship.[29]

On 18 May 2012, Holt handed in a transfer request six days after being voted Norwich's Player of the Season for the third year running; the request was immediately rejected by Norwich City.[30] On 1 June, Holt reiterated his request to depart Norwich City via his Twitter account, before signing a new three-year contract with the club on 3 July.[31][32] He played in 34 league games during the 2012–13 season, scoring eight goals for the club as they again retained their place in the Premier League, including a goal in his final game for the club; a 3–2 victory against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Wigan Athletic

Holt joined Wigan Athletic on a three-year deal, on 8 July 2013, for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £2 million.[33] He made his Wigan debut on 3 August 2013 and scored in a 4–0 away win against Barnsley.[34] He then scored a penalty in an eventual 2–2 draw with Middlesbrough.[35]

On 14 January 2014, Holt joined Aston Villa on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season.[36][37] Holt made his Aston Villa debut five days later, coming on as a substitute for Gabriel Agbonlahor in the 49th minutes, in a 2–2 draw against Liverpool.[38] Holt then scored his first Aston Villa goal, in a 2–1 loss against Fulham on 5 April 2014.[39] Holt went to make ten appearance and scoring once before returning to Wigan at the end of the season.[40]

On 27 September 2014, Holt joined Huddersfield Town on an initial emergency loan until 8 November 2014.[41] Holt made his Huddersfield Town debut the same day, coming on as a substitute for Lee Peltier in the 64th minutes, in a 2–1 win over Millwall.[42] His first goal for the club came in their 4–2 win over Blackpool at the John Smith's Stadium on 18 October 2014.[43] Following his first goal, Holt had his loan spell with Huddersfield Town extended until 28 December 2014.[44]

On 28 December 2014, Holt returned to his parent club Wigan.[45] This came after Holt had a successful operation on his knee, though it kept him out for nine months.[46]

On 30 October 2015 he moved on loan to Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers until 2 January 2016.[47]

Later career

On 18 February 2016 Holt joined Rochdale until the end of the season.[48] Holt then signed a one-year contract with Scottish club Hibernian in June 2016.[49] He scored seven goals in 39 appearances for Hibs during the 2016/17 season, as the team won the 2016–17 Scottish Championship.[50] Holt was released by Hibs in May 2017, at the end of his contract.[50]

On 9 October 2017, Holt signed for Southern League Premier Division club King's Lynn Town, linking up with manager Ian Culverhouse, who had been assistant manager at Norwich City throughout Holt's time with the Canaries.[51]

Less than a month later, his former club Barrow made an approach for him to join as a player-coach, with Holt moving to the club in the higher level National League.[52][53]

On 16 July 2018 it was announced that Holt would be leaving Barrow.[54]

Coaching career

Holt’s first coaching job was at Barrow AFC, where he acted as a player-coach for the 2017/2018 season.

In August 2018, Holt announced the end of his playing career and that he has accepted a coaching position with Norwich City, working with the Academy.[55][56]

Career statistics

As of 21:10, 24 April 2018 (UTC)
Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup Other Play-offs Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sheffield Wednesday 2002–03First Division710000——71
2003–04Second Division172211030—233
Total 243211030—304
Rochdale 2003–04Third Division143000000—143
2004–05League Two4017351111—4524
2005–062114101011—2415
Total 7534452122—8342
Nottingham Forest 2005–06League One194000000—194
2006–074514411033105418
2007–08323102000—353
Total 96215130331010825
Blackpool (loan) 2007–08Championship400000——40
Shrewsbury Town 2008–09League Two4320111037305128
Norwich City
2009–10League One3924232310—4430
2010–11Championship45211022——4823
2011–12Premier League36152200——3817
2012–133481030——388
Total 15468657510—16878
Wigan Athletic
2013–14Championship162100040—212
2014–15Championship00001000—10
2015–16League One40000010—50
Total 202101050—272
Aston Villa (loan) 2013–14Premier League101000000—101
Huddersfield Town (loan) 2014–15Championship152000000—152
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 2015–16Championship40000000—40
Rochdale 2015–16League One142000000—142
Hibernian 2016–17Scottish Championship305521030—397
King's Lynn Town[57] 2017–18Southern League Premier3100——10—41
Barrow 2017–18National League24000——00—240
Career Total 5161592415166211240580192

Personal life

Holt was born in Carlisle, Cumbria. He is married and has three daughters.[4]

Honours

Barrow

Norwich City

Hibernian

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. ↑ "Top 50 goalscorers". The Pink Un. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Jackson, Jamie (27 January 2012). "Much-travelled Grant Holt has finally found a home at Norwich City". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  4. 1 2 "GRANT HOLT: I used to work in a factory, so I appreciate life as a footballer... but that doesn't stop me being one of the biggest moaners at Wigan!". Mail Online. DMG Media. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Halifax Town 1–2 Tranmere (agg: 1–5)". BBC Sport. 6 September 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Transfer Talk: Melbourne Heart reportedly interested in Norwich City skipper Grant Holt". The Pink 'Un. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "Barrow stint helped Holt on road to Premier League". North-West Evening Mail. Newsquest Media Group. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  8. ↑ Forest snap up Dale striker Holt BBC Sport, 12 January 2006; Retrieved 5 May 2012
  9. ↑ City move not right – Forest star BBC Sport, 21 November 2006; Retrieved 5 May 2012
  10. ↑ Prize Guy Grant Archived 5 August 2012 at Archive.is Nottingham Forest Official Website; Retrieved 5 May 2012
  11. 1 2 Holt peace pact with Forest boss BBC Sport, 9 July 2007; Retrieved 5 May 2012
  12. ↑ Stoke 1–1 Blackpool BBC Sport, 22 March 2008; Retrieved 5 May 2012
  13. ↑ Holt: I'm ready to fight for my place This is Nottingham Forest (Archived), Local World, 6 March 2008)
  14. ↑ Shrews break club record for Holt BBC Sport, 24 June 2008; Retrieved 5 May 2012
  15. ↑ Wycombe 0–7 Shrewsbury BBC Sport, 7 October 2008; Retrieved 5 May 2012
  16. ↑ FourFourTwo magazine, March 2009 edition
  17. ↑ Norwich Sign Holt from Shrewsbury, BBC Sport, 24 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009
  18. ↑ Norwich 1–7 Colchester, BBC Sport, 8 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2009
  19. ↑ "Yeovil 0–4 Norwich". BBC Sport. 11 August 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  20. ↑ Holt named Player of the Month Football League, 14 November 2009 Archived 29 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ "Norwich 2–0 Millwall". 26 December 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  22. ↑ Fletcher, Paul (28 November 2010). "Norwich 4–1 Ipswich". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  23. ↑ FL Awards News | Final shortlists revealed Archived 19 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Football League, 16 March 2011; Retrieved 5 May 2012
  24. ↑ "Norwich City fans' award caps season for Grant Holt". BBC Sport. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  25. ↑ Chowdhury, Saj (13 August 2011). "Wigan 1–1 Norwich". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  26. ↑ Chelsea 3 – 1 Norwich, BBC Sport, 7 August 2011; Retrieved 27 August 2011
  27. ↑ Grant Holt – My Norwich City achievements will take some time to sink in, Eastern Daily Press, 14 May 2012; Retrieved 14 May 2012
  28. ↑ "New Hall of Fame Inductees". Norwich City FC. 24 March 2012. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  29. ↑ "Norwich City pair appeal for England calls". BBC Sport. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  30. ↑ "Holt requests transfer". Soccernet. ESPN. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  31. ↑ "Striker Grant Holt agrees new Norwich contract". BBC Sport. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  32. ↑ "Grant Holt signs new deal with Norwich City". The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  33. ↑ "Grant Holt: Wigan Athletic sign Norwich striker on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 8 July 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  34. ↑ "Barnsley 0–4 Wigan Athletic". BBC Sport. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  35. ↑ "Wigan Athletic 2–2 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  36. ↑ "Holt hoping to boost Villa after completing loan move". Aston Villa FC. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014.
  37. ↑ "Grant Holt vows to silence critics after loan move to Aston Villa". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  38. ↑ "Liverpool 2 – 2 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  39. ↑ "Aston Villa 1 − 2 Fulham". BBC Sport. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  40. ↑ "How long do Aston Villa's players have left on their contracts?". Birmingham Mail. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  41. ↑ "Grant Holt joins Huddersfield Town". Huddersfield Town FC. 27 September 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014.
  42. ↑ "Huddersfield Town 2 – 1 Millwall". BBC Sport. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  43. ↑ "Huddersfield Town 4 – 2 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  44. ↑ "GRANT HOLT'S LOAN EXTENDED". Huddersfield Town FC. 24 October 2014. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  45. ↑ "TOWN SENDS BEST WISHES TO HOLT". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  46. ↑ "GRANT HOLT OPERATION SUCCESSFUL". Wigan Athletic FC. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  47. ↑ "Wolves sign Grant Holt from Wigan on loan". BBC Sport. 30 October 2015.
  48. ↑ "Grant Holt Returns To Rochdale". Rochdale AFC. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  49. ↑ McLauchlin, Brian (29 June 2016). "Hibernian: Striker Grant Holt signs deal after Rochdale exit". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  50. 1 2 "Hibernian: No new deals for Grant Holt, Alex Harris and four other players". BBC Sport. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  51. ↑ "Grant Holt and Simon Lappin: Former Norwich City stars join non-league King's Lynn". ITV Anglia. 9 October 2017.
  52. ↑ "Grant Holt is a Bluebird again!". Barrow AFC. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  53. ↑ "UPDATE: Grant Holt leaves King's Lynn Town, as Barrow say no deal done yet". Lynn News. Iliffe Media. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  54. ↑ "Holt heads out of Barrow as Veteran Forward moves on". Vanarama National Leafye. Pitch Hero. 16 July 2018.
  55. ↑ Paddy Davitt (24 August 2018). "Norwich City legend Grant Holt quits". Eastern Daily Press. Archant Community Media. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  56. ↑ "Grant Holt: Former Norwich City striker retires from professional football". BBC Sport. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  57. ↑ "Grant Holt Profile". Aylesbury United FC.
  58. ↑ McLauchlin, Brian (15 April 2017). "Hibernian 3–0 Queen of the South". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  59. ↑ "Giggs earns prestigious PFA award". BBC Sport. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  60. ↑ "Rooney is PFA player of the year". BBC Sport. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  61. ↑ "Spurs' Gareth Bale wins PFA player of the year award". BBC Sport. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
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