Major Holland (29 October 1887 – 24 August 1953) was an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer of the early 20th century. Born in Halifax,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, England, Holland played at for

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

between 1909 and 1921 and, subsequently, for Bramley.

Career

Holland was signed by Huddersfield in 1908 after a trial match and made his debut against Bramley in January 1909. In the 1913–14 season Holland was the leading points scorer as he scored 268 points. He set a Huddersfield club record of 39 points (18 goals, 1 try) in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

match against amateur side Swinton Park by a then record score of 119–2. The following season Holland was a member of Huddersfield's ''Team of all talents'' that won all four trophies available to them; the Championship, the Yorkshire Cup, the Yorkshire County League and the Challenge Cup. The final of the Challenge Cup being won 37–3 against St. Helens at

Watersheddings Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham ...

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

on 1 May 1915. When the league resumed after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Holland won another Challenge Cup winner's medal as Huddersfield beat

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

21–10 at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. In September 1921 Holland left Huddersfield and joined Bramley, however only 18 months later he was placed on the transfer list by Bramley and joined new formed club, Sheffield Hornets, in the Yorkshire Senior League ending a 15-year association with the professional game.

Personal life

Away from rugby Holland was a

publican In antiquity, publicans (Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'' (singular); Latin ''publicanus'' (singular); ''publicani'' (plural)) were public contractors, in whose official capacity they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the ...

for many years and was the licensee of the Crescent Hotel, Huddersfield at the time of his death in August 1953, having previously run the Calder and Hebble Hotel in

Salterhebble Salterhebble is an area of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax, a town within the Calderdale, Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. The town falls within the Skircoat (UK electoral ward), Skircoat ward of Calderdale Counci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Major 1887 births 1953 deaths Rugby league fullbacks Huddersfield Giants players Bramley RLFC players People from Halifax, West Yorkshire