Ian Scott Holloway was born on 12 March 1963 and is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town.
46 Facts About Ian Holloway
2.
Ian Holloway spent most of his career at boyhood club Bristol Rovers where he had three spells which included the start and finish of his playing career.
3.
Ian Holloway was part of the Wimbledon team that won promotion to the top flight in 1986, a place they would remain for the next fourteen seasons.
4.
Ian Holloway played in the Football League with Brentford and Torquay United.
5.
Ian Holloway has managed Queens Park Rangers, Plymouth Argyle, Leicester City, Blackpool, Crystal Palace and Millwall.
6.
On 6 January 2014, Ian Holloway signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Millwall; this was terminated in March 2015.
7.
Ian Holloway rejoined Queens Park Rangers as manager on 11 November 2016.
8.
Ian Holloway is known by the nickname "Ollie", which is the title of his autobiography.
9.
Ian Holloway has a reputation amongst football fans for his West Country accent, off-the-wall interviews and amusing answers to questions from the media, with a wide selection of quotes and soundbites being printed.
10.
Ian Holloway went to Sir Bernard Lovell School in Oldland Common at the same time that Gary Penrice was at Chase School for Boys in Mangotsfield.
11.
Ian Holloway began his playing career as an apprentice with his hometown team Bristol Rovers, turning professional in March 1981 and making his league debut the same year.
12.
Ian Holloway usually played on the right side of midfield, and made his name as one of the more promising players in the Third Division.
13.
Ian Holloway spent five seasons at QPR, playing more than 150 games for the club, before returning to Bristol Rovers for the third time in August 1996, this time as player-manager.
14.
Ian Holloway took over a club that was struggling both on and off the pitch.
15.
Ian Holloway retired as a player following that season, having played more than 400 matches for Bristol Rovers, to concentrate fully on management.
16.
Ian Holloway failed to do so, as QPR finished second from bottom and were relegated to the third level for the first time in 34 years.
17.
Ian Holloway was suspended as manager by Queens Park Rangers on 6 February 2006.
18.
On 28 June 2006, Ian Holloway became the manager of Plymouth Argyle, and promised to take the club to the Premier League.
19.
Ian Holloway's departure was met with negativity from Argyle fans.
20.
On 7 February 2008, in a buildup to a match against Plymouth at the Walkers Stadium, Argyle chairman Paul Stapleton spoke negatively of Ian Holloway for allowing several high-profile players to leave the club before joining Leicester.
21.
The appointment was confirmed later the same day with Ian Holloway signing a one-year contract with the club.
22.
Ian Holloway described the achievement as the best moment of his life, aside from seeing his children born.
23.
Ian Holloway was made aware of the fine over the phone while playing golf with his wife at Shawhill Golf Club in Chorley.
24.
Ian Holloway offered his resignation to Karl Oyston, but it was rejected.
25.
Ian Holloway marked his century of games in charge of Blackpool with a victory, the 37th of his reign, over Ipswich Town at Bloomfield Road on 10 September 2011.
26.
In May 2012, Ian Holloway guided Blackpool into The Championship play-offs for the second time in as many seasons in the division.
27.
On 3 November 2012, Ian Holloway agreed to join Crystal Palace as manager, although caretaker manager Curtis Fleming remained in charge of the team for the match on that day.
28.
On 11 November 2016, Ian Holloway was appointed as manager of Queens Park Rangers for a second spell replacing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
29.
Ian Holloway made a host of signings that included his former Blackpool players Billy Clarke and Elliot Grandin.
30.
Ian Holloway made wholesale changes to the Grimsby side over the summer which included seven loan signings, despite only having the ability to name five in a match day squad.
31.
Ian Holloway hit out at the consortium by saying that he was finding it increasingly hard to do his job.
32.
Ian Holloway announced he was backing away from his director duties to concentrate on his position as manager and would be using social media more often to communicate with supporters, claiming that he would not be going anywhere unless told so.
33.
Ian Holloway had been in charge just under a year, leaving them 20th in League Two with only five wins from nineteen games.
34.
On 12 January 2021, Grimsby Town became the first football club in England to be fined for breaking COVID-19 protocol after it was revealed that Ian Holloway had played darts with some of his players at the club's training ground.
35.
Ian Holloway was like that all-powerful person that no-one dare question.
36.
Ian Holloway stated he would be interested in a return to management but only at EFL Championship level.
37.
In February 2023, Ian Holloway applied for and was interviewed for the vacancy at Scottish Premiership side Motherwell, although the board eventually chose Stuart Kettlewell.
38.
The twins were born profoundly deaf, as both Ian Holloway and Kim had a recessive form of a certain gene meaning that there was a higher chance that they would have deaf children.
39.
Ian Holloway has learned sign language, and his quirky media-friendly quotes have made him a high-profile campaigner on deaf issues and concerns.
40.
Ian Holloway revealed that he'd learnt of the suicide of one of his best friends earlier in the day.
41.
Ian Holloway is well known for his comments in post-match interviews, which are often quoted in the national media.
42.
In June 2005 a book of his quotes, "Let's Have Coffee: The Tao of Ian Holloway", was published; and in June 2006 he came 15th in a Time Out poll of funniest Londoners.
43.
Ian Holloway wrote the foreword for The Official Bristol Rovers Quiz Book, published in November 2008.
44.
Ian Holloway is an Honorary Patron of the anti-racist organisation Show Racism the Red Card.
45.
Ian Holloway attended an educational event at Bloomfield Road in 2009 along with then Blackpool club captain Jason Euell, who had just recently been the victim of racist abuse.
46.
Ian Holloway cited, in an interview to BBC programme Football Focus, that part of his decision to move to Crystal Palace was to be closer to family following the expectation of his first grandchild.