Duane Octavious Holmes (born November 6, 1994) is an American professional
soccer player who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
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. Th ...
and the
United States national team.
Born in
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...
, United States, Holmes has an American father, and an English mother. He moved to England, with his mother, at the age of 2 living in
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
. Though he has dual
American-British nationality, he identifies as American. He has played for junior clubs Altofts and Normanton Athletic before joining Huddersfield Town from U-9 level and then in May 2011, Holmes was among ten teenagers to be "handed two-year academy deals.
In 2013, Holmes was shortlisted for the
Football League Championship Apprentice of the Year. However, Holmes lost it to
Dimitar Evtimov. Then in May 2013, Holmes signed a two-year contract, with the club having an option to extend for a further year.
Playing career
Huddersfield Town
Having been included in the first team, Holmes was given number 38 shirt. Holmes made his début for the Terriers in the
Football League Cup game against
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
at the
KC Stadium
The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...
on September 24, 2013, coming on as a substitute for fellow débutante
Daniel Carr. He made his first league début in the 1–1 draw against
Blackpool at the
John Smith's Stadium
Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to 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 football club Huddersfield Town and rugby league s ...
on September 27, 2013, setting up the equalizer for
James Vaughan. After the match, Manager
Mark Robins
Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969) is an English football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Coventry City in the EFL Championship. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier Leagu ...
praised Holmes' performance. He made his first start for the Terriers in the 3–2 win over
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
on October 26, before being subbed at half-time for
Sean Scannell.
At the start of the 2014–15 season, Holmes switched number shirt from thirty-nine to nineteen. Holmes made his first appearance for the club, in the
second round of Football League Cup, as Huddersfield Town lost 2–0 to
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
. At the end of the season, Holmes was offered a new contract by the club and on June 22, 2015, Holmes signed a contract with the club.
Loan spells
On February 20, 2014, Holmes was sent out on a month's loan to fellow Championship side
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
. Holmes made his debut the following Saturday against
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
, earning a penalty which won Yeovil the match 1–0. Despite Manager
Gary Johnson
Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...
was keen to extend Holmes' loan spell, Holmes returned to Huddersfield Town on March 17, 2014, with his loan prematurely ended having started all five of his games at Yeovil.
On August 30, 2014, after making just one substitute appearance at the start of the season, 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 Lea ...
side
Bury on loan until January 5, 2015. Holmes made his Bury debut on the next day, coming on as a substitute for
Nicky Adams in the 79th minute, in a 2–1 win 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 his ...
. Holmes returned to Huddersfield Town on October 29, 2014, with his loan prematurely ended having started six of his games at Bury, mostly coming from as a substitute.
Scunthorpe United
Holmes signed for
Scunthorpe United on July 7, 2016, following his release from Huddersfield Town.
He made his first appearance in an Iron shirt during the EFL CUP round 1 tie with Notts County on Tuesday August 9, 2016. Holmes came off the bench to help earn a 2–0 victory AET. He went on to make his full debut the following Saturday August 13 away at Fleetwood Town.
Derby County
Holmes signed for
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
on August 9, 2018, for an undisclosed fee reported to be around £700k.
Towards the end of his time at Derby, Holmes displayed displeasure at being played out-wide rather than in his preferred position of down the middle.
Holmes was dropped from Derby's first team in December 2020 and, after failing to even make the bench in January, Derby manager
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...
questioned Holmes' attitude, saying "He needs to perform better in training and give me an option to see if I use him or not. So that is on him to do that."
With his contract approaching its end in 2021, Derby opened contract talks with Holmes
but failed to agree terms.
He was heavily linked with a £1m move back to
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. Th ...
in January 2021.
Return to Huddersfield Town
On January 25, 2021, Holmes rejoined
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. Th ...
on a three-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee.
International career
Born in the United States and raised in England to an American father and English mother, Holmes is eligible to play for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and has expressed interest in representing the United States. In May 2019, he was named in the 40-man provisional United States squad for the
2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in the ...
.
He made his senior team debut on June 5, 2019, against
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. The following day, he was named in the final 23-man roster for the 2019 Gold Cup, but was forced to withdraw from the squad prior to the start of the tournament due to injury, being replaced by
Djordje Mihailovic
Djordje Aleksandar Mihailovic; (born November 10, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar and the United States national team.
Personal life
As the son ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
''As of June 10, 2019.''
''Source
US Soccer
'
References
External links
*
Soccerway profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Duane
1994 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Columbus, Georgia
American soccer players
Association football midfielders
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players
Yeovil Town F.C. players
Bury F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Derby County F.C. players
English Football League players
Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state)
American people of English descent
United States men's international soccer players