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Ian Holloway
2
Full name Ian Scott Holloway
Nationality Eng England
Rovers apps (goals)a 397 (41)
Position Midfield
Date of birth 12 March 1963
in Bristol
Height 5 ft 8 in
Joined
1981 from youth
1987 from Brentford
1996 from Queens Park Rangers|- Left
1985 to join Wimbledon
1991 to join Queens Park Rangers|- 2001 (retired)
Senior clubs Teams managed
Bristol Rovers
Wimbledon
Brentford
Torquay United
Bristol Rovers
Queens Park Rangers
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers
Queens Park Rangers
Plymouth Argyle
Leicester City
Blackpool
a League appearances and goals only
Last updated by Gasheadsteve on 9/04/2012


Ian Holloway (known as 'Ollie') is a former player and manager at Bristol Rovers, who had three spells playing for the club, the third of which he also managed the team. He was a hard working midfielder who was voted Rovers' cult hero by Gasheads in a BBC poll.

Ian is married with four children, three of whom are deaf. He took part in the BBC series Stress Test in which a team of psychologists helped him control his anger.

Playing career[]

Ian started his playing career with Rovers before moving on to Wimbledon in 1985. He spent a single season at Plough Lane before moving on to Brentford, where he had a loan spell at Torquay United. After failing to settle in London he returned to Rovers in 1987 where he remained for four years, playing 179 league games. In 1991 his former manager at Rovers, Gerry Francis, took him to Queens Park Rangers where he played in the top flight and became a fan favourite at Loftus Road. In 1996 he was brought back to Rovers for a third spell at the club, this time as player-manager. He combined the two roles for three years before finally hanging up his boots in 1999.

Managerial career[]

Ollie's first chance in management was at Rovers, where he was appointed as successor to John Ward in 1996. He lasted for five years at the helm before leaving the club in 2001. Later that year he was appointed as QPR's manager and again lasted for five years before being let go by the club. In the summer of 2006 he joined Plymouth Argyle, and after getting them to the upper echelons of the Championship he left to take over at Leicester City, upsetting many Plymouth fans in the process. Leicester were already in deep relegation trouble and he was unable to save them from the drop, and he lost his job in the summer of 2008. After a year of media work, during which time he appeared on Sky Sports, Setanta Sports, and Radio 5 Live, Holloway was appointed as Blackpool's new manager shortly after the end of the 2008-09 season.

Managerial stats[]

Team Nat From To Record
G W L D Win %
Bristol Rovers Eng England 13 May 1996 29 January 2001 249 90 89 70 36.14
Queens Park Rangers Eng England 26 February 2001 6 February 2006 252 100 81 71 39.68
Plymouth Argyle Eng England 28 June 2006 21 November 2007 71 28 20 23 39.43
Leicester City Eng England 22 November 2007 23 May 2008 32 9 15 8 28.12
Blackpool Eng England 21 May 2009 Present

Record at Rovers[]

Season Comp Pld W D L F A GD[1] Pts[1] Pos[1][2] Round reached[3]
1996-97 Division Two 46 15 11 20 47 50 -3 56 17th
FA Cup 1 0 0 1 1 2 First round
League Cup 2 1 0 1 2 4 First round
Associate Members Cup 1 0 0 1 1 2 First round (South)
Gloucestershire Cup 1 0 0 1 0 1 Runners-up
1997-98 Division Two 46 20 10 16 70 64 +6 70 5th
Division Two Play-offs 2 1 0 1 3 4 Semi-finals
FA Cup 5 2 2 1 7 4 Third round
League Cup 2 0 1 1 1 2 First round
Associate Members Cup 3 2 0 1 3 2 Quarter-final (South)
1998-99 Division Two 46 13 17 16 65 56 +9 56 13th
FA Cup 6 4 1 1 15 6 Fifth round
League Cup 2 0 1 1 2 3 First round
Associate Members Cup 1 0 1 0 2 2 First round
1999-00 Division Two 46 23 11 12 69 45 +24 80 7th
FA Cup 1 0 0 1 0 1 First round
League Cup 4 1 1 2 4 5 Second round
Associate Members Cup 2 0 1 1 1 2 Quarter-final (South)
2000-01 Division Two 24 5 10 9 28 29 -1 25
FA Cup 1 0 0 1 1 5 First round
League Cup 5 1 3 1 6 6 Third round
League Trophy 2 2 0 0 5 0 Third round
Total League 208 76 59 73 279 244 +35 287
Cups 41 14 11 16 54 51
All 249 90 70 89 333 295

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 League games only
  2. Finishing position for completed seasons only
  3. Cup competitions only

Media work[]

Ollie

Front cover of Holloway's autobiography, Ollie

Ian has to date published two books. His autobiography, titled Ollie, was originally published in 2007. Prior to this, in 2005, an unofficial book of quotes titled Let's Have Coffee: The Tao of Ian Holloway was published, but Ian felt that it contained inaccuracies and failed to explain certain quotes adequately. He wrote his own version in 2008 called the Little Book of Ollie'isms in order to correct this.

Up until the end of the 2007-08 season, Ian wrote a regular column for the BBC Sport website. He has also appeared as a studio pundit on Sky Sports' Soccer Special and Setanta Sports' Football Matters, as well as providing expert analysis in BBC Radio 5 Live football commentary.

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