Stephen Anthony Holland (born 30 April 1970) is an English football coach who is the assistant manager to

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cup ...

with the England national team.

Playing career

As a schoolboy, Holland progressed through the academy at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

until his late teens, when, after a bad injury, he was told that he would not be kept on. He had short stints playing professional football for Bury and for

Husqvarna FF Husqvarna FF is a football club in Huskvarna, Sweden. The team is sponsored by the Husqvarna AB. History Husqvarna FF was founded on 3 February 1987 following the merger of the men's association football sections of Husqvarna IF and Huskvarna ...

of Sweden and semi-pro for Northwich Victoria and

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in 1992, aged 22 by

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi, MBE (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former amateur football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of t ...

, who had coached Holland as a schoolboy. Holland had successfully completed the FA Full Coaching Licence aged 22, one of the youngest recipients of the coaching award. Holland went on to work at the club for 17 years working with young players of every age in the club's highly successful youth Academy. Holland slowly made his way through the coaching ranks at Crewe before becoming the club's Academy Director. Holland also had a spell as first team coach during the club's successful period in the Championship. At the start of the 2006–07 season, Gradi revealed that Holland would be involved more in the first team set-up for the season. On 20 April 2007, it was announced by the football club that Gradi would be taking up a new role as Technical Director on 1 July 2007 while Holland would be promoted to the role of First-Team Coach, whilst keeping his job as Academy Director. Gradi said that Holland was the "right man" to eventually replace him and that the move was a "gradual transition". In July 2007 Holland completed the

UEFA Pro Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

coaching award and went on to complete the LMA-PFA Certificate in applied Management at Warwick University in 2009. The move meant that Holland's role at the club was much nearer to being a manager rather than a coach. He left this role on 18 November 2008 and was replaced by former manager Dario Gradi, after which he held talks with the club to decide his future there. In December 2008, it was reported that Holland would be leaving Crewe. In March 2009, he was appointed manager of the youth academy at nearby Stoke City. On 12 August 2009, Holland was named the reserve team manager for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. In May 2011 Holland won the Premier Reserve League beating Blackburn in the Play-Off Final at Stamford Bridge for the first time since 1994. On 29 June 2011, it was announced that Holland would become assistant first team coach at Chelsea under new manager

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager, who most recently was the manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. He is one of a growing number of top-level managers who have never played football ...

. When Villas-Boas was dismissed on 4 March 2012 and

Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chels ...

was appointed caretaker manager of Chelsea, Holland filled the role of assistant manager. He continued in this position under the interim manager

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...

. In 2013, Holland continued in his role as assistant manager under Jose Mourinho. In December 2015, Holland took temporary charge for a Premier League fixture against Sunderland. In January 2016, Holland became Assistant Manager to Guus Hiddink for the remainder of the 2015–2016 season and in July 2016 Holland became Assistant to Antonio Conte. In August 2013, Holland was appointed assistant manager to the new England Under 21s manager

. Following the appointment of Gareth Southgate as the caretaker of the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

on 27 September 2016, when

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

resigned after one game due to a corruption scandal, Holland also became assistant manager for the senior level. He left Chelsea after the 2016–2017 season ended. After the England team reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

of the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

in 2021, Holland was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to association football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Steve 1970 births Living people Footballers from Derby English footballers Derby County F.C. players Bury F.C. players Husqvarna FF players Northwich Victoria F.C. players English football managers Crewe Alexandra F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. managers English Football League managers Premier League managers Association football coaches Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Members of the Order of the British Empire Association footballers not categorized by position