Ricky Lee Holmes (born 19 June 1987) is an English 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 plays as a striker or a winger for Chelmsford City. Born in Rochford, Holmes began his football career with

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

-based clubs before joining Chelmsford City in 2005. After a successful stint with the team, he moved to

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

in 2010, where he scored his first goal that November. Despite a foot injury in January 2011, he went on to have a successful 2011–12 season. Holmes then signed with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in 2013, followed by

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

in 2015,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in 2016, and

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 ...

in 2018. In 2018, he had loan spells at

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

and Gillingham. After announcing his retirement in 2020 due to a back injury, Holmes returned to football, rejoining Northampton Town in 2020, signing with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

in 2021, and eventually joining Farnborough in August 2021.

Career

Chelmsford City

Born in

Rochford Rochford is a town and civil parish in the Rochford (district), Rochford District in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish had a population ...

, started his career with

-based clubs Southend Manor and

White Ensign The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign because of the simultaneous existence of a crossless version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cr ...

, helping White Ensign to win the Essex Intermediate League in 2005. Holmes joined Chelmsford City in 2005 and made his debut on 9 November 2005 in a 3–1

Isthmian League Cup The Alan Turvey Trophy, also known as the Velocity Cup under a sponsorship deal, formerly the Isthmian League Cup, is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and Presiden ...

win against

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. Holmes made his full league debut for Chelmsford in August 2006, in a 1–1 draw against

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

, also taking part in the club's impressive run in 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 ...

that

year A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 Synodic day, solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) ...

. He went on to become one of the club's top players, achieving promotion to the

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

in 2007–08, a season in which he also won the club's player of the year award, scored 16 league goals. He also was linked with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

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 remained a regular starter for the following two seasons. On 5 February 2008, Holmes was named in the England C squad for the match against Wales Semi-pro. On the 21st he made his international debut for the side. Holmes finished 2009–10 as City's top scorer, with 21 goals in the season. However, he was released in May 2010 after City allowed him to pursue his career at a higher level.

Barnet

On 15 June 2010, Holmes signed a contract with

. He made his debut on 7 August, against Chesterfield. Holmes scored his first goal for Barnet on 20 November, in a 4–1 win over

. The 2010–11 season ended prematurely in January for Holmes as he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a foot injury. The 2011–12 season was more successful for Holmes. Under the management of

Edgar Davids Edgar Steven Davids (; born 13 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer. Davids was nicknamed "The Pitbull" because of his marking ability, aggression, and hard tackling style of play. After beginning his care ...

, Holmes' position was moved further towards the left wing, where he managed to score 10 goals. During the season, he consolidated his position in the Barnet first team. In an interview with Sky Sports that he believed he was better off playing as a second striker behind Izale McLeod (Bees' topscorer). In

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, he scored a hat-trick on 21 December 2012, in a 3–2 win against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

. In February 2013, he suffered the same foot injury, and was sidelined for the rest of the season. After Barnet's relegation, Holmes was linked to a number of clubs, the likes of

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. ...

, Gillingham, Burton Albion and

providing competition for his signature.

Portsmouth

Holmes signed a two-year deal with

on 21 June 2013, following the expiry of his contract at Barnet. He made his debut in a 4–1 home defeat to

on 3 August 2013. On 14 September, Holmes scored his first Pompey goal, in a 2–1 away victory over

. Holmes received the fans' Player of the Season award in 2013–14.

Northampton Town

On 2 January 2015, Holmes joined

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

on an initial one-month loan deal. On 27 January 2015, after appearing in four matches and scoring once, he signed a -year permanent deal with the club.

Charlton Athletic

Holmes made a transfer request to Northampton on 15 June 2016 after repeated bids by Charlton and one day later after the 2 clubs eventually agreed a fee of £125,000, Holmes signed a two-year deal with the Addicks being the first signing for new manager

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English former professional football manager and coach. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional sports coaching with Notts County in 1993. He briefly took ...

. He scored his first goals for Charlton when he scored twice in a 3–0 win over

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on 16 August 2016.

Sheffield United

On 15 January 2018, Holmes made the switch from Charlton Athletic to

for an undisclosed fee after a year and a half at the Valley, rejoining former Northampton manager

Chris Wilder Christopher John Wilder (born 23 September 1967) is an English professional football manager who formerly played as a right-back. He is the manager of club Sheffield United. Wilder's extensive professional playing career saw spells at Sheff ...

. He was transfer-listed by Sheffield United at the end of the 2018–19 season. On 4 May 2020, having been released at the end of his Sheffield United contract, Holmes stated that he would retire from professional football due to a back injury picked up whilst working on a building site in

, during his time playing semi-professionally at Chelmsford City.

Oxford United (loan)

On 9 August 2018, Holmes signed for

on a season-long loan. He returned to his parent club in January 2019 for treatment after his appearances were limited by a back injury.

Gillingham (loan)

Holmes signed for Gillingham on loan on transfer deadline day in January 2019. He joined the club despite being injured, in an effort to regain fitness. On 24 April 2019, however, he returned to parent club

after he had failed to regain fitness. He made no appearances for Gillingham during his three months at the club.

Return to Northampton Town

Holmes rejoined Northampton on an "appearance related contract" on 2 November 2020, having spent time training with the club to regain fitness.

Southend United

On 18 February 2021, Holmes joined League Two side

on a deal until the end of the 2020–21 season.

Farnborough

Holmes signed for Farnborough in August 2021. Following a two-year spell with the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

-based side, Holmes left the club in June 2023. He left with over 60 appearances to his name.

Dover Athletic

On 2 July 2023, Holmes signed for Dover Athletic where he would also hold the role of assistant manager. He departed the club however on 11 July, becoming the third of Dover's new signings to reverse their decision and leave the club.

Return to Farnborough

On the same day as his abrupt departure from Dover was announced, Holmes returned to Farnborough. On 6 May 2025, it was announced that Holmes would leave Farnborough at the end of the 2024–25 campaign. He left the club having made 140 appearances, scoring 23 times.

Return to Chelmsford City

On 6 May 2025, 15 years after he departed the club, Holmes rejoined Chelmsford City in a player-coach role.

Career statistics

¹ Including matches for

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 ...

, Football Conference League Cup and

. ² Including matches for

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

, Football Conference play-offs and

Essex Senior Cup The Essex Senior Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county of Essex. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although leag ...

Honours

Northampton Town *

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 ...

: 2015–16 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 2015–16 League Two *

Player of the Season: 2016–17 *

Player of the Season: 2013–14

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Ricky 1987 births Living people English men's footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Southend Manor F.C. players White Ensign F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players Oxford United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Association football coaches Chelmsford City F.C. non-playing staff People from Rochford District 21st-century English sportsmen