Rory Holden

Rory Holden

Holden playing for Port Vale (August 2022)
Personal information
Full name	Rory Holden [1]
Date of birth	(1997-08-23) 23 August 1997 (age 27) [2]
Place of birth	Derry, Northern Ireland [2]
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) [3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	The New Saints
Number	18
Youth career
2012–2016	Derry City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2017	Derry City	13	(1)
2017–2020	Bristol City	0	(0)
2018	→ Barrow (loan)	5	(0)
2019	→ Rochdale (loan)	6	(0)
2019–2020	→ Walsall (loan)	29	(2)
2020–2022	Walsall	21	(4)
2022–2023	Port Vale	11	(0)
2023–	The New Saints	22	(4)
International career
2018	Northern Ireland U21	3	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 April 2024

Rory Holden (born 23 August 1997) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cymru Premier club The New Saints.

A Northern Ireland under-21 international, he began his career at Derry City, making his first-team debut in May 2016. He was sold to English club Bristol City in August 2017, and from there he was loaned out to Barrow and Rochdale in the 2018–19 season. He spent the 2019–20 campaign on loan at Walsall and joined the club permanently in August 2020. However, four months later, he got a long-term knee injury and missed much of the 2020–21 season and the 2021–22 campaign. He spent the 2022–23 season with Port Vale before joining Cymru Premier club The New Saints in July 2023. He won the Cymru Premier and Welsh League Cup in the 2023–24 season.

Club career

Derry City

Holden began his career with Derry City, first joining as a 14-year-old. ^[4] He made his first-team debut on 29 May 2016 when he came on as an 81st-minute substitute for Keith Ward in a 2–0 win over Bray Wanderers at the Brandywell Stadium. ^[5] He was given a three-year professional contract by manager Kenny Shiels. ^[6] He earned his first start on 28 October, in a 2–0 victory at St Patrick's Athletic. ^[7] Having featured four times in the 2016 season, he played another nine League of Ireland Premier Division games in the 2017 season, and scored his first senior goal in a 4–0 home win over Sligo Rovers on 9 July. ^[8]

Bristol City

On 30 August 2017, Holden signed with English Championship club Bristol City after a successful trial spell. ^{[9] [10]} He had impressed manager Lee Johnson in two trials and the "Robins" agreed to a transfer-deadline day deal worth up to €300,000. ^[11] However, he never played a first-team game at Ashton Gate. ^[3]

He joined Barrow on a one-month loan, starting on 14 September 2018. ^[12] He played five National League games for Ian Evatt's "Bluebirds". ^[13] He joined League Two club Rochdale on loan for the rest of the 2018–19 season on 3 January 2019. ^[14] Manager Keith Hill said that "it's important we get players in who have the right mentality and who have the right game brain and intelligent energy, and Rory fits the bill". ^[15] He played seven matches for Rochdale. ^[13] He signed a new two-year contract with City in June 2019, with the club retaining a further 12-month option. ^[16]

Walsall

On 26 July 2019, he joined League Two club Walsall on a season-long loan following a trial period. ^[17] He made 36 appearances in the 2019–20 season, and though he played in a variety of positions he particularly impressed in an advanced midfield role. ^[18] He scored his first goal in English football on 15 February 2020, with his 93rd-minute strike securing a 3–2 victory over Northampton Town at the Bescot Stadium. ^[19]

On 11 August 2020, he re-joined Walsall on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee. ^[20] He made a good start to the 2020–21 season, playing on the right-wing and equalling his season-high goals tally of two by mid-October as the "Saddlers" put together a 12-game unbeaten run in the league. ^[21] However, he suffered a knee injury before a game at Salford City in December 2020, and though he made a brief return to action the following April in which he was described as a "a breath of fresh air" by interim head coach Brian Dutton, he would then suffer a further setback and was ruled out for the entirety of the 2021–22 campaign, with head coach Matt Taylor stating that he had to undergo another procedure after seeing "the best knee specialist in the country". ^{[22] [23]} He left Walsall upon the expiry of his contract in June 2022. ^[24]

Port Vale

In June 2022, he began training with League One side Port Vale, who were managed by Darrell Clarke, Holden's former boss at Walsall. ^[25] The club reportedly offered to pay his medical costs as he continued his recovery from long-term absence. ^[26] Holden signed for Port Vale on 29 July 2022. ^[27] He made his debut for the club the following day, though dropped out of the team in mid-August and missed some weeks of the season due to a "minor setback" of an injury. ^[28] He recovered and contributed with an assist during a 2–1 win over Barnsley in the EFL Trophy Round of 32 on 23 November. ^[29] David Flitcroft, the club's director of football, confirmed that the player's contract would not be renewed beyond June 2023. ^[30]

The New Saints

In June 2023, it was announced that he would sign for Cymru Premier club The New Saints on 1 July 2023, with the manager Craig Harrison emphasising the player's EFL experience and talent. ^[31] He played 22 league games as TNS were crowned unbeaten league champions in the 2023–24 campaign. ^[32] He also played in three cup finals as TNS won the 2023–24 Welsh League Cup with a victory over Swansea City U21 and were beaten in the Welsh Cup final by Connah's Quay Nomads. ^{[33] [34]} TNS also played in the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup, where they were beaten by Airdrieonians. ^[35]

International career

In 2018, Holden won three caps for the Northern Ireland under-21 team in victories against Luxembourg, Spain and Iceland; he scored the only goal of the game against Luxembourg. ^{[36] [37] [38]}

Style of play

Holden is a left-footed midfielder with high energy and intelligence levels. ^[15]

Career statistics

As of 28 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Derry City	2016 [2]	LOI Premier Division	4	0	0	0	0	0	—		4	0
	2017 [2]	LOI Premier Division	9	1	0	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	11	1
	Total		13	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	15	1
Bristol City	2017–18 [39]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2018–19 [13]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2019–20 [40]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Barrow (loan)	2018–19 [13]	National League	5	0	—		—		—		5	0
Rochdale (loan)	2018–19 [13]	League Two	6	0	—		—		1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	7	0
Walsall (loan)	2019–20 [40]	League Two	29	2	3	0	0	0	4 [lower-alpha 2]	0	36	2
Walsall	2020–21 [41]	League Two	21	4	1	0	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 2]	0	26	4
	2021–22 [42]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		50	6	4	0	1	0	7	0	62	6
Port Vale	2022–23 [43]	League One	11	0	1	0	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 2]	0	16	0
The New Saints	2023–24 [2]	Cymru Premier	22	4	3	1	2	0	4 [lower-alpha 3]	0	31	5
	2024–25 [2]	Cymru Premier	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		22	4	3	1	2	0	4	0	31	5
Career total			107	11	8	1	4	0	17	0	136	12

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
3. Appearance(s) in Scottish Challenge Cup

Honours

The New Saints

• Cymru Premier: 2023–24 ^[32]
• Welsh Cup runner-up: 2024 ^[2]
• Welsh League Cup: 2024 ^[2]
• Scottish Challenge Cup runner-up: 2024 ^[2]

References

1. "Club List of Registered Players As At 18th May 2019" (PDF). EFL. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
2. "R. Holden: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
3. Rory Holden at Soccerbase
4. "Derry City '˜Holden' on to European dream". Derry Journal. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
5. "Derry City vs. Bray Wanderers - 29 May 2016 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
6. "FOOTBALL: Kenny's new '˜Holden' Boy". Derry Journal. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
7. "St Patrick's Athletic vs. Derry City - 28 October 2016 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
8. "Derry City vs. Sligo Rovers - 9 July 2017 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
9. Dan Newman (4 September 2017). "New Bristol City signing Rory Holden has big ambitions as attacker chats about how move emerged". Bristol Post. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
10. Kevin McLaughlin (30 March 2018). "Former Derry City starlet loving life at Bristol City". Derry Journal. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
11. Scully, Michael (31 August 2017). "Derry's Rory Holden set to join Bristol City". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
12. James Crawley (14 September 2018). "HOLDEN HEADS OUT ON LOAN". Bristol City F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
13. "Games played by Rory Holden in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
14. "Rory Holden: Rochdale sign Bristol City forward on loan for rest of season". BBC Sport. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
15. "Keith Hill On Rory Holden Loan Signing". Rochdale A.F.C. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
16. "Under-21 midfielder Rory Holden signs new deal at Bristol City". IFA. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
17. Masi, Joseph. "Walsall sign Rory Holden on loan from Bristol City". www.expressandstar.com.
18. "Rory Holden returns to Walsall". Walsall F.C. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
19. "Holden delighted to open Walsall account". Walsall F.C. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
20. "Rory Holden: Walsall sign Bristol City midfielder following 2019-20 loan spell". BBC. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
21. "Holden: "There's more to come"". Walsall F.C. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
22. "Rory Holden 'a breath of fresh air' for Walsall – Brian Dutton". www.newschainonline.com. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
23. "Matt Taylor provides an update on Rory Holden". Walsall F.C. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
24. Baggaley, Michael (4 July 2022). "Former Walsall midfielder Rory Holden is training with Port Vale". StokeonTrentLive.
25. Baggaley, Michael (27 June 2022). "Port Vale linked with midfielder Rory Holden". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
26. Edwards, Joe (27 June 2022). "Rory Holden training with Port Vale after Walsall exit". Express and Star. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
27. "Rory Holden is a Valiant". Port Vale F.C.
28. Baggaley, Michael (25 November 2022). "Holden says return means so much after impressing for Port Vale". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
29. Bamforth, Harry (24 November 2022). "Rory Holden | "I'm buzzing, I'm happy to get some minutes and contribute with an assist"". Port Vale F.C. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
30. "Port Vale FC Confirm 2022/23 Retained List". Port Vale F.C. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
31. Keen, Liam (20 June 2023). "TNS sign former Walsall attacker Rory Holden". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
32. McGilligan, Brendan (2 May 2024). "Derry duo creating history with Welsh Premier League side TNS". www.ireland-live.ie. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
33. "The New Saints vs. Swansea City U21 - 20 January 2024 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
34. "Connah's Quay vs. The New Saints - 28 April 2024 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
35. "The New Saints vs. Airdrieonians - 24 March 2024 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
36. Lewis, Ed (7 September 2018). "Holden nets Northern Ireland winner". Bristol City. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
37. Crawley, James (11 September 2018). "Holden's Northern Ireland defeat Spain". Bristol City. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
38. Barton, Dave (11 October 2018). "Holden's Northern Ireland Under-21s keep Euro dream alive". Bristol City. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
39. "Games played by Rory Holden in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
40. "Games played by Rory Holden in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
41. "Games played by Rory Holden in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
42. "Games played by Rory Holden in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
43. "Games played by Rory Holden in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2020.