Matt Holland

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Matt Holland bigraphy, stories - English footballer

Matt Holland : biography

11 April 1974 –

Matthew Rhys "Matt" Holland (born 11 April 1974) is a former professional footballer, who represented Republic of Ireland at international level. Since ending his football career he has worked in the media.

Club career

Early career

Initially rejected by Arsenal for being ‘too small’ he went to West Ham United where he moved up the ranks of the academy but did not play for the first team.

Bournemouth

In order to gain first team football, he joined South Coast side Bournemouth in January 1995. He played a total of 104 games, scoring 18 goals whilst at Dean Court, and also became captain.

Ipswich Town

In the summer of 1997, Holland joined for a fee of £800,000. He again became team captain and captained the club into the Premier League by winning the First Division play-offs in 2000. He captained the club to a fifth place finish and qualification for the UEFA Cup in their first season in the Premier League in 2001. Though Ipswich were relegated in 2002 he stayed with the club after he turned down a £4.5 million move to . His spell at Ipswich is most remembered for the consistency he showed, after playing 223 consecutive games and only missing one league match (due to international duty) in the six years he was at Portman Road.

Charlton Athletic

After Charlton

In July 2009, Holland trained with Colchester United following his release from Charlton in order to keep himself fit.

Media career

He was one of several players and managers (including Danny Mills and Paul Jewell) who acted as summarisers for BBC Radio Five Live during the 2006 World Cup. Holland has also appeared on the BBC television program A Question of Sport and the radio quiz Fighting Talk. Holland as a freelance pundit has appeared on nearly every media outlet covering football in the UK. He has been a pundit on ESPN & Sky Sports, appeared on BBC results service Final Score on the odd Saturday afternoon and appeared on ITV commentating on the UEFA Cup. He is also a presenter for the Eastern England edition of the BBC regional football show Late Kick Off.

He has also appeared on many radio shows, he usually appears on talkSPORT on kick off usually on Thursday nights and also appearing on Matchday Live on Saturday afternoons whenever he is not on Final Score. Holland has also appeared frequently on Absolute Radio and BBC Radio 5 Live as a co-commentator as well as Final Score, Premier Soccer Saturday or talkSPORT. In addition Holland previously appeared as an analyst for Setanta Sports’ live matches.

Holland began work with RTÉ when he commentated alongside George Hamilton during the Rep. of Ireland and Brazil friendly. He then appeared as a member of the panel on RTÉ’s Premier Soccer Saturday for a number of weeks. He commentated the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

International career

Although born in England, he qualified to play for Ireland through his grandmother who hailed from County Monaghan. He went with the Republic of Ireland to the 2002 World Cup scoring the equaliser against Cameroon in their opening game. Ireland were eliminated from this tournament in a Second Round penalty shootout against Spain and Holland was selected to take a penalty, but missed it. Following Ireland’s failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, he announced his retirement from international football in early February 2006 having made 49 appearances and scoring five goals.

Club

Season Club Division League FA Cup League Cup FA Trophy Play Offs Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1992–93 West Ham United Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1993–94 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1994–95 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
West Ham United total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1994–95 Bournemouth (loan) Division 2 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 1
1995–96 Bournemouth 44 10 2 0 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 50 10
1996–97 45 7 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 48 7
Bournemouth total 104 18 3 0 6 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 116 18
1997–98 Ipswich Town Division 1 45 10 4 0 7 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 58 12
1998–99 46 5 2 0 4 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 54 9
1999–00 46 10 1 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 54 10
2000–01 Premier League 38 3 2 0 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 47 5
2001–02 38 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 46 3
2002–03 Division 1 45 7 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 54 7
Ipswich total 258 38 12 0 24 6 0 0 7 2 12 0 313 46
2003–04 Charlton Athletic Premier League 38 6 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 41 6
2004–05 32 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 3
2005–06 23 1 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 2
2006–07 33 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 1
2007–08 Championship 31 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 34 1
2008–09 34 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 1
Charlton Athletic total 191 13 15 1 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 215 14
Career total 553 69 30 1 39 6 3 0 7 2 12 0 644 78
  • Stats accurate as of 19:36, 29 December 2009.