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For the musician of the same name see Gary Holt (musician)

Gary James Holt (born March 9, 1973) is a Scottish defensive midfielder for Nottingham Forest and a former Scottish International player, who received 10 caps and scored 1 goal ([1]).

He came late to professional football, having had a spell in the army as a chef prior to joining Celtic. He did not play for the Bhoys first team and moved on to Stoke City. After a brief stay in the Potteries, Holt returned to his roots, joining boyhood favourites Kilmarnock where he excelled in the Ayrshire team's most consistent period of success since the 1960s and where he set up home in his place of birth with his wife in the Bourtreehill part of Irvine. Despite his excellent form with Kilmarnock, international recognition proved elusive, and Holt briefly explored the option of playing for Canada in 1998. However, it eventually emerged Holt wasn't eligible for the North Americans, and their loss was Scotland's gain as he gained his first cap a year later.

In 2001, Norwich City paid £135,000 for his transfer south. In his four years at Carrow Road Holt played almost 200 games for the club, helped the club reach the F.A. Premiership and was voted Norwich City player of the year in 2001/2 before a move to Nottingham Forest in 2005. His transfer to Forest was a player exchange deal that saw French right-back Mattieu Louis-Jean join Norwich City. Holt's final season with Norwich City was a difficult one. After playing well in Division one for his first three seasons with the club and helping them win promotion in 2004, he found playing in the premiership difficult and struggled to adapt to the higher level. Manager Nigel Worthington was criticised by supporters for keeping Holt in the team too long that season when it was clear that he was struggling. His form - along with the poor form of the team as a whole - caused frustration for the supporters. Some supporters made Holt a scapegoat for the team's struggles and Holt revealed towards the end of that 2004-05 season that he had received anonymous hate-mail earlier in the campaign.

Holt's aim for 2007 will be to help revive Nottingham Forest and return them to The Championship, although his poor form this season has made him an un-popular figure at the City Ground

• Gary Holt career stats at Soccerbase
• Career Information at Ex-Canaries.co.uk

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