Philip Holder (born 19 January 1952) is an English former association football player and manager. As player, he made more than 150 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

representing

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

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and AFC Bournemouth, and played in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

for the

Memphis Rogues The Memphis Rogues were a professional soccer team in the former North American Soccer League. They operated in the 1978, 1979, and 1980 seasons and played their home games in Memphis' Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. They also played indoor ...

. As manager, he took charge of Brentford for three seasons.

Career

Holder was born in

Kilburn, London Kilburn is an area of north west London, England, which spans the boundary of three London Boroughs: London Borough of Camden, Camden to the east, City of Westminster, London Borough of Brent, Brent to the west. There is also an area in the City ...

. He began his football career as an apprentice with

in 1969 and remained with the club for five years. He played only 13 times in

, but played six games in European competition, including a substitute appearance in the second leg of the

1974 UEFA Cup Final The 1974 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 1974 and 29 May 1974 between Tottenham Hotspur of England and Feyenoord Rotterdam of the Netherlands, to determine the champion of the 1973–74 UEFA Cup. Feyenoord won 4–2 on aggregate. Tottenham sup ...

. He joined

in February 1975, and played 112 games in all competitions for the club, before spending a summer in the

with the

. He returned to England and signed for AFC Bournemouth of the Fourth Division in March 1979, before his playing career ended due to a pelvic injury. Holder then took up coaching, with clubs including Crystal Palace. He was appointed assistant to Brentford manager Steve Perryman in the late 1980s, and when Perryman resigned, Holder was confirmed as his successor in September 1990 after a spell in temporary charge. He guided them to the Third Division play-offs that season, only for the team to lose to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

in the semi-final over two legs. In first leg at Griffin Park, a last minute equaliser from Kevin Godfrey gave Brentford hope, but later the same week, a 1–0 defeat at Prenton Park gave Tranmere the overall tie 3–2 on aggregate. As a coach Holder will be best remembered for his success during the 1991–92 season. He guided a Brentford side spearheaded by prolific striker

Dean Holdsworth Dean Christopher Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional football player and manager. As a striker he scored 193 goals in 610 league games over a 22-year career. Despite playing for 16 clubs in 19 spells the majorit ...

to the Third Division title and gained them a place in the new

Division One 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 ...

. With six matches of the season left, Holder told the players that they needed to win them all: they did so. On Boxing Day 1992, Brentford went 10th in Division One and were just three points short of the playoff zone. Holder was voted Manager of the Month for the division, and there was much speculation as to whether Brentford could mount a challenge for promotion to the Premiership. But a sharp decline set in and defeat in the final game of the season condemned "The Bees" to relegation to Division Two. Holder was sacked three days later. In July 1993 he briefly joined

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

as Perryman's assistant, then assisted

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, and coached at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, before linking up with Perryman yet again in 1999, this time in Japan as assistant manager of J.League side Shimizu S-Pulse.

Personal life

After leaving football, Holder entered the flower business.

Honours

As a manager

Brentford *

Football League Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

: 1991–92

As an individual

* Brentford Hall of Fame

References

External links

*
NASL stats and photo
at NASL Jerseys * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holder, Phil 1952 births Living people Footballers from Kilburn, London English footballers Association football midfielders Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Memphis Rogues players AFC Bournemouth players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English football managers Brentford F.C. managers England youth international footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate footballers