Ricky Holmes

Ricky Lee Holmes (born 19 June 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays for Northampton Town as a striker or a winger.

Ricky Holmes
Holmes playing for Barnet in September 2012
Personal information
Full name Ricky Lee Holmes[1]
Date of birth (1987-06-19) 19 June 1987
Place of birth Rochford, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Northampton Town
Number 21
Youth career
1992–2002 Fairfax Rangers
2002–2004 Southend United
2004–2005 Chelmsford City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2010 Chelmsford City 154 (49)
2010–2013 Barnet 91 (15)
2013–2015 Portsmouth 53 (2)
2015 → Northampton Town (loan) 4 (1)
2015–2016 Northampton Town 45 (13)
2016–2018 Charlton Athletic 58 (19)
2018–2020 Sheffield United 5 (0)
2018–2019 → Oxford United (loan) 16 (3)
2019 → Gillingham (loan) 0 (0)
2020– Northampton Town 9 (1)
National team
2008 England C 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:14, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

Career

Chelmsford City

Born in Rochford, Holmes joined Chelmsford City's academy in 2004, after a short spell with Southend United, and made his debut on 9 November 2005 in a 3–1 Isthmian League Cup win against Horsham. Holmes made his full league debut for Chelmsford in August 2006, in a 1–1 draw against Bromley, also taking part in the club's impressive run in the FA Cup that year.[2] He went on to become one of the club's top players, achieving promotion to the Conference South in 2007–08, a season in which he also won the club's player of the year award, scored 16 league goals. He also was linked with Championship side Crystal Palace. He remained a regular starter for the following two seasons.

On 5 February 2008, Holmes was named in the England C squad for the match against Wales Semi-pro.[3] On the 21st he made his international debut for the side.[4]

Holmes finished 2009–10 as City's top scorer, with 21 goals in the season. However, he was released in May 2010 after City allowed him to pursue his career at a higher level.[5]

Barnet

On 15 June 2010, Holmes signed a contract with Barnet.[6] He made his debut on 7 August, against Chesterfield.[7] Holmes scored his first goal for Barnet on 20 November, in a 4–1 win over Northampton Town.[8] The 2010–11 season ended prematurely in January for Holmes as he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a foot injury.

The 2011–12 season was more successful for Holmes. Under the management of Edgar Davids, Holmes' position was moved further towards the left wing, where he managed to score 10 goals. During the season, he consolidated his position in the Barnet first team. In an interview with Sky Sports that he believed he was better off playing as a second striker behind Izale McLeod (Bees' topscorer). In 2012–13, he scored a hat-trick on 21 December 2012, in a 3–2 win against Burton Albion.[9] In February 2013, he suffered the same foot injury, and was sidelined for the rest of the season.[10]

After Barnet's relegation, Holmes was linked to a number of clubs, the likes of Portsmouth,[11] Leyton Orient,[12] Gillingham, Burton Albion and Southend United providing competition for his signature.

Portsmouth

Holmes signed a two-year deal with Portsmouth on 21 June 2013, following the expiry of his contract at Barnet.[13] He made his debut in a 4–1 home defeat to Oxford United on 3 August 2013. On 14 September, Holmes scored his first Pompey goal, in a 2–1 away victory over Burton Albion.[14] Holmes received the fans' Player of the Season award in 2013–14.[15]

Northampton Town

On 2 January 2015, Holmes joined Northampton on an initial one-month loan deal.[16] On 27 January 2015, after appearing in four matches and scoring once, he signed a 2½-year permanent deal with the club.[17]

Charlton Athletic

Holmes made a transfer request to Northampton on 15 June 2016 after repeated bids by Charlton and one day later after the 2 clubs eventually agreed a fee of £125,000, Holmes signed a two-year deal with the Addicks being the first signing for new manager Russell Slade.[18][19] He scored his first goals for Charlton when he scored twice in a 3–0 win over Shrewsbury Town on 16 August 2016.[20]

Sheffield United

On 15 January 2018, Holmes made the switch from Charlton Athletic to Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee after a year and a half at the Valley, rejoining former Northampton manager Chris Wilder.[21]

He was transfer-listed by Sheffield United at the end of the 2018–19 season.[22]

On 4 May 2020, having been released at the end of his Sheffield United contract, Holmes stated that he would retire from professional football due to a back injury picked up whilst working on a building site in Horsham, during his time playing semi-professionally at Chelmsford City.[23]

Oxford United (loan)

On 9 August 2018, Holmes signed for Oxford United on a season-long loan.[24] He returned to his parent club in January 2019 for treatment after his appearances were limited by a back injury.[25]

Gillingham (loan)

Holmes signed for Gillingham on loan on transfer deadline day in January 2019. He joined the club despite being injured, in an effort to regain fitness.[26] On 24 April 2019, however, he returned to parent club Sheffield United after he had failed to regain fitness. He made no appearances for Gillingham during his three months at the club.[27]

Return to Northampton

Holmes re-joined Northampton on an "appearance related contract" on 2 November 2020, having spent time training with the club to regain fitness.[28]

Career statistics
As of match played on 29 December 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague Cup1Other2 Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Chelmsford City 2006–07 Isthmian League 39127220215015
2007–08 38163120744821
2008–09 Conference South 3661030844810
2009–10 411531001255621
Total 1544914470291420467
Barnet 2010–11 League Two 252201010292
2011–12 4181021414810
2012–13 255001010275
Total 911530416110417
Portsmouth 2013–14 League Two 402101030452
2014–15 130201010170
Total 532302040622
Northampton Town 2014–15 League Two 215000000215
2015–16 2893210003211
Total 49143210005316
Charlton Athletic 2016–17 League One 35131010103813
2017–18 236200010266
Total 58193010206419
Sheffield United 2017–18 Championship 5000000050
2018–19 0000000000
2019–20 Premier League 0000000000
Total 5000000050
Oxford United (loan) 2018–19 League One 163001021194
Gillingham (loan) 2018–19 League One 0000000000
Northampton Town 2020-21 League One 91100010111
Career total 4321032761614416521126

1 Including matches for Football League Cup, Football Conference League Cup and Isthmian League Cup.

2 Including matches for FA Trophy, Football League Trophy, Football Conference play-offs and Essex Senior Cup.

Honours

Northampton Town

Individual

References
  1. "Professional retain lists & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. May 2013. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  2. "Welcome..." The Chelmsford City Historian. 28 February 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  3. Fairclough names England C squad; BBC Sport, 6 February 2008
  4. Lions slay Welsh dragon ; The FA, 21 February 2008
  5. Chelmsford City release top scorer Ricky Holmes; BBC Sport, 20 May 2010
  6. Barnet sign Ricky Holmes, Glen Southam and Glenn Poole; BBC Sport, 15 June 2010
  7. Chesterfield 2 – 1 Barnet; BBC Sport, 7 August 2010
  8. Barnet 4–1 Northampton; BBC Sport, 20 November 2010
  9. Barnet 3–2 Burton Albion; BBC Sport, 21 December 2012
  10. HOLMES OUT FOR THE SEASON; Barnet FC, 9 February 2013
  11. Pompey chase Holmes; Portsmouth News, 24 May 2013
  12. Orient look in on Holmes; Sky Sports, 16 May 2013
  13. "Pompey complete Holmes signing". Portsmouth FC. 21 June 2013.
  14. Burton 1–2 Portsmouth; BBC Sport, 14 September 2013
  15. "Pompey 3 Plymouth 3". Portsmouth FC. 3 May 2014.
  16. "Northampton Town: Ricky Holmes and Brendan Moloney join on loan". 2 January 2015.
  17. "Holmes departs Pompey for good". Portsmouth News. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  18. "Ricky Holmes: Northampton Town midfielder submits transfer request". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  19. Jones, George. "DONE DEAL | Charlton sign Ricky Holmes from Northampton Town". www.cafc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  20. "Charlton 3–0 Shrewsbury". BBC Sport. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  21. "Ricky becomes United's fourth capture". Sheffield United official website. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  22. "Paul Coutts: Sheffield United midfielder among five released". BBC Sport. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  23. "Sheffield United winger and ex-Portsmouth and Charlton man Ricky Holmes admits defeat in battle to save career". The News website. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  24. "Ricky Holmes Joins Oxford United". Oxford United F.C. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  25. Pritchard, David (19 January 2019). "Oxford United discuss creative solution to Ricky Holmes loan with Sheffield United". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  26. "Gills sign Ricky Holmes on loan". Gillingahm F.C. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  27. "We can confirm that Ricky Holmes has returned to parent club Sheffield United after it was revealed he would not feature for #Gills while on loan before the end of the season". Gillingham Twitter feed. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  28. RICKY HOLMES RETURNS TO NORTHAMPTON TOWN!
  29. "PFA awards: Leicester and Spurs dominate Premier League team". BBC Sport. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
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