Former Halifax Town player George Holt dies aged 96

He had been the club’s oldest surviving player Football League player.

A nippy inside-forward, Holt was the local lad who made good with his hometown team, and who became a key figure during Halifax Town’s epic FA Cup run of 1952-53 when the side reached the fifth round.

Born in Halifax, Holt was brought up in Southowram and joined crack local side RES Gym.

He gained representative honours with Yorkshire Under 16s and Under 18s before embarking on almost three years’ national service, during which time he represented the reserve side of Aldershot, playing one game in front of 15,000 at Portsmouth.

It was whilst on leave that Holt asked Town boss Jack Breedon for a trial and after just two reserve team outings, was pitched into the side at Mansfield Town on 27 February 1948.

Town lost the game 3-1, whilst injury in that game also marred an otherwise memorable twenty-first birthday for Holt.

He appeared once more for the side the following term before rejoining the forces, and upon completion of his time, returned home and played for another top local side in Shaw Lodge.

It was new Halifax Town boss Billy Wootton who convinced him to play for Halifax Town, and Holt signed as a part-time professional, the status he kept through the remainder of his time with the club.

Holt scored the side’s first goal of Town’s epic 1952-53 FA Cup run, putting his side ahead in their first round meeting with Ashton United, though a replay was needed before Town won through to the second round, where he was also a scorer in the 4-2 defeat of Southport. He was then part of the side which sensationally defeated top flight Cardiff City and Stoke City in front of huge Shay crowds.

But a week before the scheduled match fifth round tie with Tottenham Hotspur, Holt suffered an eye injury in a match with Grimsby Town, and despite manager Gerry Henry pleading with him to play against Spurs, Holt declined, fearing permanent damage to his eye, and without him Town lost the match 3-0.

Missing that game was perhaps the biggest regret of Holt’s time in football, and whilst he returned to the side, he was unfortunate yet again to suffer injury in the first match of

the 1953-54 season.

His torn Achilles would keep him out of the side until December, and further appearances would be but fleeting ones. Despite being retained by the club for the following season, Holt decided to concentrate on his business – he was he was a butcher by trade – and never played again, leaving Halifax Town with 66 appearances and fourteen goals to his name.

He went on to establish the firm of George Holt’s Pies at Southowram, employing up to thirty-two staff, before retiring in 1989. Holt was a keen bowler and in 1968

reached the last sixteen of the Waterloo Championships at Blackpool.