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 ...

who plays for Farnborough as a striker or a winger.

Career

Chelmsford City

Born in

Rochford Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a population of 8,471. History ...

, started his career with

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

-based clubs Southend Manor and

White Ensign The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign due to the simultaneous existence of a cross-less version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on ...

, helping White Ensign to win the

Essex Intermediate League The Essex Olympian Football League is a football competition based in England, founded in the 1966–67 season. It has a total of six senior divisions and one under 21 division. The Premier Division sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National ...

in 2005. Holmes joined Chelmsford City in 2005 and made his debut on 9 November 2005 in a 3–1 Isthmian League Cup 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 ...

. 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 south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

, 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 knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

that

year A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the ...

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

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the ...

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 system ...

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 The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

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 Barnet. 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 Northampton Town. 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, 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 representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 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 compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home gro ...

. 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

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profes ...

, Gillingham, Burton Albion and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

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

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and ...

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 market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

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 Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...

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 professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered profession ...

. 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 competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mov ...

on 16 August 2016.

Sheffield United

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

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

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 and former player who played as a right-back. He was most recently the manager of club Middlesbrough. His extensive professional playing career saw s ...

. 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 re-joined 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 The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side

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

Farnborough

Holmes signed for Farnborough in August 2021.

Career statistics

¹ Including matches for

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

, Football Conference League Cup and Isthmian League Cup. ² Including matches for

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

, 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 le ...

Honours

Northampton Town *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

: 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 English football; the Premi ...

: 2015–16 League Two *

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

Player of the Season: 2016–17 *

Player of the Season: 2013–14

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Ricky 1987 births Living people English footballers England semi-pro international footballers Association football wingers 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