James Holland (soccer)

James Robert Holland (born 15 May 1989) is an Australian football player who most recently played as a midfielder for Austria Wien in the Austrian Football Bundesliga.

James Holland
Holland with Austria Wien in 2013
Personal information
Full name James Robert Holland[1]
Date of birth (1989-05-15) 15 May 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Youth career
2005–2006 NSWIS
2007 AIS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Central Coast Mariners 0 (0)
2007 AIS 24 (3)
2007–2009 Newcastle Jets 23 (3)
2009–2012 AZ 0 (0)
2011–2012Sparta Rotterdam (loan) 14 (2)
2012–2015 Austria Wien 105 (0)
2015–2016 MSV Duisburg 29 (0)
2016–2017 Adelaide United 13 (0)
2017 Liaoning Whowin 1 (0)
2017–2022 LASK 118 (8)
2022–2024 Austria Wien 35 (0)
International career
2007–2009 Australia U-20 25 (5)
2008–2012 Australia U-23 5 (0)
2008– Australia 17 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 February 2022

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Holland played youth football at the New South Wales Institute of Sport before making his professional debut for Central Coast Mariners in 2006. He went on to play for the Australian Institute of Sport before spending two seasons with Newcastle Jets. He then moved to Europe, playing in the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, most notably for Austria Wien. In 2016, he returned to Australia to play for Adelaide United.

Holland debuted for the Australian national team in 2008. He has gone on to represent Australia over ten times, and was a member of the squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

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Holland captained the NSW Under-16 side at the 2005 Qantas National Talent Identification Championships in Parklea, a tournament the NSW team ultimately won. He was a 2007 AIS Football scholarship holder and was an influential player in their successful campaign in the Victorian Premier League.

Newcastle Jets

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Holland made an A-League debut with the Newcastle Jets playing two games as a short-term injury replacement player. He scored a goal against Wellington Phoenix in his first game, making him the youngest player to score in the A-League.[3]

In October 2007, he signed a full-time two-year professional contract with the Newcastle Jets, despite interest from his home town club and Newcastle's rivals the Central Coast Mariners.[4] He had previously made three appearances for the Mariners on a short-term contract during the 2006 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup.

Holland was part of the Newcastle Jets team which won the 2008 A-League Grand Final against the Central Coast Mariners. He was involved in a controversy during second-half injury time when he handballed inside the penalty area. Referee Mark Shield failed to spot the handball and did not award a penalty.[5] Holland later stated that he didn't feel the ball hit his arm and that it wasn't an "intentional" act.

AZ Alkmaar

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On 11 January 2009, Dutch club AZ Alkmaar completed the signing of the Australian midfielder for $650,000 (€350,000) on a four-and-a-half-year contract from the Newcastle Jets.[6] He had earlier successfully trialled at the club.

Sparta Rotterdam

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On 19 January 2011, it was announced that Holland would be playing for Eerste Divisie club Sparta Rotterdam for the rest of the season.[7]

Austria Wien

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Holland (right) in action for Austria Wien in 2014

On 17 January 2012, it was announced Holland had signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Austrian Bundesliga club Austria Wien after successfully trialling with the club.[8]

MSV Duisburg

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Holland joined MSV Duisburg of the 2. Bundesliga for the 2015–16 season.[9]

Adelaide United

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In September 2016, Holland signed a two-year contract with Adelaide United, returning to the A-League.[10] On 12 January 2017, Adelaide United's coach Guillermo Amor confirmed that Holland had exited Adelaide United to go to China.[11]

Liaoning Whowin

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On 18 January 2017, it was confirmed that Holland had joined Chinese Super League club Liaoning Whowin alongside fellow Australian Robbie Kruse on a two-year deal.

In May 2017, both players terminated their contracts with Liaoning Whowin due to unpaid wages.[12]

Return to Austria

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Holland returned to Austria in June 2017 to play for newly promoted Bundesliga side LASK.[13]

International career

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Holland with Australia in 2008

James is an Australian Under-20 and Under-23 national team representative, a striker in this squad playing alongside Marko Jesic, Holland's good friend. He made his full debut for the Socceroos against Singapore in 2008, and was named in the squad to face Ghana on 23 May 2008. He played in the World Cup qualifier against China on 22 June 2008, and was substituted for David Williams.

He has since captained the Young Socceroos AFF U19 Championship after defeating Korea Republic 3–1 on penalties.[14] James Holland was selected for the Young Socceroos Squad for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, he was also named captain for the Young Socceroos. He scored a penalty in the first match against the Czech Republic in the 94th minute in the 2–1 loss, he had missed the first penalty but it was re-taken for infringement. He was selected as a member of Australia's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad in Brazil. Holland remained an unused substitute throughout the tournament.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 20 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Central Coast Mariners 2006–07 A-League 0 0 3 0 - - 3 0
AIS 2007 Victorian Premier League 24 3 0 0 - - 24 3
Newcastle Jets 2007–08 A-League 11 3 0 0 - - 11 3
2008–09 12 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
Total 23 3 0 0 0 0 23 3
AZ Alkmaar 2009–10 Eredivisie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sparta Rotterdam (loan) 2010–11 Eerste Divisie 14 2 0 0 - - 14 2
Austria Wien 2011–12 Austrian Bundesliga 11 0 2 0 - - 13 0
2012–13 34 0 5 0 - - 39 0
2013–14 33 0 1 0 9 0 43 0
2014–15 27 0 4 0 - - 31 0
Total 105 0 12 0 9 0 126 0
MSV Duisburg 2015–16 2. Bundesliga 29 0 1 0 - - 30 0
Adelaide United 2016–17 A-League 13 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Liaoning Whowin 2017 Chinese Super League 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
LASK 2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga 23 0 1 0 0 0 24 0
2018–19 28 3 3 0 4 1 35 4
2019–20 29 2 5 0 10 1 44 3
2020–21 27 3 6 0 6 0 39 3
2021–22 23 0 3 0 7 0 35 0
Total 130 8 18 0 27 2 175 10
Austria Wien 2022–23 Austrian Bundesliga 19 0 3 0 6 0 28 0
2023–24 9 0 3 1 4 0 16 1
Total 28 0 6 1 10 0 44 1
FK Austria Wien II 2022–23 2. Liga 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Career total 368 16 40 0 46 2 454 18

International

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As of match played 3 June 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Australia 2008 3 0
2009 1 0
2010 1 0
2012 3 0
2013 4 0
2014 3 0
2021 1 0
Total 16 0

Honours

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Newcastle Jets

Austria Wien

Australia

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA. 14 July 2014. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2020.
  2. ^ "James Holland". socceroos.com.au. Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  3. ^ Brock, Dom (15 October 2007). "Holland could hang around". A-League. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  4. ^ Ritson, Jon (16 October 2007). "Jet Top Gun Was Almost A Mariner". FourFourTwo (Australia). Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  5. ^ Lucius, Adam (25 February 2008). "Have Mercy On Vukovic". Sportal. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  6. ^ Coerts, Stefan (11 January 2009). "AZ Sign Australian International James Holland". Goal. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  7. ^ Holland Holland Goes Out On Loan. 21 January 2011. au.fourfourtwo.com.Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ "Holland Inks Austria Vienna Deal - Australia News - Australian FourFourTwo - the Ultimate Football Website". Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  9. ^ "Neuzugang für die Zebras: MSV verpflichtet James Holland" (in German). msv-duisburg.de. 28 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Adelaide United sign Holland on two-year deal". The World Game. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  11. ^ Tito, Clement; Somerford, Ben (12 January 2017). "Amor confirms Holland exit". FourFourTwo.
  12. ^ "2 Australian players terminate contracts with Chinese team". apnews.com. Associated Press. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  13. ^ Davidson, John (19 June 2017). "Holland back to the Bundesliga". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  14. ^ Staff Writer (12 October 2008). "Young Roos Celebrate Silverware". Sportal. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
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