James Robert Holland (born 15 May 1989) is an Australian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...

in the

Austrian Football Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

. Born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

, Holland played youth football at the

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high performance sports training institute located in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides world leading coaching, performance support and daily training ...

before making his professional debut for

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

in 2006. He went on to play for the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

before spending two seasons with

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

. He then moved to Europe, playing in the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, most notably for

. In 2016, he returned to Australia to play for

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

. Holland debuted for the Australian national team in 2008. He has gone on to represent Australia over ten times, and was a member of the squad at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Club career

Holland captained the NSW Under-16 side at the 2005 Qantas National Talent Identification Championships in Parklea, a tournament the NSW team ultimately won. He was a 2007 AIS Football scholarship holder and was an influential player in their successful campaign in the

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

Newcastle Jets

Holland made an

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

debut with the

playing two games as a short-term injury replacement player. He scored a goal against

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

in his first game, making him the youngest player to score in the A-League. In October 2007 he signed a full-time two-year professional contract with the Newcastle Jets, despite interest from his home town club and Newcastle's rivals the

. He had previously made three appearances for the Mariners on a short-term contract during the

2006 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup The 2006 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup was a series in the Australian A-League football competition held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the main season. The opening round was 15 July 2006. The competition featured a gr ...

. Holland was part of the Newcastle Jets team which won the

2008 A-League Grand Final The 2008 A-League Grand Final took place at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia on 24 February 2008. It was the first A-League Grand Final played at a neutral home ground, due to Bluetongue Stadium being deemed by FFA to not have a suf ...

against the Central Coast Mariners. He was involved in a controversy during second-half injury time when he handballed inside the penalty area. Referee

Mark Shield Mark Shield (born 2 September 1973 in Fortitude Valley, Queensland) is a former Australian Football referee and national Director of Referees. He most recently refereed in Australia's A-League. He first played soccer for the Innisfail Tigers a ...

failed to spot the handball and did not award a penalty. Holland later stated that he didn't feel the ball hit his arm and that it wasn't an "intentional" act.

AZ Alkmaar

On 11 January 2009, Dutch club

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

completed the signing of the Australian midfielder for $650,000 (€350,000) on a four-and-a-half year contract from the

. He had earlier successfully trialled at the club.

Sparta Rotterdam

On 19 January 2011, it was announced that Holland would be playing for

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

club

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

for the rest of the season.

Austria Wien

On 17 January 2012, it was announced Holland had signed a one-and-a-half year contract with

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

club

after successfully trialling with the club.

MSV Duisburg

Holland joined

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

of the 2. Bundesliga for the 2015–16 season.

Adelaide United

In September 2016, Holland signed a two-year contract with

, returning to the

. On 12 January 2017, Adelaide United's coach

Guillermo Amor Guillermo Amor Martínez (; born 4 December 1967) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a versatile midfielder. After spending most of his professional career with Barcelona, winning several accolades in a ten-year tenure, he ended it i ...

confirmed that Holland had exited Adelaide United to go to China.

Liaoning Whowin

On 18 January 2017, it was confirmed that Holland had joined

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club

Liaoning Whowin Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

alongside fellow Australian

Robbie Kruse Robbie Thomas Kruse ( ; ; born 5 October 1988) is an Australian professional footballer who last played as a forward for Melbourne Victory and the Australia national team. He played his junior football with Albany Creek in the Pine Rivers distr ...

on a two-year deal. In May 2017, both players terminated their contracts with Liaoning Whowin due to unpaid wages.

Return to Austria

Holland returned to Austria in June 2017 to play for newly promoted Bundesliga side

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional Football team, football club, from the Upper Austria, Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and pl ...

International career

James is an Australian Under-20 and Under-23 national team representative, a striker in this squad playing alongside

Marko Jesic Marko Jesic (born 7 August 1989 in Fairfield, New South Wales) is an Australian football player of Serbian descent who plays for Marconi Stallions FC. Club career Jesic grew up on the streets of Bossley Park in Sydney's south west and was pr ...

, Holland's good friend. He made his full debut for the Socceroos against

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in 2008, and was named in the squad to face

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

on 23 May 2008. He played in the World Cup qualifier against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

on 22 June 2008, and was substituted for David Williams. He has since captained the

Young Socceroos The Australia national under-20 soccer team, known colloquially as the Young Socceroos, represents Australia in international under-20 soccer. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which ...

AFF U19 Championship after defeating Korea Republic 3–1 on penalties. James Holland was selected for the

Squad for the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confedera ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, he was also named captain for the Young Socceroos. He scored a penalty in the first match against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in the 94th minute in the 2–1 loss, he had missed the first penalty but it was re-taken for infringement. He was selected as a member of Australia's

squad in Brazil. Holland remained an unused substitute throughout the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Newcastle Jets *

: 2007–08 Austria Wien *

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. I ...

Australia *

AFF U-19 Youth Championship The AFF U-19 Youth Championship is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and occasionally invited nations from the rest of Asia. The tournament was pre ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

James Holland
at Aussie Footballers * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, James 1989 births Living people Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian expatriate soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players Australia international soccer players A-League Men players 2. Bundesliga players Chinese Super League players Central Coast Mariners FC players AZ Alkmaar players Sparta Rotterdam players Newcastle Jets FC players FK Austria Wien players MSV Duisburg players Adelaide United FC players Liaoning F.C. players LASK players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Austria Australian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in China Australian expatriate sportspeople in China Association football midfielders Soccer players from Sydney Australian Institute of Sport soccer players New South Wales Institute of Sport alumni Austrian Football Bundesliga players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Australian soccer players

Club career

Newcastle Jets

AZ Alkmaar

Sparta Rotterdam

Austria Wien

MSV Duisburg

Adelaide United

Liaoning Whowin

Return to Austria

International career

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

See also

References

External links