Keith Holden

Charles Keith Holden (31 July 1937 – 10 September 2006) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level for Leigh,^[3] Wigan (two spells),^[4] Oldham RLFC, Warrington and Blackpool Borough, as a centre.^{[1] [5]}

Keith Holden

Personal information
Full name	Charles Keith Holden
Born	(1937-07-31)31 July 1937 Wigan, England
Died	10 September 2006(2006-09-10) (aged 69) Wigan, England
Playing information
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	14 st 4 lb (91 kg)
Position	Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1954–58 Leigh 142 58 0 0 174 1958–61 Wigan 87 36 0 0 108 1960–63 Oldham 62 31 0 0 93 1963–64 Warrington 49 22 0 0 66 1965–68 Wigan 65 22 0 0 66 1968–70 Blackpool Borough 29 2 0 0 6 Total 434 171 0 0 513 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1959–64 Lancashire 2 1 0 0 3 1963 Great Britain 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1][2]

Background

Keith Holden was born in Wigan, Lancashire, England on 31 July 1937. He was the father of the rugby league scrum-half who played in the 1980s for Wigan and Warrington, Keith Holden Jr.

Keith Holden died in Wigan on 10 September 2006, at the age of 69.^[6]

Playing career

Wigan

Holden signed for Wigan from Leigh in 1958 for a transfer fee of £6,660 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £340,000 in 2017).^[7][8] He played in Wigan's victory in the Lancashire League during the 1958–59 season,^[9] and also played left-centre and scored a try in Wigan's 30-13 victory over Hull F.C. in the 1959 Challenge Cup Final during the 1958–59 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 9 May 1959, in front of a crowd of 79,811 .^[10]

Oldham

After nearly two years at Wigan, Holden moved to Oldham for a transfer fee of £7,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £337,200 in 2017).^[7][8] He made 62 appearances for the club before joining Warrington.^[11]

Warrington

Holden made 49 appearances for Warrington, scoring 22 tries.^[12]

Return to Wigan

Holden returned to Wigan in 1965,^[7] he played left-centre and scored a try in the 20-16 victory over Hunslet in the 1965 Challenge Cup Final during the 1964–65 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 8 May 1965, in front of a crowd of 89,016.^[13] Holden played left-centre in Wigan's 16-13 victory over Oldham in the 1966 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1966–67 season at Station Road, Swinton, on Saturday 29 October 1966.^[14] He left Wigan in 1968 and joined Blackpool Borough.

International honours

Keith Holden won a cap for Great Britain while at Warrington in 1963 against Australia.^[1]