Dan Holman

Daniel George Holman (born 5 June 1990) is an English professional footballer who last played as a forward for Torquay United.

He began his career with a number of Northampton-based youth clubs, including Northampton ON Chenecks and Long Buckby. He featured for the first-team for Cogenhoe United, two spells with Long Buckby and briefly for Oxford City before joining Conference North side Histon in 2011. Holman earned a move to Conference Premier club Braintree Town in 2012, and his goalscoring form brought him to the attention of Football League teams, as he signed for Colchester United in 2014. He appeared for Wrexham, Aldershot Town, Dover Athletic and Woking on loan after failing to secure a place in Colchester's first-team. Following his successful loan spell with Woking, Holman joined Cheltenham Town. Holman re-joined former club Aldershot Town at the start of the 2018–19 season before making the switch to Kettering Town in November.

Career

Early career

Born in Northampton, Holman's career began in the Northamptonshire local leagues, where he featured in the youth sides for Northampton ON Chenecks, Long Buckby, and Moulton Magpies. He featured in the first-team for United Counties League Premier Division side Cogenhoe United and later rejoined Long Buckby, where he had scored 60 goals in 77 appearances over two seasons. His second stint with Long Buckby was divided by a short spell with Oxford City in 2010. Having scored 30 league and cup goals in 35 appearances during the 2009–10 season with Long Buckby, Holman was signed by Southern League side Oxford City in the summer of 2010, After making his debut as a substitute on 28 August when City fell to a 2–1 defeat to Truro City, Holman scored his first and only goal after coming off the bench to grab an equaliser against Swindon Supermarine on 4 September. He played just one more game for City when he started in their 1–0 FA Cup first qualifying round defeat to Mangotsfield United on 11 September. He returned to Long Buckby, where he secured 26 goals in 37 outings during the remained of the 2010–11 season.

Histon

Histon boss David Livermore signed Holman from Long Buckby in July 2011 on a one-year contract. He made a goalscoring start to his Conference North career on 13 August 2011 in a 2–2 home draw with Blyth Spartans, opening the scoring in the 38th minute. He once again opened proceedings in his second match in the 4th minute during a 1–1 draw with Boston United at York Street on 16 August. Further goals followed against Worcester City on 23 August, a brace against Harrogate Town on 17 September, and single goals against Hinckley United, Vauxhall Motors, Workington and Solihull Moors to complete his scoring for 2011.

Holman continued his scoring form with a goal on New Year's Day 2012 in a 3–2 defeat to Bishop's Stortford at Bridge Road, with Holman netting a late consolation goal for the Stutes. He then grabbed seven goals in five games, scoring in each, beginning with two against Gloucester City in a 4–3 victory on 14 January 2012, one against Gainsborough Trinity, a further brace at home to Guiseley and single goals against Worcester and Corby Town.

Scoring two consecutive braces in one week against Droylsden on 10 March and Guiseley, Holman then embarked on another scoring run with five goals in four games, netting one goal in matches against Hinckley on 7 April, Gloucester on 9 April and Eastwood Town on 14 April, with a final brace for Histon coming in a 5–5 home draw with Droylsden on 17 April. He scored his final goal of the campaign in a 1–1 draw with Hyde on 28 April.

Following his superb form for Histon, it was arranged for Holman to join Barnet on trial but this never came to fruition. Bids from an unnamed Conference Premier club were also tabled for Holman but rejected by the club, despite the player receiving assurances from the club that he would be allowed to leave if higher level offers were received. Manager Dennis Greene said that the club would not be willing to sell the player unless the offer was right for the club. Holman duly scored in his first game of the new season for Histon on 18 August as they were defeated 4–1 at home to Guiseley, before playing his final game for the club on 21 August in a 6–0 thrashing by Boston. He ended his time with the club with 28 goals to his name in 44 league appearances.

Braintree Town

2012–13 season

Conference Premier club Braintree Town signed Holman from Histon for an undisclosed fee on 26 August 2012. Having not yet trained with the club, Holman had a memorable debut for by scoring a long-range brace in a 4–1 win against Woking on 28 August. Holman then set himself a target to reach 20 goals for the season. He scored a match-winning penalty in a 2–1 win over Tamworth at Cressing Road in his next match, before making it four goals in three games for the Iron with a curling effort from 12 yards in a 1–1 draw with Kidderminster Harriers on 4 September. Holman believed that by joining Braintree he would be taking an important step towards his ambition of playing in the Football League.

Holman continued his scoring form with a driving shot from the edge of the box in Braintree's 3–2 defeat to Barrow on 6 October, before helping his side claim their first win in eight matches to overcome Luton Town on 9 October, opening the scoring with a curling shot into the top corner of the net. Manager Alan Devonshire described the result as "probably the best result in Braintree's history". He suffered a barren spell between mid-October and early January, where he scored with an early close range effort on 5 January 2013 in a 4–1 victory over Tamworth. His next goal handed the Iron the lead over Nuneaton Town after the half-time interval on 26 January as his side won 4–2. Holman put the Iron ahead after a goalless first half in a 3–1 away victory against Stockport County on 16 March after breaking through County's defensive line. After scoring in a 1–1 home draw with Woking on 19 March, Holman then suffered a knee injury that kept him out of first team action for almost one month. He scored his final goal of the season in his final game of the season on 20 April, grabbing the only goal of the game as Braintree beat Barrow at Holker Street

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