Nicholas Charles Holmes (born 11 November 1954) is an English former 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 ...

. He won the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 1976 and, from July 2002 to July 2009, was manager of Salisbury City.

Career

Holmes was born in

and educated at St. Mary's College.

Southampton

Holmes was an apprentice with Southampton in the early 1970s. He made his first team debut on 2 March 1974 away to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. A natural left-sided player, he was equally at home at full-back, midfield, centre-back or sweeper. Holmes spent 14 years at The Dell. Naturally left-sided, he could play at left-back or midfield and was a thoughtful, yet thrusting, player who was as reliable as he was skilful. He played at left-midfield in the 1976 F.A. Cup Final against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

which Saints won 1–0, and also played and scored in the 1979

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

final against

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 ...

, which was lost 2–3. Between these two Wembley appearances, he was an integral member of the Southampton team that gained promotion from Division 2 at the end of the 1977–78 season. He became club captain in March 1980, and on his 400th appearance for the club,

Lawrie McMenemy Lawrence McMenemy MBE (born 26 July 1936) is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war Englis ...

praised his "reliability, dependability and flexibility", adding that he was "a man for all seasons". On 16 August 1986, Saints recognised his loyalty by awarding him a testimonial match against John Mortimore's Benfica, which was won 4–1, with Holmes scoring one of the goals. International honours eluded Holmes, although he was picked for England under-23 only for injury to prevent him playing. His last appearance for Southampton was on 14 Feb 1987 at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. A pelvic injury forced him to retire from the game in May 1987, by which time only

Terry Paine Terence Lionel Paine (born 23 March 1939) is an English retired footballer. Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made over 800 appearances (a club record) in 18 seasons with the club. H ...

and

Mick Channon Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Southampton, and went on to represent the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his c ...

had made more appearances for the Saints. In total, he played 543 times for Southampton, scoring 64 goals.

After Southampton

After leaving Saints he spent the 1987–88 season with East Cowes Vics, before spending a season as coach back at Southampton working with manager

Chris Nicholl Christopher John Nicholl (born 12 October 1946) is an English-born former Northern Ireland international footballer who later worked as a coach and manager. Playing career Nicholl was born in Macclesfield. He played for Burnley (1963–1966) ( ...

. He left football in 1989.

Salisbury City

In July 2002, he was tempted back into football when he was offered the manager's job at Salisbury City. Under Holmes' management, Salisbury gained promotion to the

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

in the 2005–06 season by finishing top of the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

, followed by winning the play-off final in the 2006–07 season to participate in the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

in 2007–08. In January 2008, following the departure of

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

, Holmes was linked with a return to Southampton as manager. Although he was not offered the job, Holmes stated that Southampton was "the only club I'd leave Salisbury for". He became Salisbury's general manager in July 2009, with

Tommy Widdrington Thomas Widdrington (born 1 October 1971) is an English former football player and manager who is manager of club Aldershot Town. As a midfielder, he made 372 appearances in the English Football League in a 15-year career, before spending fiv ...

taking control of the first team. Holmes left Salisbury on 14 July 2010 by mutual consent.

Honours

As a player

Southampton *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

runners-up:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

runners-up: 1983–84

As a manager

Salisbury City * Southern League Premier Division: 2005–06 *

play-offs: 2006–07

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Nick 1954 births Living people People educated at St Mary's College, Southampton Footballers from Southampton English footballers Association football midfielders Southampton F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Salisbury City F.C. managers National League (English football) managers East Cowes Victoria Athletic A.F.C. players FA Cup Final players