.jpg) Holding playing forArsenal in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Samuel Holding[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-09-20)20 September 1995 (age 30)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Stalybridge, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.89 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Centre-back[4] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Colorado Rapids | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2014 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2016 | Bolton Wanderers | 26 | (1) |
| 2015 | →Bury (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2016–2023 | Arsenal | 98 | (2) |
| 2023–2025 | Crystal Palace | 0 | (0) |
| 2025 | →Sheffield United (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2025– | Colorado Rapids | 6 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2016–2017 | England U21 | 5 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18 October 2025 (UTC) | |||
Robert Samuel Holding (born 20 September 1995) is an English professionalfootballer who plays as acentre-back forMajor League Soccer clubColorado Rapids.
Holding progressed through theBolton Wanderers youth system, making his senior debut in April 2015 while onloan atBury. After one season in the Bolton first team, he signed for Premier League clubArsenal in July 2016. He has won theFA Cup twice and theFA Community Shield three times with the club. At Arsenal, he earned a reputation as a dogged defender, with good tackling and aerial ability. Holding has also represented England atunder-21 level and was part of the team that won theToulon Tournament in 2016.
Holding was born and raised inStalybridge, Greater Manchester.[5][6] He attendedWest Hill School in the town.[7]
Holding played for Stalybridge Celtic Juniors[8] before joining theBolton Wanderers youth system at the age of seven.[9] He joinedLeague Two clubBury onloan on 26 March 2015 for rest of the2014–15 season.[10] Holding made his only Bury appearance on 3 April 2015 as a 79th-minutesubstitute in a 2–0 away win againstCambridge United.[11] On his return to Bolton, he signed his professional contract with the club.[12]
Holding made his Bolton debut on 11 August 2015 as a starter in a 1–0 home defeat toBurton Albion in theLeague Cup.[13] He scored his first goal for the club on 23 January 2016 in the seventh minute of a 3–1 home win againstMilton Keynes Dons.[14] Holding was voted asBolton Wanderers' Player of the Year for the2015–16 season.[15] He made 30 appearances, scoring one goal,[13] as the team finished bottom of theChampionship and were relegated toLeague One.[16]
Holding signed forPremier League clubArsenal on 22 July 2016 for a fee of around £2 million.[17] Following injuries to centre backsPer Mertesacker andGabriel Paulista, he was called upon to make his Arsenal debut in the2016–17 Premier League season opener on 14 August 2016 againstLiverpool, which Arsenal lost 4–3 at home.[18] After his performance in the game againstLeicester City, former Arsenal manager,Arsène Wenger, once famously said in the post match press conference, "Unfortunately no one speaks about the performance of Rob Holding. You should be happy, he is English and 20 years old. I am sorry he didn't cost £55 million, so he can't be good."[19] In the final two months of the season, Holding became a regular member of Arsenal's starting line-up, with the team winning all six of the matches he played in the Premier League.[20] He played the full 90 minutes in Arsenal's 2–1 victory overChelsea on 27 May in the2017 FA Cup Final atWembley Stadium.[21]
Holding played in the2017 FA Community Shield against Chelsea on 6 August, which Arsenal won 4–1 onpenalties after a 1–1 draw.[22] He scored his first Arsenal goal on 28 September 2017 with a close-range shot in their 4–2 away win overBATE Borisov in theUEFA Europa League.[23] He signed a new long-term contract with the club on 1 May 2018.[24]
On 5 December 2018, Holding suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a 2–2 draw againstManchester United. He would undergo surgery and was expected to be out for about six to nine months.[25]
Holding made his return to first team action on 24 September 2019 in Arsenal's 5–0EFL Cup home victory againstNottingham Forest. He marked his return from injury with his first goal atEmirates Stadium, scoring Arsenal's third from aReiss Nelson corner-kick.[26] On 1 August 2020, Holding was selected to start in theFA Cup final against Chelsea, and went on to win his second winners' medal as Arsenal won their 14th FA Cup.[27]
On 28 August 2020, Holding was in the starting 11 in the2020 FA Community Shield, which Arsenal clinched a 5–4 victory overLiverpool in the penalty shootout after the match was 1–1 after 90 minutes.[28] On 12 January 2021, Holding committed his future toArsenal by signing a new three-and-a-half-year deal.[29][30] He earned his 100th appearance for the Arsenal in the 3–1 victory overSouthampton two weeks later.[31]
On 1 May 2022, Holding scored his first Premier League goal on his 81st appearance in the competition, netting Arsenal's first goal via aBukayo Saka corner-kick in an eventual 2–1 away victory againstWest Ham United at theLondon Stadium.[32] Eleven days later, he received his first careerred card, picking up a second yellow away against rivalsTottenham Hotspur in the 33rd minute of theNorth London derby after two bookable offences both onSon Heung-min, with Arsenal going on to lose 3–0.[33][34]
On 26 April 2023, Holding scored his second Premier League goal in a 4–1 away loss againstManchester City.[35]
On 1 September 2023, Premier League clubCrystal Palace signed Holding for a reported £4 million on a three-year deal.[36][37] He made his debut on 26 September, away to Manchester United in theEFL Cup, playing the whole match and receiving ayellow card in a 3–0 defeat; it would turn out to be his sole appearance for the club.[38]
In October 2024, managerOliver Glasner stated that Holding had been frozen out of the squad and was training individually following a disagreement between the pair. Holding subsequently deleted all references to Crystal Palace from his Instagram page and unfollowed the club on the platform, and went on to only make sporadic appearances for the under-21 side.[39]
On 3 February 2025, Holding was signed byEFL Championship clubSheffield United on a loan until the end of the season. He departed having featured once for Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup in one and a half years, and having made zero appearances in the Premier League.[40]
On 3 August 2025, Holding signed forMLS clubColorado Rapids on an 18-month deal after leaving Crystal Palace as a free agent.[41]
Holding was called up to theEngland under-21 squad for theToulon Tournament May 2016 as a replacement forEverton defenderBrendan Galloway.[42] He made his debut forGareth Southgate's team when starting againstGuinea on 23 May.[43] England won the tournament with Holding making two appearances,[43] and was an unused substitute in the final on 29 May as England beat France 2–1.[44] He was selected for England's squad for the2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland,[45] but did not make an appearance with England eliminated in the semi-finals.[43] Holding made five appearances for the under-21s from 2016 to 2017.[43]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | 2014–15[11] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16[13] | Championship | 26 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 1 | |||
| Total | 26 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 1 | ||||
| Bury (loan) | 2014–15[11] | League Two | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Arsenal | 2016–17[20] | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |
| 2017–18[46] | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8[d] | 1 | 1[e] | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 2018–19[47] | Premier League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[d] | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20[48] | Premier League | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3[d] | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | ||
| 2020–21[49] | Premier League | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[50] | Premier League | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 1 | |||
| 2022–23[51] | Premier League | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7[d] | 1 | — | 24 | 2 | ||
| Total | 99 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 163 | 5 | ||
| Crystal Palace | 2023–24[52] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25[53] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Sheffield United (loan) | 2024–25[53] | Championship | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | 1[f] | 0 | 12 | 0 | |||
| Colorado Rapids | 2025 | Major League Soccer | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 142 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 212 | 6 | ||
Arsenal
England U21
Individual
