Danny Holmes

Daniel Holmes (born 6 January 1989) is an English football manager and former player who is currently managing Northern Premier League club Vauxhall Motors. He is a product of Tranmere Rovers' youth system.

Danny Holmes

Holmes playing for York City in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Holmes[1]
Date of birth	(1989-01-06) 6 January 1989 (age 36)[1]
Place of birth	Birkenhead, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Vauxhall Motors (manager)
Youth career
1996–2007	Tranmere Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2009	Tranmere Rovers	1	(0)
2007–2008	→ Southport (loan)	14	(0)
2009–2011	The New Saints	57	(2)
2011–2015	Tranmere Rovers	133	(4)
2011	→ Fleetwood Town (loan)	3	(0)
2015–2016	Newport County	35	(0)
2016	AFC Fylde	16	(0)
2016–2017	York City	21	(1)
2017–2018	Bangor City	29	(1)
2018–2023	Connah's Quay Nomads	111	(1)
2023	Colwyn Bay	8	(0)
Managerial career
2023–	Vauxhall Motors
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08 November 2023

Career

Tranmere Rovers

Holmes was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside.^[1] He began his career with Tranmere Rovers, the team he supports, joining the club at the age of seven.^[2] He originally played as a forward but eventually became a defender.^{[citation needed]} Having captained the youth and reserve teams,^{[citation needed]} he signed his first professional in July 2007, shortly before the 2007–08 season.^[1]

Holmes spent the latter half of the season on loan at Conference North club Southport, making 15 appearances.^[3] At the end of 2008–09, having made one league appearance during a 1–0 defeat to Yeovil Town on 22 November 2008,^[4] Holmes was released by Tranmere.^[5]

The New Saints

Following his release, Holmes spent time on trial with Chester City before signing for The New Saints, joining his brother Tommy at the club.^[2][6] He made his debut in a 2–1 defeat to Icelandic team Knattspyrnufélagið Fram in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.^{[citation needed]} At the end of his first season with the club, he was named in the Welsh Premier League team of the season.^[7]

He left TNS at the end of 2010–11, refusing to sign a new contract, and also being named in the Welsh Premier team of the season.^{[citation needed]}

Tranmere Rovers (second spell)

On 27 June 2011, Holmes re-signed for Tranmere Rovers on a one-year contract.^[8] On 25 August 2011, he joined Fleetwood Town on a one-month loan to attempt to gain some first-team experience.^[9]

After breaking into the team in early 2012 and becoming a regular, and also winning the young player of the year award, Tranmere took up a further one year option on him for 2012–13.^[10]

Holmes scored his first goal for Tranmere in a 5–2 away win over Crawley Town on 22 September 2012.^[11]

Newport County

On 24 June 2015, following Tranmere's relegation into the National League, Holmes joined League Two club Newport County.^[12] He made his debut for Newport on 8 August 2015 versus Cambridge United.^{[citation needed]} He was offered a new contract by Newport at the end of 2015–16 but the offer was withdrawn and he was released after he failed to accept the contract by the deadline of 10 June 2016.^[13]

AFC Fylde and York City

Holmes joined National League North club AFC Fylde in the summer of 2016.^[14] On 10 November 2016, he signed for National League club York City on a contract until the end of 2016–17.^[15] On 21 May 2017, Holmes started as York beat Macclesfield Town 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in the 2017 FA Trophy Final.^[16] He turned down a new contract with York in June 2017.^[17]

Bangor City

On 10 July 2017, Holmes signed for Welsh Premier League club Bangor City.^[18]

Connah's Quay Nomads

Following Bangor's demotion from the Welsh Premier League, Holmes joined Connah's Quay Nomads, with Nomads manager Andy Morrison stating Holmes was "the outstanding fullback in the league last season".^[19]

Colwyn Bay

In June 2023, Holmes joined Colwyn Bay as a player/coach after their promotion to the Welsh Premier League. Holmes left Colwyn Bay in October 2023.^[20]

Managerial career

Vauxhall Motors

In October 2023, Holmes took up his first managerial position at Vauxhall Motors.^[21]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 17 March 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Vauxhall Motors	23 October 2023	present	20	7	4	9	035.0	[22]
Total			20	7	4	9	035.0

Career statistics

Holmes playing for York City in 2017

As of match played 16 February 2018

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup[a]		League Cup[b]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Tranmere Rovers	2007–08[23]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2008–09[4]	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Southport (loan)	2007–08[3]	Conference North	14	0	—		—		1[c]	0	15	0
The New Saints	2009–10[24]	Welsh Premier League	32	0	1	0	0	0	2[d]	0	35	0
	2010–11[24]	Welsh Premier League	25	2	0	0	3	0	6[e]	0	34	2
	Total		57	2	1	0	3	0	8	0	69	2
Tranmere Rovers	2011–12[25]	League One	26	0	0	0	0	0	1[f]	0	27	0
	2012–13[26]	League One	43	2	3	0	2	0	1[f]	0	49	2
	2013–14[27]	League One	28	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	33	0
	2014–15[28]	League Two	36	2	3	0	1	0	3[f]	0	43	2
	Total		133	4	8	0	6	0	5	0	152	4
Fleetwood Town (loan)	2011–12[29]	Conference Premier	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
Newport County	2015–16[30]	League Two	35	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	40	0
AFC Fylde	2016–17[24][31]	National League North	16	0	1	0	—		—		17	0
York City	2016–17[24]	National League	21	1	—		—		6[c]	0	27	1
Bangor City	2017–18[24][32]	Welsh Premier League	24	1	1	0	1	0	—		26	1
Career total			304	8	15	0	11	0	20	0	350	8

1. Appearances in Welsh Cup and FA Cup
2. Appearances in Welsh League Cup and League Cup
3. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy

Honours

The New Saints

• Welsh Premier League: 2009–10^[24]
• Welsh League Cup: 2010–11^[24]

York City

• FA Trophy: 2016–17^[16]

Individual

• Welsh Premier League Team of the Year: 2009–10,^[33] 2010–11,^[34] 2017–18^[35]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
2. Jones, Matthew (23 May 2010). "Total Tranmere meets Danny Holmes". TheFootballNetwork.net. DA Group. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
3. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2008). Non-League Club Directory 2009. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 266–267. ISBN 978-1-869833-59-6.
4. "Games played by Danny Holmes in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
5. "Four players released by Tranmere". BBC Sport. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
6. "Steelmen's boss signs his namesake". Welsh Premier Football. 3 June 2009. Archived from the original on 27 August 2012.
7. "Managers name team of season". Welsh Premier Football. 3 May 2010. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012.
8. "Tranmere Rovers re-sign defender Danny Holmes". BBC Sport. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
9. "Holmes loaned to Fleetwood". Football Conference. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012.
10. "Moore rebuilding squad". Tranmere Rovers F.C. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
11. "Crawley Town 2–5 Tranmere". BBC Sport. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
12. Penman, Andrew (24 June 2015). "Exiles snap up Tranmere defender". South Wales Argus. Newport. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
13. Williams, David (13 June 2016). "Newport County AFC part company with skipper Mark Byrne and three others as contract offers withdrawn". South Wales Argus. Newport. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
14. "Player profile: Danny Holmes". AFC Fylde. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016.
15. Martini, Peter (10 November 2016). "New centre-back signing for York City". The Press. York. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
16. Flett, Dave (21 May 2017). "York City lift FA Trophy to win at Wembley for a fourth time in their history". The Press. York. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
17. Flett, Dave (27 June 2017). "Danny Holmes and Sam Fielding reject York City deals, Lanre Oyebanjo and Scott Fenwick released and Simon Lappin leaves – For now". The Press. York. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
18. "Danny Holmes returns to the WPL as a Citizen". Welsh Premier Football. 10 July 2017. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
19. "Connah's Quay Nomads secure signing of Danny Holmes". 14 May 2018.
20. "Danny Holmes joins the Bay". 9 June 2023.
21. "Holmes appointed as Motors boss". 23 October 2023.
22. "Vauxhall Motors | Fixtures and Results | Football Web Pages".
23. "Games played by Danny Holmes in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
24. "D. Holmes". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
25. "Games played by Danny Holmes in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
26. "Games played by Danny Holmes in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
27. "Games played by Danny Holmes in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
28. "Games played by Danny Holmes in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
29. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2012). Non-League Club Directory 2013. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0.
30. "Games played by Danny Holmes in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
31. "Alfreton Town vs AFC Fylde". AFC Fylde. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
32. "The team: Danny Holmes: 2017/18 season". Bangor City F.C. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
33. "Dream team 2009/10". welsh-premier.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
34. "Dream team 2010/11". welsh-premier.com. 3 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
35. "Only two players retain places in dream team". welsh-premier.com. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

External links

• Danny Holmes profile at the Bangor City F.C. website
• Danny Holmes at Soccerbase