Neil Holding (born 15 December 1960) is an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed in the 1990s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and at club level for St Helens,

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

and

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

, as a or , and coached at club level for

Playing career

St Helens

Holding made his debut for St Helens in October 1977 against Swinton. Holding played in St Helens' 7–13 defeat by

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

in the

1978 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

Final during the 1978–79 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

, St Helens on Tuesday 12 December 1978. Holding played in St Helens 0–16 defeat by

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

in the

1982 Lancashire Cup __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 fo ...

Final during the 1982–83 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

on Saturday 23 October 1982, and played in the 28–16 victory over

in the 1984 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1984–85 season at

on Sunday 28 October 1984. Holding played in St Helens' 18–19 defeat by Halifax in the

1987 Challenge Cup Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader Mohammad Najibu ...

Final during the 1986–87 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 2 May 1987. Holding played , and scored a

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kick ...

in St Helens' 15–14 victory over

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the

1987–88 John Player Special Trophy This was the seventeenth season for the League Cup, known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes. St. Helens won the final, beating Leeds by the score of 15-14. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was ...

Final during the 1987–88 season at

on Saturday 9 January 1988.

Later career

In September 1990, Holding was signed by

for a fee of £50,000. In February 1991, he was appointed as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

at Rochdale. Following the club's relegation from the First Division at the end of the 1990–91 season, he was replaced as coach by Stan Gittins. In August 1991, he was signed by

in exchange for Brett Clark and Ronnie Duane.

International honours

Holding won one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

while at St Helens in 1980 against Wales, and won

s for

while at St Helens on the 1984 Lions tour against Australia (3 matches) and New Zealand.

Post-playing career

After retiring from rugby league, Holding worked as a groundsman at St Helens. In 1998, he left the club to take up a similar role at

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 ...

football club. He worked at Liverpool until 2014, when he left the club to set up his own gardening business. Neil Holding is a St Helens R.F.C. Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

Profile at saints.org.uk
*(archived by web.archive.org
Saints snap up Holding
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holding, Neil 1960 births Living people Bradford Bulls players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Oldham R.L.F.C. players Place of birth missing (living people) Rochdale Hornets coaches Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside St Helens R.F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen