Biography
Versatile left back and left midfielder Andy Holt joined the Tigers on loan in March 2001 to add his pace, hard work, tough tackling and remarkably long throws to the club’s unlikely charge towards the League Division 3 play-offs. The transfer worked and City remained unbeaten in Holt’s first eleven starts, in which he contributed two goals. The Tigers qualified for the play-offs and defeated Leyton Orient in the semi-final first leg. Alas, Holt was nobbled early in the second leg and had to be withdrawn, an absence that unsettled the City side that went on to lose 2-0 and exit the play-offs 2-1 on aggregate.
Andy did enough to impress new owner Adam Pearson, at the end of the season he paid £150,000 to sign Holt from Oldham Athletic on a permanent deal. After missing the first four weeks of the season Holt took over the left back role, though during the winter months he shared the shirt with Ben Petty. As manager Brian Little’s tenure drew to a close in February 2002 due to a run of poor form, Andy’s game also suffered and he was used sparingly by caretaker boss Billy Russell and new appointment Jan Molby. Molby signed the experienced Shaun Smith at the start of the 2002/03 season and Holt was used rarely, regaining match sharpness during loan spells at Barnsley (where he made 8 appearances in August and September 2002) and Shrewsbury Town (where he made 9 appearances in April and May 2003).
Despite this setback, he returned to the fold under Peter Taylor in the 2003/04 season and regularly replaced goal-scoring left winger Stuart Elliott late in games, deputising for the pacy Northern Irishman when he was out of the side. Andy scored his third and final goal for City in an October 2003 3-0 win against Lincoln City and remained with the Tigers until the end of the season when he was released at the end of his contract.
Andrew “Andy” Holt was born in Stockport but came through the youth ranks at Oldham Athletic in the early 1990s when the Latics were a First Division and Premier League side. He made his Oldham debut in April 1997, five days after his 19th birthday, in a League Division 1 match against Reading. The Latics were relegated to League Division 2 that summer and in the second half of the 1997/98 season Holt became a regular first team pick, scoring his first senior goal in March 1998 against Gillingham. For the next two seasons Andy was Oldham’s first choice left back, missing only three League games in the 1998/99 season and starting every game the subsequent season. However a falling out with Oldham manager Andy Ritchie saw Holt drop to the bench for much of the 2000/01 season and eventually led to his loan to Hull City. He made 145 senior appearances for Oldham and scored 10 goals.
On leaving Hull City Andy joined Wrexham in July 2004 and over the next two seasons he was first choice on the left side of midfield, scoring 10 goals in 93 appearances as the North Wales side was relegated to, and then consolidated in, League Two. Despite Wrexham’s poor League form in the 2004/05 season they did prosper in the Football League Trophy, in April 2005 Andy started in the final against Southend United at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, which Wrexham won 2-0 in extra-time.
At the start of the 2006/07 season Holt transferred to Northampton Town and he served the Cobblers for six years at both left back and left midfield as the Sixfields side drifted from League One to League Two. In the 2011/12 season Holt suffered a knee injury that limited his game time and he left Northampton in the 2012 close season having made 220 senior appearances and scored 16 goals for the Cobblers. He briefly played for Corby Town at the start of the 2012/13 season before retiring due to his knee injury – his senior career comprised 554 appearances across 15 years, in which he scored 39 goals. When Holt’s living as a footballer came to an end he returned to his native Greater Manchester where he worked in IT sales and business development.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 21 April 1978, Stockport
Hull City First Game: 17 March 2001, Exeter City H (League Division 3), 22 years, 330 days old
Hull City Final Game: 6 March 2004, Mansfield Town A (League Division 3), 25 years, 320 days old
Clubs
Oldham Athletic (1995-2001), Hull City (2001, loan), Hull City (2001-2004), Barnsley (2002, loan), Shrewsbury Town (2003, loan), Wrexham (2004-2006), Northampton Town (2006-2012), Corby Town (2012)
Hull City Record
Career: 79 apps, 3 goals
Andy Holt| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000/01 | 10 (0) | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 |
| 2001/02 | 24 (6) | 0 | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | 2 (1) | 0 |
| 2002/03 | 5 (1) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2003/04 | 6 (19) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 |