Steve Holland has been England assistant manager for nearly eight years (Picture: Getty Images)
England kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia this evening and assistant manager Steve Holland will once again be in the dugout alongside Gareth Southgate as the pair attempt to guide the Three Lions to glory in Germany.
Southgate and Holland will be putting the finishing touches to his side’s preparations knowing they have a fully fit squad to choose from in Gelsenkirchen, which will come as a great relief to England supporters.
Holland has been Southgate’s assistant throughout his reign as England boss, which started when he took over as caretaker back in September 2016.
That has seen Holland travel to two World Cups and the 54-year-old will embark on his second European Championships this summer, attempting to lift a major trophy for the first time working with the senior team.
The Southgate-Holland partnership pre-dates their time with the England first team, with the duo having worked together at Under-21 level previously.
Southgate brought Holland in as his assistant when he was U21 boss in August 2013 and they made the step up to the senior side together after Sam Allardyce was sacked in 2016.
Holland’s coaching career began a long time before that, though, as he took his first job as a coach way back in 1992, aged just 21.
His playing career was not taking off as hoped, after being released from Derby County as a teenager and short spells at Bury and in Sweden followed by injuries hampering his progress. He started to build his coaching CV from a very young age, working with the Cheshire FA.
Holland will be on the touchline with Southgate at Euro 2024 (Picture: Getty Images)
He was brought in by Crewe Alexandra in 1992 to work with the youth teams and would go on to manage the club’s highly successful academy, spending 15 years working in the age-range set-up at Gresty Road.
Holland had a brief stint in charge of the Crewe first team from 2007-08, then another short spell as academy director at Stoke City before his big move to Chelsea.
He was appointed reserve team manager in 2009 and stepped up to first team coach in 2011 after an impressive couple of years in his initial role.
Holland in his early days at Chelsea back in 2009 (Picture: Chelsea FC)
That step up came under Andre Villas-Boas and Holland would go on to coach under the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Guus Hiddink, Roberto Di Matteo and Rafael Benitez.
It may have been a turbulent time for Chelsea managers, but Holland was a mainstay and won two Premier League titles, the Champions League, FA Cup, Europa League and League Cup as a coach of the Blues.
Southgate snapped him up for England while he was still working with Chelsea but he left the west London club at the end of the 2016-17 season to focus on the Three Lions.
Speaking in 2021 when Holland was awarded the MBE, Southgate explained …read more
Source:: Metro
