Matt Holland : biography
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.