David Gary Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former 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 ...

turned manager. As a player, he was a defender who played between 1986 and 2005 for

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and Gretna. In 2008, he moved into management and has since been in charge of Ilkeston Town,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, Lincoln City and

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

Playing career

Watford

Holdsworth started his career at

in the mid-1980s, going on to make more than 250 league appearances for the club. At Watford he played alongside his twin brother

Dean Holdsworth Dean Christopher Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional football player and manager who is the technical director at club Kidderminster Harriers. As a striker he scored 193 goals in 610 league games over a 22-year ...

Sheffield United

In October 1996, he left Watford for a new challenge at

. In his first season, he helped United to the

1997 Football League First Division play-off final The 1997 Football League First Division play-off final was an association football match played between Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace and Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United on 26 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley Stadium, Lon ...

but they were defeated by

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. He also helped them to the

1997–98 FA Cup The 1997–98 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 117th staging of the FA Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal with a 2–0 victory against Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium. Calendar Qual ...

semi final at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

where they were defeated by

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. In the quarterfinal replay against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

, United found themselves 1–0 down at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

with two minutes left. Holdsworth popped up to equalise from a corner, sending the game to extra time and then penalties, which United went on to win.

Birmingham City

In March 1999 Holdsworth transferred to

. He helped Birmingham to the playoffs at the end of that season where they faced his former club Watford. However Holdsworth was sent off as they lost on penalties. He spent three full seasons there, helping them to the 2001 League Cup Final in which he was an unused substitute in the defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. In January 2002 he went on loan to

. At Walsall he scored once against Coventry but was sent off twice in 3–0 defeats to

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 ...

and

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

Later career

After being released by Birmingham in 2002, he joined

on a free transfer where he played alongside his brother Dean again. However, he only made one appearance for the Trotters: in a League Cup defeat to Bury (David started and his brother Dean came on as a substitute). Shortly afterwards he joined

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

and then Scottish club Gretna where he retired. Whilst at Gretna he scored once, his goal coming in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

International career

He was capped once for England at Under-21 level.

Managerial career

After retiring from playing he became reserve team manager at Gretna, where he was appointed director of youth development in May 2006, but was sacked in a cost-cutting exercise a few months later. On 20 May 2008, Holdsworth was appointed to his first managerial role, taking over at

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division side Ilkeston Town from Nigel Jemson, the first appointment of new owner Check Whyte. On 29 December 2008, Holdsworth was appointed manager of

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 ...

club

having led Ilkeston to sixth in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, ten points off first placed

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. They won the FA Trophy in 2004. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of t ...

with two games in hand. On 18 November 2010, it was announced that Holdsworth had agreed to leave

Field Mill Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Football pitch, football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town Football Club. It is the oldest ground in ...

by mutual consent after less than two years with the club. On 24 October 2011, Holdsworth was named Lincoln City manager until the end of the 2011–12 season, replacing

Steve Tilson Stephen Brian Tilson (born 27 July 1966) is an English football manager and former player. Tilson is best known for his time in charge of Southend United, where he was in charge for seven years, overseeing two promotions and later two relegat ...

. He left the club by mutual consent on Sunday 17 February 2013, leaving Lincoln 18th in the

Conference Premier 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 Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

. On 14 October 2013, he returned to management with

with his former

teammate

Curtis Woodhouse Curtis Woodhouse (born 17 April 1980) is an English former professional footballer turned professional boxer and football manager, most recently in charge of Marske United. Woodhouse played football as a central midfielder, and competed as ...

acting as his assistant. Holdsworth stepped down as Goole manager on 27 January 2014 with Woodhouse taking over the role. On 3 August 2018, Holdsworth was appointed director of football at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

. On 23 February 2022, Holdsworth stepped down from this position.

Personal life

His twin brother

is also a footballer turned football manager. On 18 September 2010, they became the first twins to manage against each other in the top five divisions of English football, when Dean was manager of Newport County and David manager of

. Newport won the match 1–0. David Holdsworth's house was featured on an episode of ''

Through the Keyhole ''Through the Keyhole'' is a British comedy panel game show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by David Frost, Sir David Frost in the studio and Loyd Grossman on location. The location presenter explores celebrities' h ...

''.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Birmingham City *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 2000–01

References

External links

* *
Profile
at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Holdsworth, David 1968 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest People from Walthamstow English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Watford F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Gretna F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Scottish Football League players English football managers Ilkeston Town F.C. managers Mansfield Town F.C. managers Lincoln City F.C. managers Goole A.F.C. managers National League (English football) managers English twins