Andrew Holdsworth, (born 29 January 1984) is an English retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who last played for

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

. He has previously played for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

. He is the Professional Development Phase manager at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

Playing career

Huddersfield Town

A product of the

academy, Holdsworth made his professional debut in the 2003–04 season aged 19. He was a substitute in the 2–1 victory over

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

at the

Galpharm Stadium Kirklees Stadium, currently known as the John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town Association Football Club ...

and quickly went on to establish himself in the first team. During the season, playing at right-back, he made 39 league appearances (five as a substitute). He scored his first professional goal against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. The ...

in a League Cup tie which Huddersfield won 4–2, a goal which was aided by

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

Mark Cooper's decision to play-on following a handball by Ben Clark. In late 2006, he was named on Alisdair Straughan's list of Huddersfield Town's Fans' Favourites, one of 6 members of the then current squad to be named. In April 2007, Holdsworth signed an extension to his contract, which would see him stay at the Galpharm until 2009. After a move from full back into midfield, he scored his first two goals of the season in the final league match of 2006–07 at home to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

where Huddersfield won 3–1. On 26 April 2008, Holdsworth was named Town's Player of the Year, with 40% of the votes. Second was

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Matt Glennon and third was

Andy Booth Andrew David Booth (born 6 December 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He notably played in the Premier League for both Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham Hotspur. He also played in the Football League ...

Oldham Athletic

On 26 May 2009, after failing to agree a new contract, he left Huddersfield Town. After playing 2 friendlies for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

, he was offered a two-year deal at

, which he accepted. He played fifteen games for the club before being released on 28 January 2011.

Morecambe

In January 2011, Holdsworth signed with

until the end of the season, and made his debut against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

on 1 February 2011. He was released at the end of the season.

Alfreton Town

On 31 August 2011, Holdsworth joined

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

of the

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

. He took the number 23 shirt.

Guiseley

In October 2011, after four appearances for Alfreton, he joined

. He made his debut against

Workington A.F.C. Workington Association Football Club is an English football club based in Workington, Cumbria, England. The club competes in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football. The club plays its home matches at ...

, helping Guiseley to a 3–0 win thanks to goals from Danny Forrest, Ciaron Toner and striker Gavin Allot. He now plays right-back after the absence of Jamie Clarke. In the season of 2014–15 with the introduction of right-back Ryan Toulson, Mark Bower moved Holdsworth back into midfield where he is a great threat in front of goal. He was named club captain for the season, leading Guiseley to promotion to National league. Soon after Guiseley released Holdsworth.

International career

In January 2006, Holdsworth was selected in the squad to represent

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

u-21 side in a match against the Italian football league u-21s.

Coaching career

Andy retired from football in 2015 to take up a full time coaching position at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. In September 2018, he took up a new role, joining

as the clubs Professional Development Phase manager. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, coaching staff Neil Thompson,

Lee Bullen Lee Bullen (born 29 March 1971) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. In a career that spanned more than 20 years, Bullen played football professionally in Scotland, England, Australia, Greece and Hong Kong. Having started ...

and

Steven Haslam Steven Robert Haslam (born 6 September 1979) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. Playing career Early career Back in 1995, Steve Haslam captained an Engl ...

were all unable to take the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

game away to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, so Holdsworth would get his first taste of first team management, winning the game 2–0. In July 2025, with first-team manager Danny Röhl not returning for pre-season training, Holdsworth was again asked to take training for the first-team.

Honours

Huddersfield Town *

Football League Third Division play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Individual *

Supporters' Player of the Year: 2007–08

References

External links

Andy Holdsworth player profile
at htafc.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holdsworth, Andy Living people 1984 births English men's footballers Footballers from Pontefract Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Alfreton Town F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century English sportsmen