Grant Holt
Encyclopedia
Grant Holt is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer, currently playing in the Premier League for Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

. He plays as a striker and is club captain.

Holt played for a number of non-league and professional clubs, notably making nearly 100 league appearances for Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

 before signing for Norwich in 2009. The move was an immediate success: in the 2009–10 season
2009–10 in English football
The 2009–10 season was the 130th season of competitive football in England.The season began on 8 August 2009 for the Championship, League One and League Two and 15 August 2009 for the Premier League...

, Holt finished the season winning the Norwich City Player of the Year award, after scoring 30 goals in 44 appearances for the club (24 in the league) and was one of the leading scorers in Football League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....

. In the 2010–11 season
2010–11 in English football
The 2010–11 season was the 131st season of competitive football in England.The season began on 6 August 2010 for the Football Leagues, with the Premier League and Football Conference both starting eight days later on 14 August 2010. The Championship, League One, and League Two ended on 7 May...

, Holt continued to be a prolific scorer, and was runner-up in the League player of the year awards.

Early career

He played for several Conference
Football Conference
The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...

 clubs in his early career, including Barrow
Barrow A.F.C.
Barrow A.F.C. are an English football club founded in 1901 based in the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. Following promotion at the end of the 2007–08 season, they currently play in the Conference National. The club spent over fifty years in the Football League between 1921 and 1972, and have...

, Workington, Halifax Town
Halifax Town A.F.C.
Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

 (for whom he scored once in the League Cup against Tranmere Rovers) and in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 with Sengkang Marine
Sengkang Punggol FC
Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club in Singapore's S.League. The club first made their debut in Singapore's S.League in 2006 under the name Sengkang Punggol Football Club. The club was a merger of two football clubs that previously played in the S.League – namely, Paya...

, before he was signed by Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

. He made 30 appearances, half of them as a substitute, but only managed four goals.

For Rochdale, he made 83 appearances and scored 42 goals. This made him a target for many higher league clubs, but it was Nottingham Forest who paid £300,000 to secure his services in January 2006.

Nottingham Forest

Holt made a slow start to his time with Forest, scoring four times in as many months at the end of the 2005–06 campaign. In November 2006, he turned down a move to Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

 due to personal reasons, after the two clubs had agreed a fee. However, despite being on the bench for approximately half of Forest's in the 2006–07 season, he managed to score 18 goals in all competitions to become the club's top scorer. Forest fans recognised Holt's performances by handing him the 'Player of the Season' award.

In the summer of 2007, Holt and Forest boss Colin Calderwood
Colin Calderwood
Colin Calderwood is a Scottish football player and coach. In November 2011 he was appointed as Chris Hughton's assistant manager at Birmingham City....

 reached an "uneasy truce" after the striker had a transfer request rebuffed, when Forest refused to give him an improved contract. Holt made it clear that he would be "happy to stay" with Forest for the 2007–08 campaign, while Calderwood admitted "he's not a player we want to see leave". However, Holt failed to impress by only scoring three times all season, although he played out of position as a winger for the majority of the season.

In March 2008, Holt signed on loan with Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

 club, Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

, making his debut as a late substitute against Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

 at the Britannia Stadium
Britannia Stadium
The Britannia Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England and the home of Premier League club Stoke City Football Club. With space for 27,598 spectators . The name is taken from the sponsors of the Stadium the Britannia Co-operative Bank...

 on 22 March. He made four substitute appearances before returning to Forest in the summer of 2008, saying he would like to stay and fight for his place in Forest's team next season, despite interest being shown from his home town club Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....

.

Shrewsbury Town

On 24 June 2008, Shrewsbury Town broke their club transfer record by signing Holt for £175,000. He was revealed at a club press conference along with defender Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson (footballer)
Michael James Jackson is a retired English professional football defender.-Career:Jackson started his career as a trainee at Crewe Alexandra in 1992. During his development at Crewe, Jackson went on to play for his home town club Runcorn FC, during a loan spell and played several key games for...

. Holt opened his scoring account for the Shrews on his debut, scoring from the penalty spot against Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town F.C.
Macclesfield Town Football Club is an English football team. The club was formed in 1874 and is based in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The team play its home games at the 6,355 capacity Moss Rose stadium...

, in a game the Shrews won 4–0.

Holt has now scored on his debut for Sheffield Wednesday, Barrow, Nottingham Forest and Shrewsbury Town.

On 7 October 2008, in a Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...

 2nd Round match against , Holt scored five of the seven goals (scoring in the 12th, 27th, 80th, 81st and 86th minutes), in the Shrews' 7–0 win.

In the March 2009 edition of FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo is a football magazine published by Haymarket. Published monthly, costing £4.50, and at about 164 pages long, it published its 200th edition in February 2011...

, it was stated that Holt was the player to cover the greatest distance per game in both Leagues One and Two, averaging 4.8 kilometres per game, followed by Adam Le Fondre
Adam le Fondre
Glenville Adam J. le Fondre , more commonly known as Adam Le Fondre, is an English footballer who plays for Reading as a striker. He previously played for his hometown club Stockport County, Rochdale and Rotherham United...

 of Rochdale, and Andy Welsh
Andy Welsh
Andrew Peter David "Andy" Welsh is an English footballer currently playing for Carlisle United. Despite being born in Manchester, Welsh qualifies to play for Scotland and has played for the Under 19 side....

 of Yeovil on 4.1 and 4.0 respectively.

Norwich City

On 24 July 2009, Holt transferred to Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

 after Shrewsbury Town accepted an undisclosed bid, thought to be £400,000. Holt signed a three-year contract with the option of a further year at Carrow Road
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is a football stadium in Norwich, England, and is the home of Norwich City Football Club. The stadium is located toward the easterly end of the city, not far from Norwich railway station and the River Wensum....

.

Holt made his debut in the heavy 7–1 opening day defeat to Colchester United
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

 at Carrow Road
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is a football stadium in Norwich, England, and is the home of Norwich City Football Club. The stadium is located toward the easterly end of the city, not far from Norwich railway station and the River Wensum....

, and scored his first Norwich goals with a hat-trick against Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town F.C.
Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05...

 in a first round Carling Cup tie on 11 August 2009. His first league goals came with a brace against Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers F.C.
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

 on 22 August 2009. Starting with that game, new manager Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert
Paul Christopher Lambert is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of Norwich City. He won numerous trophies as a player, winning the Scottish Cup with St...

 made Holt team captain. He won the Coca-Cola League 1 Player of the Month for October 2009, for "excellent performances throughout October", a month in which he scored "an impressive five goals in as many league fixtures". He reached the landmark of 20 goals for the season in the home game against Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

 on 26 December 2009. Holt received his first red card for Norwich City against Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

 on 23 January 2010. He finished the season winning the Norwich City Player of the Year award, having scored 30 goals in 44 appearances in total, as the club finished as champions of League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....

 and earned promotion to The Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

.

Holt scored his first goals of the 2010–11 season
2010–11 in English football
The 2010–11 season was the 131st season of competitive football in England.The season began on 6 August 2010 for the Football Leagues, with the Premier League and Football Conference both starting eight days later on 14 August 2010. The Championship, League One, and League Two ended on 7 May...

 in the League Cup first round against Gillingham
Gillingham F.C.
Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

, netting a brace. His first league goal of the season came during stoppage time in a 1–0 away win over Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

 on 14 August 2010. He scored his first league hat-trick against local rivals Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

 on 28 November 2010.

During his time at Norwich he passed the landmark of 150 career goals with a penalty in the first minute in the 3–1 win over Bristol City. He reached the landmark of 50 goals for Norwich City on 2 April 2011 when he scored a hat trick in a 6–0 win against Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

 at Carrow Road. He was then nominated for the Championship Player of the Year in 2011, but was beaten by Adel Taarabt
Adel Taarabt
Adel Taarabt is a Moroccan footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as an Attacking midfielder and can also be used as a winger....

. He was the winner of Norwich's player of the season for a second consecutive year as the club were automatically promoted to the Premier League.

Holt started the first game of the 2011–12
2011–12 in English football
The 2011–12 season is the 132nd season of competitive football in England.The season began on 5 August 2011 for the Football Leagues, with the Premier starting eight days later, League Football Conference Starting one day before Premier League starts.The Championship, League One, and League Two...

 Premier League season in Norwich's 1–1 draw at Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

, partnering Steve Morison
Steve Morison
Steven William "Steve" Morison is a Welsh international footballer who plays for Norwich City as a striker.Morison started his career at Northampton Town at the age of 16, progressing through the club's centre of excellence...

 in attack, meaning he had played in all four English divisions. He scored his first Premier League goal in the third game of the season, scoring against Chelsea following an error by the goalkeeper Hilario
Henrique Hilário
Henrique Hilário Meireles Alves Sampaio , known as Hilário, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League as a goalkeeper.-Portugal:...

. Despite no longer being an automatic selection in the starting XI and being used mainly as a substitute, he also scored against Liverpool in a 1 -1 draw at Anfield and in the next game where he scored a last gasp penalty in a 3-3 draw with Blackburn Rovers. Holt scored his 3rd goal from coming off the bench netting the winner in a 2-1 victory over Queen's Park Rangers 

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup FL Trophy Play-Offs Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

2002–03 7 1 0 0 0 0
7 1
2003–04 17 2 2 1 1 0 3 0
23 3
Total 243211030--304
Rochdale
Rochdale A.F.C.
Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...

2003–04 14 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 3
2004–05 40 17 3 5 1 1 1 1
45 24
2005–06 21 14 1 0 1 0 1 1
24 15
Total 7534452122--8342
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

2005–06 19 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 4
2006–07 45 14 4 1 1 0 3 3 1 0 54 18
2007–08 32 3 1 0 2 0 0 0
35 3
Total 96215130331010825
Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

 (loan)
2007–08 4 0 0 0 0 0
4 0
Total 400000----40
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town F.C.
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...

2008–09
2008–09 in English football
The 2008–09 season was the 129th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Hull City were all playing in the Premier League after winning promotion from the Championship last season. Stoke returned to the top flight after a 23-year absence, while...

43 20 1 1 1 0 3 7 3 0 51 28
Total 4320111037305128
Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

2009–10
2009–10 in English football
The 2009–10 season was the 130th season of competitive football in England.The season began on 8 August 2009 for the Championship, League One and League Two and 15 August 2009 for the Premier League...

39 24 2 3 2 3 1 0
44 30
2010–11
2010–11 in English football
The 2010–11 season was the 131st season of competitive football in England.The season began on 6 August 2010 for the Football Leagues, with the Premier League and Football Conference both starting eight days later on 14 August 2010. The Championship, League One, and League Two ended on 7 May...

45 21 1 0 2 2
48 23
2011–12
2011–12 in English football
The 2011–12 season is the 132nd season of competitive football in England.The season began on 5 August 2011 for the Football Leagues, with the Premier starting eight days later, League Football Conference Starting one day before Premier League starts.The Championship, League One, and League Two...

12 4 0 0 0 0
12 4
Total 9649334510--10457

Club

Nottingham Forest
  • Football League One
    Football League One
    Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....

     Runners-up (Promotion to the Championship
    Football League Championship
    The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

     (1): 2007–08


Shrewsbury Town
  • Football League Two
    Football League Two
    Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....

     Playoff Finalist: 2008–09


Norwich City
  • Football League One
    Football League One
    Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....

     Winners (1): 2009–10
  • Football League Championship
    Football League Championship
    The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

     Runners-up (1): 2010–11

Individual

  • Nottingham Forest
    Nottingham Forest F.C.
    Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

     Player of the Year (1): 2006–07
    2006-07 in English football
    The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...

  • Football League Two Top Scorer (1): 2008–09*
  • PFA League Two Team of the Year
    PFA Team of the Year
    The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the top four tiers of English football; the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two, whom are seen to be deserving of being named in a "Team of the Year".The award...

     (1): 2008–09
  • Shrewsbury Town
    Shrewsbury Town F.C.
    Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...

     Player of the Year: (1) 2008–09
  • PFA League One Team of the Year
    PFA Team of the Year
    The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the top four tiers of English football; the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two, whom are seen to be deserving of being named in a "Team of the Year".The award...

     (1): 2009–10
  • Norwich City Player of the Year (2): 2009–10, 2010–11
    2010–11 Norwich City F.C. season
    The 2010–11 season was the 109th season in the history of Norwich City. It was the club's first season back in the Football League Championship , following promotion from League One in 2009–10...

  • PFA Championship Team of the Year
    PFA Team of the Year
    The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the top four tiers of English football; the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two, whom are seen to be deserving of being named in a "Team of the Year".The award...

     (1): 2010–11

(* Jointly shared with Simeon Jackson
Simeon Jackson
Simeon Alexander Jackson is a professional footballer who plays for Norwich City.He has previously played for Rushden & Diamonds and Gillingham. Jackson was born in Jamaica but plays internationally for Canada.- Early years :...

)

External links

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