Dean Holden
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Dean Thomas John Holden (born 15 September 1979) is a English manager and former footballer. During a career which began at
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 ...
in 1998 and ended with a two-year stint at
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 ...
from 2012 to 2014, Holden was a defender who was comfortable playing at
right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
and
centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
. Over that sixteen-year period, he amassed 369 league appearances, representing ten clubs and scoring 22 goals. He moved in to coaching with
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 ...
in November 2014 and spent time as manager from February 2015 until May 2015. Holden joined
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
in November 2016 as assistant manager to Lee Johnson. Following Johnson's departure on 4 July 2020, Holden was placed in caretaker charge before being given the role on a permanent basis. He was sacked by Bristol City in February 2021. In April 2021, Holden joined Stoke City as assistant manager, and was briefly Stoke's caretaker manager before joining Charlton in December 2022. He then left Charlton Athletic to join Only Fans as an agency manager along side Derek Chisora.


Club career

Born in
Swinton, Greater Manchester Swinton is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. southwest of the River Irwell, northwest of Manchester, adjoining the town of Pendlebury and suburb of Clifton, Greater Manchester, Clifton. In 2014, it had a populati ...
, Holden started his career with
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 ...
where he made 13 league appearances and scored once against Sheffield United, before moving on to
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 ...
after a successful loan period. After over 100 first-team appearances for Oldham he joined Peterborough United in 2005. He was made captain but, with his contract close to expiry, he was transferred to
Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
on 1 January 2007 for an undisclosed fee. On 27 January 2008, Holden suffered a
broken leg "Broken Leg" is a song written and recorded by Australian indie rock band Bluejuice. The song was released in July 2009 as the lead single from the band's second studio album, '' Head of the Hawk''. The song peaked at number 27 on the ARIA Charts ...
, after a late tackle by
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
's Stephen McManus, during Falkirk's 1–0 home defeat, leaving him out of action until October. Holden signed a two-year contract with Shrewsbury Town on 26 June 2009. On 5 August 2010 Holden signed on loan at Rotherham United, initially for only one month but this was extended twice until he was recalled early by Shrewsbury on 20 October. On 31 January 2011, Holden had his contract cancelled by mutual agreement and he became a free agent. Chesterfield signed Holden on 3 February 2011 in a short-term contract until the end of the season. Holden then signed a new one-year deal with Chesterfield on 18 May 2011. On 3 November 2011, Holden joined
Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
on loan until January 2012. In January 2012, Holden made his loan switch permanent on a six-month contract. In May 2012, Holden was released from Rochdale after being told his contract would not be renewed. On 16 July 2012, Dean Holden signed a one-year deal at League One side
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 ...
.


International career

Despite his English birth and having played for the England youth team, Holden qualified to represent
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
through his grandparents, and was called up to their full squad for the first time in June 2007 but did not make an appearance.


Managerial career

On 14 November 2014, Holden left Walsall to join former club
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 ...
as first-team coach. On 17 March 2015, after a spell as caretaker manager, Holden remained manager until the end of the 2014–15 season. Holden returned to his assistant manager role following the appointment of Darren Kelly in May 2015. Holden was sacked by Oldham along with David Dunn in January 2016 after a poor run of form. He re-joined Walsall in March 2016 as first-team coach. Holden joined
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
as assistant manager to Lee Johnson in November 2016. On 4 July 2020, following the dismissal of Johnson, Holden became caretaker head coach. In August 2020 Holden was appointed as full-time head coach at Bristol City, on a 12-month rolling contract, after he had won two and drawn two games of the last five of the 2019–20 season while in temporary charge. On 16 February 2021, Holden was sacked after a run of six successive defeats in all competitions and the club placed 13th in the Championship. On 14 April 2021, Holden was appointed as assistant to Michael O'Neill at Stoke City. Following O'Neill's dismissal in August 2022, Holden was appointed as interim manager. He took charge of Stoke's 1–0 win at
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
two days later, before confirming his departure from the club ahead of Alex Neil's appointment as O'Neill's replacement. On 20 December 2022, Holden was named manager of Charlton Athletic, taking over from caretaker manager Anthony Hayes on
Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...
, 26 December 2022. On 27 August 2023, Holden was sacked as Charlton manager after one win in the opening six games of the 2023–24 season. In February 2024, Holden joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq as assistant manager to
Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Danielle Nicholls. They live in
Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...
and have four children. In 2012 their youngest child died after contracting meningococcal sepsis, while the family were on holiday in
Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...
. Holden is a lifelong supporter of
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
.


Career statistics


Managerial statistics


Honours

;Chesterfield *
Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...
: 2010–11


References


External links

* * at {{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Dean 1979 births People from Swinton, Greater Manchester Footballers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the City of Salford Living people English men's footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Valur (men's football) players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players English Football League players English expatriates in Iceland Scottish Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland English Football League managers Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. managers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff Walsall F.C. non-playing staff Bristol City F.C. non-playing staff Bristol City F.C. managers Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Charlton Athletic F.C. managers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks English football managers English expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia