# Paul Holsgrove

Paul Holsgrove (born 26 August 1969) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
He played professional football from 1987 until 2001 and played in three countries, His native England, Netherlands and Scotland. Holsgrove played for Aldershot, Wokingham Town, Luton Town, Heracles Almelo, Millwall, Reading, Grimsby Town, Crewe Alexandra, Stoke City, Hibernian, Airdrieonians, Darlington, Hayes, Slough Town and Windsor & Eton.

## Career

Holsgrove was born in Wellington, Shropshire and began his career with Aldershot. He played for the Shots four times, after which he dropped into non-League, playing for Farnborough Town and Wokingham Town. Following failed trials at Wimbledon and West Bromwich Albion he joined Luton Town. Holsgrove only played twice for the Hatters in two seasons at Kenilworth Road and then decided to move to the Netherlands to play for Eerste Divisie side Heracles Almelo. Holsgrove played 21 times for "Heraclieden" scoring six goals for the 1991–92 season before returning to England. He joined Millwall in August 1993 where he played 15 times in 1992–93 but injury kept him out of the 1993–94 season. He joined Reading in August 1994 and played 29 times in 1994–95 scoring four goals. He played in 37 games in 1995–96 and 17 times in 1996–97 before finding himself out of the side in 1997–98. He joined Grimsby Town on loan playing in ten matches in two months.
He left Reading to join Crewe Alexandra on a non-contract basis in November 1997 and played nine times for the Alex before joining Stoke City in January 1998. He played 12 times for Stoke scoring once which came in a 1–1 draw with Ipswich Town on 7 February 1998. He left Stoke after they suffered relegation. In 1998 he moved to Scotland joining Hibernian playing 19 games scoring once. The season after he had a spell playing on loan for Airdrieonians. Paul moved back south of the border before the end of the season. He returned to England joining for Darlington. He then played for Hayes, Slough Town and Windsor & Eton.

## Personal

His father John Holsgrove and brothers Lee Holsgrove and Peter Holsgrove were also professional footballers.
His son, Jordan Holsgrove, has embarked on a career as a professional footballer. Jordan came through Reading's academy and U23 system, and he signed for Spanish club Celta Vigo in September 2020. Jordan was born in Edinburgh while his father played For Hibernian, and he has represented Scotland in youth internationals up to and including under-21.

## Career statistics

Source:
| Club | Season | League | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Aldershot | 1985–86 | Fourth Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Aldershot | 1986–87 | Fourth Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aldershot | 1987–88 | Third Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Aldershot | 1988–89 | Third Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Luton Town | 1990–91 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Luton Town | 1991–92 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Heracles Almelo | 1991–92 | Eerste Divisie | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 |
| Millwall | 1992–93 | First Division | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Millwall | 1993–94 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reading | 1994–95 | First Division | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 4 |
| Reading | 1995–96 | First Division | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| Reading | 1996–97 | First Division | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 |
| Reading | 1997–98 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Grimsby Town (loan) | 1997–98 | Second Division | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 1997–98 | First Division | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Stoke City | 1997–98 | First Division | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| Hibernian | 1998–99 | Scottish First Division | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| Airdrieonians | 1999–2000 | Scottish First Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Darlington | 1999–2000 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Darlington | 2000–01 | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hayes | 2001–02 | Conference National | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| Career Total | Career Total | Career Total | 191 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 216 | 16 |
    A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League Trophy.