Gary Holt (footballer)

Gary Holt

Personal information
Full name	Gary James Holt
Date of birth	(1973-03-09) 9 March 1973
Place of birth	Irvine, Scotland
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Falkirk (manager)
Youth career
1992–1994	Celtic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1994–1995	Stoke City	0	(0)
1995–2001	Kilmarnock	138	(12)
2001–2005	Norwich City	168	(3)
2005–2007	Nottingham Forest	65	(1)
2007–2009	Wycombe Wanderers	76	(3)
2009	Colchester United	0	(0)
2009–2010	Lowestoft Town	22	(4)
National team‡
2000–2004	Scotland	10	(1)
Teams managed
2013–	Falkirk
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:42, 2 May 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:47, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Gary James Holt (born 9 March 1973 in Irvine, Ayrshire) is a retired Scottish defensive midfielder and a former Scottish International player, who received 10 caps and scored 1 goal.^[1] He is the current manager of Scottish Championship side Falkirk after he was appointed on 8 April 2013.

Playing career

Holt came late to professional football, having had a spell in the Army Catering Corps as a chef and played for the British Army team prior to joining Celtic. He did not play for the Bhoys first team and moved on to Stoke City. After a brief stay, Holt returned to his boyhood favourites, Kilmarnock, where he excelled in the Ayrshire team's most consistent period of success since the 1960s. He set up home in his place of birth with his wife in the Bourtreehill part of Irvine. Despite his excellent form with Kilmarnock, international recognition proved elusive, and Holt briefly explored the option of playing for Canada in 1998. However, it eventually emerged Holt wasn't eligible for Canada, and Holt gained his first Scotland cap a year later.

In 2001, Norwich City paid £135,000 for Holt. He was voted Norwich City player of the year in 2001-02, when he also collected a number of fans' awards, including the Capital Canaries Player of the Season trophy. That season, Holt was a member of the Norwich team that reached the final of the Division One play-offs, losing on penalties to Birmingham City^[2] After playing in Division One for his first three seasons with the club and helping them win promotion to the Premier League in 2004, Holt's final season with Norwich City was a difficult one and he received criticism from some spectators.^{[citation needed]} He was affectionately known by fans as 'three lungs' for his tireless coverage of the football pitch.^{[citation needed]}

Holt spent two years with Nottingham Forest, before being released at the end of the 2006-07 season. At Forest he scored three times, with goals against Weymouth in the FA Cup,^[3] Cheltenham in the league^[4] and Yeovil in the second leg of the 2007 League One play off semi final.^[5] He subsequently signed for League Two side Wycombe Wanderers on 12 July 2007.^[6] He signed a 1 year extension until July 2010 on 17 January 2009. On 28 March 2009 he lobbed Luke Daniels in the League Two match against Shrewsbury Town to score the third goal of his Wycombe Wanderers career.

For the 2009/10 season he left Wycombe Wanderers to join former manager Paul Lambert at Colchester United as a player coach. However when Lambert left for Norwich City after only three game of the season, his contract was terminated without him making a single appearance for the club. On 6 October 2009 he signed for Isthmian League club Lowestoft Town.

International career

Holt made his Scotland debut on 2 September 2000 as an 89th minute substitute against Latvia in a match that Scotland won 1-0. He kept his place in the squad for the next year and a half before he was omitted from after a friendly against France that ended in a 5-0 defeat for Scotland in March 2002. He was not capped again for two years when his final cap came in a 1-1 draw against Moldova in October 2004. His only international goal came in a 4-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago in 2004.

Coaching career

In July 2010, he returned to Norwich City as Assistant Academy Manager. He was responsible for the coaching of City's under-12 to under-16 age groups as well as assisting the current coaching staff with reserve team matters.^[7]

Holt was appointed manager of Scottish First Division club Falkirk on 3 April 2013.^[8] Upon becoming the new manager of Falkirk, Holt expressed has delight at returning to a club that gave him one of the best days of his career^[9]'. Holt also credits former Norwich City manager and compatriot, Paul Lambert for helping him.^[10]

Honours

Kilmarnock

• Scottish Cup (1): 1996-1997

Norwich

• Division One (1): 2003-2004

Lowestoft Town

• Isthmian League Division One North (1): 2009-2010

Individual

• Norwich City Player of the Year: 2002

Manager Statistics

As of 1 February 2014 (2014-02-01)

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Falkirk		April 2013	Present	700134000000000000034	700116000000000000016	70008000000000000008	700110000000000000010	700147060000000000047.06

References

External links

• Gary Holt career stats at Soccerbase
• Career Information at Ex-Canaries.co.uk