The brilliant Matt Holland is a former professional footballer who used to play for AFC Bournemouth, Ipswich Town, and Charlton Athletic. He also played for the Republic of Ireland national team. He now offers his considerable footballing knowledge and experience to the media, and has worked with the BBC, BT Sport, RTÉ, Setanta Sports, and Talksport.

Born in Bury, Holland began his footballing career at the Arsenal academy and then at West Ham United’s academy. He moved up the ranks but didn’t turn out for the first team, and so went on loan to Farnborough Town and then AFC Bournemouth. He joined Bournemouth permanently in 1995 and after making over 100 appearances for the club and captaining the side, he then signed for Ipswich Town in 1997. He made over 300 appearances and captained the Suffolk side in his six years there, helping them to gain promotion to the Premier League in 2000. In 2003 he signed for Charlton Athletic, again going on to captain the side during his six years tenure. He retired from the game in 2009. Although born in England, Holland qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland through his Irish grandmother. He made his international debut in 1999, going on to earn 49 caps over six years, which included being part of their 2002 FIFA World Cup squad.

Holland regularly connects with his legions of followers and fans through Twitter, and Instagram, posting pictures and videos about his footballing and family life.