Andrew Holdsworth, (born 29 January 1984) is an English retired 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 le ...

who last played for

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in t ...

. He has previously played for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

. He is currently the Professional Development Phase manager at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Playing career

Huddersfield Town

A product of the

academy, Holdsworth made his professional debut in the 2003–04 season aged 19. He was a substitute in the 2–1 victory over

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

at the

Galpharm Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to naming rights, sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Association football, football club ...

and quickly went on to establish himself in the first team. During the season, playing at right-back, he made 39 league appearances (five as a substitute). He scored his first professional goal against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie which Huddersfield won 4–2, a goal which was aided by

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

Mark Cooper's decision to play-on following a handball by Ben Clark. In late 2006, he was named on Alisdair Straughan's list of Huddersfield Town's Fans' Favourites, one of 6 members of the then current squad to be named. In April 2007, Holdsworth signed an extension to his contract, which would see him stay at the Galpharm until 2009. After a move from full back into midfield, he scored his first two goals of the season in the final league match of 2006–07 at home to

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 professio ...

where Huddersfield won 3–1. On 26 April 2008, Holdsworth was named Town's Player of the Year, with 40% of the votes. Second was

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Matt Glennon Matthew William Glennon (born 8 October 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. A graduate of the Bolton Wanderers Academy, he spent 1997 to 2001 at the club without making a first team appearance. Instea ...

and third was Andy Booth.

Oldham Athletic

On 26 May 2009, after failing to agree a new contract, he left Huddersfield Town. After playing 2 friendlies for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, he was offered a two-year deal at

, which he accepted. He played fifteen games for the club before being released on 28 January 2011.

Morecambe

In January 2011, Holdsworth signed with

until the end of the season, and made his debut against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

on 1 February 2011. He was released at the end of the season.

Alfreton Town

On 31 August 2011, Holdsworth joined

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

of the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

. He took the number 23 shirt.

Guiseley

In October 2011, after four appearances for Alfreton, he joined

. He made his debut against

Workington A.F.C. Workington Association Football Club is an English football club based in Workington, Cumbria. The club competes in the Northern Premier League Division One North West, the eighth tier of English football. The club plays its home matches at Bo ...

, helping Guiseley to a 3–0 win thanks to goals from Danny Forrest, Ciaron Toner and striker Gavin Allot. He now plays right-back after the absence of Jamie Clarke. In the season of 2014–15 with the introduction of right-back Ryan Toulson,

Mark Bower Mark James Bower (born 23 January 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back and is the current manager of Bradford Park Avenue. Born in Bradford, he played for more than a decade with his hometown club Bra ...

moved Holdsworth back into midfield where he is a great threat in front of goal. He was named club captain for the season, leading Guiseley to promotion to National league. Soon after Guiseley released Holdsworth.

International career

In January 2006, Holdsworth was selected in the squad to represent

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

u-21 side in a match against the Italian football league u-21s.

Coaching career

Andy retired from football in 2015 to take up a full time coaching position at Barnsley Fc. Andy would then take up a new role, joining

as the clubs Professional Development Phase manager in September 2018. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, he would get his first taste of first team management, taking charge of 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 competi ...

game away to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Honours

Club

Huddersfield Town

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

Play-off Winners: 2003–2004

Personal

Club awards

Player of the Year Awards – 2007–08: Fans' Player of the Year

References

External links

Andy Holdsworth player profile
at htafc.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holdsworth, Andy Living people 1984 births English men's footballers Footballers from Pontefract Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Alfreton Town F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff