Jack Holliday

John William Holliday (19 December 1908 – 1987) was an English football forward who played in the Football League for Brentford and Middlesbrough.[1] In 2013, Holliday was voted by the Brentford supporters as the club's fourth-greatest ever player and he holds the club record for most goals in a season.[3] He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015.[4]

Jack Holliday
Personal information
Full name John William Holliday[1]
Date of birth 19 December 1908
Place of birth Cockfield, England
Date of death 1987 (aged 78–79)[2]
Position(s) Forward, wing half
Youth career
Cockfield
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1930–1932 Middlesbrough 6 (4)
1932–1944 Brentford 213 (116)
Total 219 (120)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Middlesbrough

A forward, Holliday joined hometown club Middlesbrough in March 1930.[1] Behind George Camsell in the pecking order, he spent most of his time in the club's reserve team.[1] He won the North Eastern League title in the 1930–31 and 1931–32 seasons and scored 78 goals during the latter season.[1] Despite these exploits, Holliday rarely featured at first team level, but managed to score four goals in six First Division appearances.[5] He departed Ayresome Park in May 1932.[1]

Brentford

Holliday and Middlesbrough teammates Billy Scott and Bert Watson moved to join Third Division South club Brentford in May 1932.[1] He flourished under Harry Curtis' management and scored 39 goals in 35 games to send the Bees to the Second Division as 1932–33 Third Division South champions.[6][7] With 38 league goals, he set the club record for most league goals scored in a season and most league hat-tricks in a season (five),[8] records which as of 2018 have never been surpassed.[1] He was also the first player to score five goals in a single game for Brentford, which he achieved in a 5–5 draw with Luton Town on 1 February 1933.[9] The Bees narrowly missed out on a second successive promotion during the 1933–34 season and finished fourth in the Second Division,[7] with Halliday scoring 27 goals from 41 appearances.[6] His 25 goals during the 1934–35 season helped Brentford to the Second Division championship and to promotion to the top tier of English football for the first time in the club's history.[1][6][7]

Holliday's goalscoring form in the First Division failed to meet the heights of previous seasons, but he still managed 13 goals from 38 appearances during the 1935–36 season,[6] which culminated in Brentford's highest-ever league placing of fifth.[7] Holliday was eventually converted into a Utility player by manager Curtis and stayed with the Bees throughout the remainder of the 1930s.[10] He played his last professional game for the club on the final day of the 1938–39 season, a 2–0 defeat to Arsenal at Highbury.[6] The breakout of the Second World War in September 1939 saw professional football suspended, but Holliday remained with the club through the war years and made his final appearance against Reading on the final day of the 1943–44 season.[6] In seven years of competitive football with Brentford, Holliday scored 119 goals in 223 games.[1] Only two players have surpassed Holliday's goalscoring record for the club (Jim Towers and George Francis)[1] and his 9 hat-tricks in league matches is a club record.[8]

International career

Holliday's form during the 1934–35 season saw him called up to represent an England XI in a friendly versus an Anglo-Scots team at Highbury on 8 May 1935.[11] His England team suffered a 1–0 defeat.[11]

Coaching career

After his retirement from football in 1944, Holliday remained with Brentford and served as a trainer to the senior and reserve teams until May 1961.[1][10]

Personal life

Holliday's father James was an amateur footballer and was killed during the First World War.[12][13] Holliday was a member of the West Ealing bowling club between 1950 and 1980.[14] He represented Middlesex at the sport and won the West Ealing Championship 10 times.[1] He died in 1987.[2]

Honours

Middlesbrough Reserves

Brentford

Individual

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Middlesbrough 1930–31[5] First Division 3 3 0 0 3 3
1931–32[5] 3 1 0 0 3 1
Total 6 4 0 0 6 4
Brentford 1932–33[6] Third Division South 34 38 1 1 35 39
1933–34[6] Second Division 41 27 1 0 42 27
1934–35[6] 42 25 1 0 43 25
1935–36[6] First Division 37 13 1 0 38 13
1936–37[6] 41 8 2 1 43 9
1937–38[6] 8 0 4 1 12 1
1938–39[6] 10 5 0 0 10 5
Total 213 116 10 3 223 119
Career total 219120103229123

    References
    1. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 116. ISBN 978-0955294914.
    2. Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 141. ISBN 190589161X.
    3. The Football League. "Brentford – Football League 125". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
    4. Wickham, Chris. "Kevin O'Connor and Marcus Gayle join others in being added to Brentford FC Hall of Fame". brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
    5. "John Holliday". 11v11.com. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
    6. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 372–375. ISBN 0951526200.
    7. Brentford F.C. at the Football Club History Database
    8. Brentford Football Club Official Matchday Magazine versus Bournemouth 04/09/04. 2004. pp. 46, 47.
    9. TW8 Official Brentford Matchday Programme versus Port Vale 14/04/01. London: Morganprint Blackheath Ltd. p. 30.
    10. Chapman, Mark. "Boro Connections: Five players that shaped Brentford Football Club's history". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
    11. "England – International Results 1930–1939 – Details". Retrieved 1 February 2020.
    12. "HOLLIDAY J." The Gaunless Valley in World War 1. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
    13. "Casualty Details: Holliday, J". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
    14. "Club History". Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
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