Phil Holder

Phil Holder
Personal information
Full name Philip Holder[1]
Date of birth (1952-01-19) 19 January 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth Kilburn, England
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1974 Tottenham Hotspur 13 (1)
1975–1979 Crystal Palace 95 (5)
1978 Memphis Rogues 24 (1)
1978–1980 AFC Bournemouth 58 (4)
Tonbridge
Total 180 (11)
International career
England Youth
Managerial career
1990–1993 Brentford
1993 Watford (assistant)
Southend United (assistant)
Shimizu S-Pulse (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Philip Holder (born 19 January 1952) is an English former association football player and manager.[1] As player, he made more than 150 appearances in the Football League representing Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and AFC Bournemouth, and played in the North American Soccer League for the Memphis Rogues.[2] As manager, he took charge of Brentford for three seasons.[3]

Career

Holder was born in Kilburn, London. He began his football career as an apprentice with Tottenham Hotspur in 1969 and remained with the club for five years. He played only 13 times in the Football League, but played six games in European competition,[4] including a substitute appearance in the second leg of the 1974 UEFA Cup Final.[5] He joined Crystal Palace in February 1975,[6] and played 112 games in all competitions for the club,[7] before spending a summer in the North American Soccer League with the Memphis Rogues.[8] He returned to England and signed for AFC Bournemouth of the Fourth Division in March 1979,[6] before his playing career ended due to a pelvic injury.[9]

Holder then took up coaching, with clubs including Crystal Palace.[10] He was appointed assistant to Brentford manager Steve Perryman in the late 1980s,[11] and when Perryman resigned, Holder was confirmed as his successor in September 1990 after a spell in temporary charge.[12] He guided them to the Third Division play-offs that season, only for the team to lose to Tranmere Rovers in the semi-final over two legs. In first leg at Griffin Park, a last minute equaliser from Kevin Godfrey gave Brentford hope,[13] but later the same week, a 1–0 defeat at Prenton Park gave Tranmere the overall tie 3–2 on aggregate.[14]

As a coach Holder will be best remembered for his success during the 1991–92 season. He guided a Brentford side spearheaded by prolific striker Dean Holdsworth to the Third Division title and gained them a place in the new Division One. With six matches of the season left, Holder told the players that they needed to win them all: they did so.[15][16] On Boxing Day 1992, Brentford went 10th in Division One and were just three points short of the playoff zone. Holder was voted Manager of the Month for the division,[17] and there was much speculation as to whether Brentford could mount a challenge for promotion to the Premiership. But a sharp decline set in and defeat in the final game of the season condemned "The Bees" to relegation to Division Two.[15] Holder was sacked three days later.[18]

In July 1993 he briefly joined Watford as Perryman's assistant,[19] then assisted Peter Taylor at Southend United,[20] and coached at Reading,[21] before linking up with Perryman yet again in 1999, this time in Japan as assistant manager of J.League side Shimizu S-Pulse.[citation needed]

Personal life

After leaving football, Holder entered the flower business.[22]

Honours

As a manager

Brentford

As an individual

References

  1. ^ a b "Phil Holder". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Phil Holder". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  3. ^ Phil Holder management career statistics at Soccerbase
  4. ^ "A–Z of Players". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  5. ^ Ross, James M (9 January 2008). "European Competitions 1973–74". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  6. ^ a b Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel (1990). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. p. 328. ISBN 0907969542.
  7. ^ "Appearances". Crystal Palace F.C. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  8. ^ "North American Soccer League: F–J". National Soccer Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  9. ^ "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | WHERE ARE THEY NOW?". brentfordfc.co.uk. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Cannon gives his support as Gradi makes changes". The Times. 28 January 1981. p. 12.
  11. ^ "Chelsea await appeal result" (reprint). The Times. NewsBank. 12 August 1988. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  12. ^ Blackmore, Keith (1 October 1990). "Optimistic Brentford in the hunt" (reprint). The Times. NewsBank. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  13. ^ Blackmore, Keith (20 May 1991). "Substitute saves Brentford" (reprint). The Times. NewsBank. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  14. ^ "Brentford 1990/1991 results and fixtures". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  15. ^ a b "Brentford FC". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  16. ^ "Brentford 1991/1992 results and fixtures". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  17. ^ "Manchester City to sign Norwegian midfielder". New Straits Times. 3 January 1993. p. 18.
  18. ^ Pike, Keith (12 May 1993). "Webb's brief reign brought to an end" (reprint). The Times. NewsBank. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  19. ^ Metcalf, Rupert & Cole, Robert (10 July 1993). "Football: Watford turn to Roeder to replace Perryman". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2009.{cite news}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent. 21 June 1994. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  21. ^ "No headline". The Independent. 10 July 1996. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  22. ^ "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | WHERE ARE THEY NOW?". brentfordfc.co.uk. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Brentford – Football League 125". www.fl125.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  24. ^ "Awards shared at big red ball". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2015.

External links