Melville George Holden (25 August 1954 – 31 January 1981) was a Scottish 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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Active in both England and the Netherlands, Holden made nearly 150 career League appearances, scoring nearly 50 goals.

Career

Born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Holden played for the youth team of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, and made his senior debut in 1972. He later played for

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 ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, before moving to the Netherlands to play with PEC Zwolle.

Later life and death

Holden died of motor neurone disease in early 1981, aged 26; the illness had forced his retirement from playing some two years previously. After his death, Preston player

Peter Litchfield Peter Litchfield (born 27 July 1956) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career with Droylsden and played in the Football League with Preston North End, Bradford City, Oldham Athletic and Scun ...

donated £1,000 he had received for winning a Man of the Match award to a motor neurone charity.

References

1954 births 1981 deaths Scottish footballers Preston North End F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players PEC Zwolle players English Football League players Association football forwards {{Scotland-footy-forward-1950s-stub