Stuart Holden

This article is about the soccer player. For the darts player, see Stuart Holden (darts player).

Stuart Holden

Personal information
Full name	Stuart Alistair Holden
Date of birth	1 August 1985 (1985-08-01)
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Bolton Wanderers
Number	8
Youth career
2003–2004	Clemson Tigers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005	Sunderland	0	(0)
2006–2009	Houston Dynamo	88	(15)
2010–	Bolton Wanderers	28	(2)
National team‡
2004–2005	United States U-20	11	(2)
2007–2008	United States U-23	7	(1)
2009–	United States	17	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:00, August 26, 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 00:23, December 10, 2010 (UTC)

Stuart Alistair Holden (born August 1, 1985) is a Scottish-born American soccer player who currently plays as a midfielder for Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League.

Holden has represented the United States at under-20, under-23 and senior levels. He made his senior debut in July 2009 against Grenada and scored his first goal during that game. He was part of the United States squad at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup. Since his debut, Holden has gained 17 caps and scored two goals.

Early life

Holden was born in Cults, Aberdeen, Scotland and grew up in Sugar Land, Texas, after moving there with his family at age 10. His father worked for Chevron Corporation in its human resources department. He played high school soccer in Houston for Awty International School.

Club career

Sunderland

After playing two years of College soccer at Clemson University, Holden signed with English club Sunderland in early 2005. On March 12, Holden was attacked outside a bar in Newcastle, leaving him with a fractured left eye socket, which prevented him from training with the club for two months. When Holden resumed training, he suffered an ankle injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season. Holden was released after his six-month stay having never played for Sunderland's first team.

Houston Dynamo

Holden returned to the United States to play in Major League Soccer with Houston Dynamo for the 2006 season. He made his MLS debut on May 27, 2006, and scored his first professional goal on July 22, 2006, in a 1–1 home draw against New England. He appeared thirteen times in the 2006 regular season and twice as a substitute in Houston's run to the MLS Cup 2006 championship. In the championship penalty shootout, Holden took the Dynamo's second shot and scored to the top right corner.

Holden's playing time increased in the 2007 season. He mostly started on the left wing when teammate Brad Davis went down with injury. In July, Holden scored goals on consecutive Thursday night games and added three assists in league play and another in SuperLiga play, as of July 25. Holden was awarded the US Soccer Humanitarian of the Year award in 2008.

Bolton Wanderers

Having spent several weeks training in England following the end of the 2009 Major League Soccer season, Holden officially joined Premier League side Bolton Wanderers on January 25, 2010. He made his debut on February 24, 2010 in a 4–0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup, starting and playing the full ninety minutes. He made his first league appearance on February 27, 2010, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. On September 30, 2010, he signed a new contract at Bolton, which would keep him at the club until 2013. He scored his first goal for Bolton away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on November 13, 2010.

In the 2010–11 season, Holden helped Bolton reach seventh place in the Premier League and to the FA Cup Semi-finals. However, his season was cut short on 19 March after he suffered a knee injury against Manchester United at Old Trafford when going into a tackle with Jonny Evans. Evans' studs caught Holden in the right knee, leaving a gash that required twenty six stitches and an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which ruled him out for up to six months. Despite missing the final two months of the season, Holden was still voted the 2011 Bolton Wanderers Player of the Year. Without Holden, Bolton finished the season in fourteenth position.

On September 20, after six months out, Holden started and played the full ninety minutes against Aston Villa in the third round of the League Cup, but was then initially ruled out for a further six weeks as the club brought forward a routine follow up procedure. However, the procedure revealed cartilage damage, meaning Holden would be out for a further six months.

International career

Holden was capped 11 times as a United States youth international at the U-20 level, scoring two goals, the first being on 18 July 2004 in a 2–2 home draw against Denmark U-20 in the 2004 Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. and the other on June 24, 2004 in a 1–2 defeat against Brazil U-20 in the Busan Four Nations International Youth Tournament. Early in 2007, Holden was called in to the U.S. U-23 squad for a camp in California and in December for a camp and trip to China to play matches against the China U-23 team. In July 2008, Holden was named to the U.S. squad competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On August 7 he scored in the USA's opening match, a 1–0 victory against Japan. In December 2008 Holden was called into a camp set to begin in January 2009 preceding a friendly against Sweden on January 24. He sustained a hip injury prior to the friendly and was forced to withdraw from camp.

Holden was named to the United States Gold Cup squad on June 25, 2009, as nearly all of the senior regulars were rested following the Confederations Cup. Holden scored a goal for the U.S. in his national team debut against Grenada on July 4, 2009. On July 11, 2009, Holden scored his second international goal against Haiti with a thirty-yard strike that tied the game in the ninety-second minute, and assisted the USA's first goal in that match, which was scored by Davy Arnaud. Holden added two more assists in the 2–0 semi-final win against Honduras. Stuart was selected to the Gold Cup All-Tournament Team. During a friendly match on March 3, 2010, Nigel de Jong broke Holden's leg, causing him to miss six weeks of football. On May 26, 2010, it was announced that Holden would be part of the 23-man roster for the U.S. National Team which played in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and he played as a substitute in the opening 1–1 draw with England.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	4 July 2009	Qwest Field, Seattle, United States	Grenada	2–0	4–0	2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2.	11 July 2009	Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States	Haiti	2–2	2–2	2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Career statistics

Club

Stuart Holden playing for Houston

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2005–06	Sunderland	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
USA			League		Open Cup		League Cup		North America		Total
2006	Houston Dynamo	Major League Soccer	13	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	15	1
2007			22	5	1	0	4	1	3	0	30	6
2008			27	3	1	0	2	0	9	0	39	3
2009			26	6	0	0	3	0	5	0	34	6
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2009–10	Bolton Wanderers	Premier League	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
2010–11			26	2	3	0	1	0	0	0	30	2
2011–12			0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Total	USA		88	15	2	0	11	1	17	0	118	16
	England		28	2	4	0	2	0	0	0	34	2
Career total			116	17	6	0	12	1	17	0	151	18

Last updated August 26, 2011

International

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
United States
	2009	11	2
	2010	6	0
	2011	0	0
Total		17	2

Statistics accurate as of match played 1 January 2011

Honors

Club

Houston Dynamo

• MLS Cup (2): 2006, 2007

Individual

• MLS Best XI (1): 2009
• CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI (1): 2009
• Bolton Wanderers Player of the Year (1): 2010–11

Style of play

Holden is a versatile, linking midfielder who, due to his ambidexterity, can play in the left, right, or center of the midfield.^{[citation needed]} Holden is particularly noted for his adeptness at taking set pieces and delivering crosses, being compared favorably to David Beckham.

Personal life

Holden was born in Scotland, and moved to the United States at the age of ten. Holden's father lost a six-year battle with cancer in early 2009. His mother and sister still live in Houston. He has been an American citizen since 2006. Every game, Holden wears a Livestrong bracelet that belonged to his father, taping over it for its protection.

Holden's brother, Euan Holden, is also a professional soccer player who is currently with Conference National club Stockport County.

Professional gaming career

Before his professional sports career, Holden played competitive Counter-Strike under the alias Holden, most famously playing for Forsaken in the United States. During his time with the team, he helped them to a second place at the WCG 2002 qualifier and 8th place at CPL Summer 2003. His CS career took a back seat as he began to play soccer seriously for Clemson University eventually leading into his MLS career.

Holden has admitted that he is slightly embarrassed by his gaming career, stating, "When I first started playing football professionally it all started to come out and I was a bit ashamed of it. I tried to hide it but eventually I've just started to embrace it. There's nothing I can do. I've deleted it off my Wikipedia page about four or five times and someone just keeps putting it back up there!"

External links

• Stuart Holden career stats at Soccerbase
• MLS player profile