Rebecca Holloway
Holloway with Racing Louisville FC in 2023
Personal information
Full name Rebecca Rayne Holloway[1]
Date of birth (1995-08-25) 25 August 1995
Place of birth Nailsea, England
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Position(s) Midfielder / Defender
Youth career
Clevedon Town
Bristol City Academy
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Cumberland Phoenix 77 (40)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019 Nashville Rhythm 11 (1)
2019–2022 Birmingham City 49 (0)
2022–2023 Racing Louisville 15 (0)
International career‡
2012–2013 Northern Ireland U19 8 (0)
2019– Northern Ireland 10 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 March 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 February 2022

Rebecca Rayne Holloway (born 25 August 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Northern Ireland national team.

Early life

Born in Nailsea, North Somerset, Holloway started playing football at the age of five for local side Nailsea Boys before moving on to Clevedon Town and eventually Bristol City Academy where she was coached by future England manager Mark Sampson.[2]

Cumberland Phoenix

In 2015, Holloway moved to the United States to study and play college soccer at Cumberland University. She played four seasons for NAIA team Cumberland Phoenix, notably earning Mid-South Conference First-Team selection in three straight years and was named back to back Mid-South Conference Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018. As a senior, Holloway led the league in goals with 22.[3][4]

Club career

Nashville Rhythm

In 2019, Holloway played for semi-professional WPSL team Nashville Rhythm. She made 11 appearances, scoring one goal as Nashville finished second in the Southeast Conference.[5]

Birmingham City

On 24 July 2019, Holloway returned to England to sign with FA WSL team Birmingham City.[6] On 19 July 2021, Holloway signed a contract extension at Birmingham for the 2021–22 season.[7]

Racing Louisville

On 31 March 2022, Racing Louisville paid a transfer fee to purchase Holloway, signing her to a two-year contract.[8]

Holloway made nine total appearances, starting in five, in the 2023 season. On 2 September 2023 she got her first assist for Racing Louisville, helping Thembi Kgatlana’s game-winner for the club’s first ever victory over Portland Thorns.[9]

Her Racing Louisville contract expired in November 2023.[10]

International career

Holloway represented Northern Ireland at under-19 level. She received several invitations to senior women's squad training camps, however her studies in the USA prevented her from attending.[11]

In August 2019, Holloway was named to the senior team for UEFA Euro 2021 qualifying matches against Norway and Wales but was an unused substitute in both.[12] Having removed herself from the national team fold to focus on her mental health, Holloway eventually made her senior international debut on 9 April 2021, against Ukraine in the Euro 2022 qualifying play-offs. She played the full 90 minutes of both legs stepping in for injured long-term left-back Demi Vance as Northern Ireland won 4–1 on aggregate, qualifying the team for the Euro 2022. It was the first time Northern Ireland had qualified for a major international tournament.[13] At the Euro 2022, she played in all three group stage games, starting twice and coming on as a substitute once.

Personal life

Holloway is dating previous Birmingham City teammate and Republic of Ireland forward Lucy Quinn.[14]

In December 2023, Holloway discussed her mental health problems.[15]

Career statistics

College

School Season Division Apps Goals
Cumberland Phoenix 2015 NAIA 181
2016 206
2017 1911
2018 2022
Career total 7740

Source

Club

As of match played 30 March 2022.[16]
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Playoffs Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Nashville Rhythm 2019 WPSL 111———111
Birmingham City 2019–20 FA WSL 1103040—180
2020–21 2103020—260
2021–22 1702020—210
Total 490808000650
Racing Louisville 2022 NWSL 00—00—00
Career total 601808000761

International

Statistics accurate as of match played 23 February 2022.[16]
YearNorthern Ireland
AppsGoals
202173
202230
Total103

International goals

As of match played 29 November 2021. Northern Ireland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Holloway goal.
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 25 November 2021 Petar Miloševski Training Centre, Skopje, North Macedonia  North Macedonia 11–0 11–0 2023 World Cup qualifying
2 29 November 2021 Seaview, Belfast, Northern Ireland  North Macedonia 2–0 9–0
3 6–0

Honors

Cumberland Phoenix

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Candidates for the Degrees – Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing & Health Professions – Bachelor of Science: August 24, 2019". 177th Annual Commencement Exercises. Lebanon, Tennessee: Cumberland University. 4 May 2019. p. 14.
  2. ↑ Thomas, Josh. "Nailsea's Rebecca Holloway is 'loving' life with WSL outfit Birmingham City". North Somerset Times.
  3. ↑ "Holloway signs Professional Contract with Birmingham City Football Club". GoCumberlandAthletics.com.
  4. ↑ "Women's soccer MSC awards 2017" (PDF).
  5. ↑ "Nashville Rhythm - 2019 Roster - Rebecca Holloway". www.wpslsoccer.com.
  6. ↑ "Birmingham City: Northern Ireland's Rebecca Holloway joins Women's Super League side". BBC Sport. 24 July 2019.
  7. ↑ Bunting, Josh (19 July 2021). "Rebecca Holloway pens new deal at Birmingham City". Her Football Hub. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Racing signs Holloway on transfer from Birmingham City". Racing Louisville FC.
  9. ↑ "Rebecca Holloway". Racing Louisville FC. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "Racing announces initial offseason roster update".
  11. ↑ "Rebecca Holloway: Midfielder joins Women's Premier League side Birmingham City Women". IFA.
  12. ↑ "Northern Ireland Senior Women's boss Kenny Shiels mixes experience with new faces in first squad". IFA.
  13. ↑ "Rebecca Holloway on why she chose to miss Northern Ireland's Women's Euro qualifying run to protect mental health". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 21 February 2022.
  14. ↑ Turnbull, Michael (5 December 2023). "Lucy Quinn and Rebecca Holloway on their relationship and facing each other". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "'I just shut down' - Holloway on mental health struggles". BBC Sport.
  16. 1 2 "Rebecca Holloway player profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  17. ↑ "Cumberland captures 2017 MSC Women's Soccer regular season title". Mid-South Conference. 26 October 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.