Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Nicholas Charles Holmes [1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 11 November 1954||
Place of birth | Southampton, [1] England | ||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) [2] | ||
Position(s) | Full-back / Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1972–1987 | Southampton | 444 | (56) |
1987–1988 | East Cowes Victoria | ||
Managerial career | |||
2002–2009 | Salisbury City | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Nicholas Charles Holmes (born 11 November 1954) is an English former professional footballer. He spent the majority of his playing career with Southampton, where he won the FA Cup Final in 1976. In 1987, he joined East Cowes Victoria for a season before retiring. From July 2002 to July 2009, Holmes was manager of Salisbury City.
Holmes was born in Woolston, Southampton and educated at St. Mary's College. [3]
Holmes was an apprentice with Southampton in the early 1970s. He made his first team debut on 2 March 1974 away to Arsenal. [3] A natural left-sided player, he was equally at home at full-back, midfield, centre-back or sweeper. Holmes spent 14 years at The Dell. Naturally left-sided, he could play at left-back or midfield and was a thoughtful, yet thrusting, player who was as reliable as he was skilful. [3]
He played at left-midfield in the 1976 FA Cup Final against Manchester United which Saints won 1–0, and also played and scored in the 1979 League Cup final against Nottingham Forest, which was lost 2–3. [4] [5] Between these two Wembley appearances, he was an integral member of the Southampton team that gained promotion from Division 2 at the end of the 1977–78 season. [6] [3] He became club captain in March 1980. [7]
On 16 August 1986, Saints recognised his loyalty by awarding him a testimonial match against John Mortimore's Benfica, which was won 4–1, with Holmes scoring one of the goals. [8]
His last appearance for Southampton was on 14 Feb 1987 at Tottenham Hotspur. [3] A pelvic injury forced him to retire from the game in May 1987, by which time only Terry Paine and Mick Channon had made more appearances for the Saints. [3] In total, he played 543 times for Southampton, scoring 64 goals. [3]
After leaving Saints, he spent the 1987–88 season with East Cowes Vics, and participated in a charity match against some of the stars from BBC soap opera EastEnders who played under the name Walford Boys Club. [9] Following his spell at East Cowes Vics, he spent a season as coach back at Southampton working with manager Chris Nicholl. [3]
In July 2002, he was tempted back into football when he was offered the manager's job at Salisbury City. [10] Under Holmes' management, Salisbury gained promotion to the Conference South in the 2005–06 season by finishing top of the Southern League Premier Division, followed by winning the play-off final in the 2006–07 season to participate in the Conference Premier in 2007–08. [11]
In January 2008, following the departure of George Burley, Holmes was linked with a return to Southampton as manager. Although he was not offered the job, Holmes stated that Southampton was "the only club I'd leave Salisbury for". [12] He became Salisbury's general manager in July 2009, with Tommy Widdrington taking control of the first team. [13] Holmes left Salisbury on 14 July 2010 by mutual consent. [14]
Southampton
Salisbury City
Peter Joseph Rodrigues is a retired footballer. He was the captain of Southampton's 1976 FA Cup-winning team, and the last captain to be presented the FA Cup by the Queen.
Albert Herbert Hoskins was an English football forward and football manager, who managed Wolverhampton Wanderers and Gillingham.
Hugh Donnelly Fisher is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his career at Blackpool before moving to Southampton in 1967. During his time with Southampton, he was a substitute in the 1976 FA Cup final.
Ian Turner is an English former footballer, who won the FA Cup when he played for Southampton as goalkeeper in the 1976 FA Cup Final.
David Sidney Peach is an English former professional footballer who played as a full-back. He notably appeared for Southampton in the FA Cup final in 1976.
Paul Anthony Gilchrist is a former footballer who played as a forward. He won the FA Cup with Southampton in 1976.
Thomas Widdrington is an English former football player and manager who is manager of National League club Aldershot Town.
Gerald O'Brien is a Scottish retired professional footballer, who played as a winger for various clubs in Scotland and England in the 1960s and 1970s, including Clydebank, Southampton and Swindon Town.
Graham Baker is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder for Southampton, Manchester City and Fulham.
George William Semple Goss was a naval officer and football manager, who was manager of Southampton F.C. for the 1936–37 season.
George Randolph Lawrence is a former professional footballer now retired. He played as a midfielder, spending most of his career with Oxford United, Southampton and AFC Bournemouth. He was known by the nickname "Chicken George" throughout his career.
Thomas George Lewis was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward for Watford in the late 1930s, before joining Southampton for a brief period after World War II.
Henry Thomas Offer was an English footballer who scored Arsenal's first-ever goal in the FA Cup "proper" rounds in 1891, and Southampton's first-ever league goal in 1894.
William James Gay"Lachie"Thomson was an English professional footballer who played as a defender for Stoke in the Football League before joining Southampton St Mary's for the inaugural Southern League season in 1894.
David Bowen Hamer was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a full-back for Southampton St. Mary's in the early years of the Southern League.
Robert Sherran Kiddle was an English amateur footballer who played as an inside-forward for Southampton St. Mary's in the 1890s.
Albert James "Albie" Roles was an English footballer who played as a full back for Southampton. His career was interrupted by the Second World War and, as a result, he only made one Football League and four FA Cup appearances.
Freeman Alexander Delamotte was an English footballer who played as a forward in the early years of Southampton St. Mary's, including making two appearances in the FA Cup.
Arthur G. Farwell was a footballer who played as a forward in the early years of Southampton St. Mary's, including making two appearances in the FA Cup.
Michael McCartney was a Scottish footballer who played as a full-back in the 1970s and 1980s. He spent most of his career with Carlisle United, for whom he made nearly 300 League appearances in two spells, between which he played for Southampton and Plymouth Argyle. He subsequently had 11+1⁄2 years as manager of Scottish club Gretna.