Andy Holden

Football player infobox


playername= Andy Holden
fullname = Andrew Ian Holden
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|9|14
cityofbirth = Flint
countryofbirth = Wales
height = height|ft=6|in=1
currentclub = Everton (reserve team manager)
clubnumber =
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = c.1981-1983 1983-1986 1986-1989 1989-1995
clubs = Rhyl Chester City Wigan Athletic Oldham Athletic
caps(goals) = 100 (16) 049 (4) 022 (4)
nationalyears = 1984
1984
nationalteam = Wales
Wales U21s
nationalcaps(goals) = 01 (0)
01 (0)
pcupdate =

Andy Holden (born September 14 1962, Flint) is a Welsh former football player. He had playing careers at Chester City, Wigan and Oldham Athletic and is the long-serving reserve team manager at Everton. He was a strong and powerful defender and was capped by Wales once at both full and under-21 level in 1984.

From non-league to international

Holden's full appearance for Wales as a substitute against Israel at the end of the 1983-84 season was remarkable as a year earlier he had been playing non-league football for Rhyl and his new Chester City team had comfortably finished bottom of Division Four. However, Holden had stood out in a poor side and he would retain his player of the season accolade the following campaign. He had made his Football League debut on August 27 1983 for Chester in a 1-1 draw with Northampton Town.

Unfortunately, club captain Holden became dogged by injuries and he rarely featured in Chester's 1985-86 promotion campaign. He joined Wigan for £50,000 in October 1986 at a time when Chester were suffering a financial crisis and facing a winding up order. [cite book | author=Chas Sumner | title=On the Borderline: The Official History of Chester City 1885-1997 | year=1997| pages= p.103|id=ISBN 1-874427-52-6] He left Chester after making exactly 100 Football League appearances for them in three and a half years, when he bagged 16 goals - an impressive strike rate for a central defender thanks to his penalty taking and ability to head in set-pieces.

The Injury Nightmare Continues

Holden continued to impress at Wigan and this led to a transfer to Oldham Athletic in January 1989. Despite spending several years at Boundary Park, Holden played just 22 league games due to his ongoing injury problems and had to watch on from the sidelines as his team-mates played in the top-flight from 1991 to 1994 and reached the Littlewoods Cup final in 1990. However, he did play in both enthralling FA Cup semi-finals for Oldham against Manchester United, as the Latics took their illustrious opponents to extra-time in the replay before losing 2-1. His final game was a substitute appearance for Oldham was in a 2-1 defeat by Middlesbrough in November 1994, shortly before he followed manager Joe Royle to Everton as part of the coaching staff.

He has survived several managerial changes to become a trusted part of the backroom team at Goodison Park, with his matchday role having become more prominent since the departure of assistant manager Alan Irvine to Preston North End.

Honours

Chester City
* Division Four runners-up: 1985-86 (10 appearances).
* Player of the Season: 1983-84 & 1984-85.Oldham Athletic
* FA Cup semi-finalist: 1989-90, Oldham Athletic.

External links

*soccerbase|id=3559

References