Gary Holt (footballer)

Gary James Holt (born 9 March 1973) is a Scottish football player, coach and part time bus driver who is currently the head coach of Livingston.

Gary Holt
Holt (right) pictured in 2007
Personal information
Full name Gary Holt[1]
Date of birth (1973-03-09) 9 March 1973[1]
Place of birth Irvine, Scotland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Livingston (head coach)
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)
Total 469 (23)
National team
2000–2004 Scotland 10 (1)
Teams managed
2013–2014 Falkirk
2018– Livingston
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Holt first played competitively for Kilmarnock, making 138 appearances, before transferring to the English Division One side Norwich City, where Holt made 168 appearances. Holt also received 10 caps for the Scotland national football team, scoring one goal.[2] Later in his career, Holt also played for Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers, before signing for Isthmian League side Lowestoft Town after an unsuccessful transfer to Colchester United.

After his retirement from playing football, Holt joined the Norwich City Academy. He then managed Falkirk for just over a year until June 2014, when he returned to Norwich as a first-team coach. In August 2018, he was appointed head coach of Scottish Premiership club Livingston.

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[3] Holt played in Division One for his first three seasons with the club and helped them win promotion to the Premier League in 2004.

Holt left Norwich to join Nottingham Forest in 2005, where he spent two years 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,[4] Cheltenham in the league[5] and Yeovil in the second leg of the 2007 League One play off semi final.[6]

He subsequently signed for League Two side Wycombe Wanderers on 12 July 2007.[7] 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.[8]

Holt was appointed manager of Scottish First Division club Falkirk on 3 April 2013.[9] 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[10]'. Holt also credits former Norwich City manager and compatriot, Paul Lambert for helping him.[11] Holt left Falkirk in June 2014 to take a position at Norwich City as a first-team coach.[12] Holt left Norwich by mutual consent after the 2015–16 season.[13]

In August 2018, he was appointed head coach of Scottish Premiership club Livingston,[14] replacing former Scotland teammate Kenny Miller in the role.[15] After guiding the relegation favourites[16] to an impressive ninth-place finish on their return to the Premiership, he was forced to take a temporary leave of absence from his role in August 2019 when he overexerted in a gym session and contracted rhabdomyolysis, causing his blood levels to rise to dangerous levels and his skeletal muscle to begin breaking down.[17]

The 2019-20 season provided further success for Holt and Livi, as the Lions secured fifth place in the Premiership. It was the club's second-highest ever league finish, and Holt was nominated for the Scottish Football Writers’ Association ‘Manager of the Year Award’.[18]

Holt also claimed the SPFL Manager of the Month award for September 2018[19] and January 2020.[20]

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source:[21]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Stoke City 1994–95 First Division 0000000000
Kilmarnock 1995–96 Scottish Premier Division 260201000290
1996–97 Scottish Premier Division 121100000131
1997–98 Scottish Premier Division 272200000292
1998–99 Scottish Premier League 333102040403
1999–2000 Scottish Premier League 350203040440
Total 13368060801556
Norwich City 2000–01 First Division 4000000040
2001–02 First Division 462201030522
2002–03 First Division 450301000490
2003–04 First Division 461101000481
2004–05 Premier League 270002000290
Total 16836050301823
Nottingham Forest 2005–06 League One 260311010311
2006–07 League One 391501031482
Total 651812041793
Wycombe Wanderers 2007–08 League Two 432100020462
2008–09 League Two 331200000351
Total 763300020813
Colchester United 2009–10 League One 0000000000
Career total 4421325113017149715

International appearances
Scotland national team[22]
YearAppsGoals
200020
2001—
200210
2003—
200471
Total101

International goals
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.[23]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.30 May 2004Easter Road, Edinburgh Trinidad and Tobago2–04–1Friendly

Managerial record
As of match played on 12 August 2020
Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Falkirk April 2013 June 2014 52 25 11 16 048.08
Livingston August 2018 Present 78 26 21 31 033.33
Total 130 51 32 47 039.23

Honours
Kilmarnock
Norwich
Lowestoft Town
  • Isthmian League Division One North (1): 2009–10

Individual

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. Gary Holt at the Scottish Football Association
  3. "Birmingham reach Premiership". BBC Sport. 12 May 2002. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  4. "Nottm Forest 1-1 Weymouth". BBC Sport. 5 November 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  5. "Nott'm Forest 3-0 Cheltenham". BBC Sport. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  6. "Nottm Forest 2-5 Yeovil". BBC Sport. 18 May 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  7. "Wycombe capture midfielder Holt". BBC Sport.
  8. "Gary Holt". ex-canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  9. "Falkirk confirm Gary Holt as new manager for semi-final". BBC Sport. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  10. "New Falkirk gaffer Gary Holt delighted to clinch job for team that gave him one of the best days of his career". Daily Record. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  11. "Gary Holt's hails mentor Paul Lambert". Scotsman. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  12. "Norwich City: Gary Holt to quit Falkirk for Canaries role". BBC Sport. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  13. "Gary Holt: Norwich City first-team coach leaves to seek boss job". BBC Sport. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  14. McLauchlin, Brian (23 August 2018). "Livingston: Gary Holt agrees to replace Kenny Miller as manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  15. "Scotland player Gary Holt: Managers & Teammates". FitbaStats. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  16. "Livingston: Craig Halkett says being relegation favourites suits them". BBC Sport. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  17. Livingston's Gary Holt 'on mend' after 'wee fright' with skeletal muscle breakdown, BBC Sport, 13 September 2019
  18. Thomson, Paul (1 June 2020). "Motherwell's Stephen Robinson in the running for SFWA manager of the year prize". dailyrecord. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  19. "Livingston's Gary Holt named Scottish Premiership manager of the month". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  20. "Holt voted Manager of Month | SPFL". spfl.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  21. Gary Holt at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  22. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Gary Holt". www.national-football-teams.com.
  23. "Gary Holt - Scotland - Scottish FA". www.scottishfa.co.uk.
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