Craig Holloway

DOB: 10th August 1984

Position: Goalkeeper

Season of first appearance: 2012/13

Season of last appearance: 2019/20

Full Appearances: 117

Substitute: 0

Goals: 0

Clean Sheets: 26

Also played for:

West Ham United (0), Arsenal (0), Crawley Town, Farnborough Town, Southend United (0), Gravesend & Northfleet, Ebbsfleet United, Bromley, Braintree Town, Chelmsford City, Thurrock, Concord Rangers, Welling United, Greenwich Borough.

Player Profile:

Blackheath-born keeper who started out in West Ham's School of Excellence before moving into Arsenal's youth set up as an 11-year-old in 1995.

By 1999/00, Craig was a regular in the Gunners' Under-17's side and at the end of that season he was an unused substitute in both legs of the FA Youth Cup Final that Arsenal won by beating Coventry. Craig then played in both legs as the Gunners beat Blackburn to win the trophy again during the 2000/01 campaign.

He was part of the side that won the Premier League Academy Under-19 Championship during 2001/02 and Craig also made his first appearances in Arsenal's reserve team that season. He made his debut for them as a substitute in a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest on 26.9.01 and the Gunners' side that day included future Margate player Greg Oates.

During 2002/03 and 2003/04, Craig made numerous reserve team appearances as well as featuring as a substitute for Arsenal's first-team on a handful of occasions. He also had a loan spell with Crawley that started in November 2003 and towards the end of 2003/04 Craig had a trial with Colchester and played in a friendly for them. He was released by Arsenal when the season ended.

In June 2004, Craig signed for Conference club Farnborough Town and in January 2005 they loaned him to League Two club Southend. Craig spent two months with the Shrimpers but never featured in Southend's first-team.

He left Farnborough at the end of the 2004/05 campaign having made 30 Conference appearances and Craig also played for England's Non-League team during the season.

In July 2005, he joined Gravesend & Northfleet and Craig made 33 Conference appearances for them during 2005/06 before injury brought a premature end to his campaign. He was still with the club when it changed its name to Ebbsfleet for the 2006/07 season but Craig left the Fleet in June 2007. He'd played for England's Non-League side again during his time at Stonebridge Road.

Craig then had a spell out of football due to a bad injury but in March 2008 he linked up with Bromley where he played twice in the Conference South before the end of the 2007/08 campaign.

In the summer of 2008, Craig joined Braintree and featured in 40 Conference South games for them during 2008/09.

In July 2009, he was on the move again and signed for Chelmsford shortly after featuring in two friendlies for Brentford during a trial there. Craig made 17 Conference South appearances for Chelmsford before asking for a transfer and rejoining Braintree in December 2009.

He made 23 league appearances for the Iron during the remainder of the 2009/10 season.

Craig left Braintree again in July 2010 and linked up with Bromley. His second spell with the Conference South outfit lasted until the end of the 2010/11 campaign.

Early in July 2011, Craig signed for Thurrock, also of the Conference South, and in November 2011 he had a brief loan spell with Concord Rangers. Craig played once in the Isthmian League Premier Division for the Canvey Island-based club before going back to Thurrock.

In February 2012, he joined Welling and Craig was part of the side that lost to Dartford in the Conference South Play-Off Final in May 2012. In all, he made 15 appearances for the Wings before leaving the club at the end of the 2011/12 season.

In June 2012, Craig signed for Margate and at that time he was working as a goalkeeping coach. He made his debut in a 2-0 win over visitors Hendon in the Isthmian League Premier Division on 18.8.12 and from then on Craig was a fixture in the side. In its report on a 2-0 win at Bognor Regis on 1.9.12 the Thanet Times said that he "had an excellent game" and described Craig as "safety personified".

The Isle of Thanet Gazette said he was in "inspired form" during a 3-0 win over Faversham in an FA Cup tie at Hartsdown Park on 11.9.12 and praised Craig for making "a number of brilliant saves", of which three were from efforts by former Margate striker Danny Hockton. Manager Chris Kinnear told the paper: "He is pure class as a keeper and he brings such confidence to the team."

On 2.10.12, Craig saved a second half penalty in a 6-1 home win over Sittingbourne in the Kent Senior Cup and he'd started each of Margate's first 12 games before missing a 2-0 defeat against Concord Rangers at Hartsdown Park on 9.10.12 due to injury. Craig was back in the side for a 1-1 draw with visitors Lewes on 13.10.12 and then played regularly again.

In its report on a 0-0 draw at East Thurrock on 4.12.12, the Isle of Thanet Gazette said that he was "in no mood to be beaten" and Margate's website praised Craig for "a quite stunning save" in a 2-1 defeat at Concord Rangers on 5.1.13 as he somehow tipped away a shot destined for the top corner of the net.

Later in January 2013, he became Margate's caretaker manager following the departure of Chris Kinnear to Dover and Craig's first match in charge was a 1-0 defeat at Wingate & Finchley on 2.2.13. He continued to turn in consistent performances on the field and Margate's website said Craig made "a brilliant one-handed save" in the second half of a 2-0 win over Leiston at Hartsdown Park on 26.2.13. That game was the first in a run of four where Craig didn't concede a goal. On 23.3.13, he dived full-length to his left to make a great stop from an injury-time penalty as Margate drew 2-2 with visitors Canvey Island and the save was redemption for Craig as his foul had led to it.

At the start of April 2013, he was confirmed as Margate's permanent joint-manager on a contract to the end of the 2013/14 campaign and Craig's managerial partner was Simon Osborn who'd been assisting him up to that point. In his first outing after his appointment, Craig was sent off for bringing down an opponent after 64 minutes of a match at Carshalton on 6.4.13 and Margate went on to lose 4-0.

After playing in a 2-1 home defeat against Kingstonian on 16.4.13, Craig missed a game due to suspension and then opted to sit out a Kent Senior Cup tie against Ebbsfleet before returning to the side for the last match of the season - a 0-0 draw with Harrow at Hartsdown Park on 27.4.13. He finished the campaign having made 46 appearances and Craig kept 13 clean sheets in those games.

Craig made a further 34 appearances for Margate in 2013/14. The season started with two penalty saves in the first two home games, from Carl Rook against Hornchurch on 13.8.13 and against Harrow on 17.8.13. Craig was kicked in the face in an away game against Grays on 21.9.13 - this resulted in an incident which saw Scott Kinch sent off in a game Margate lost 3-0. Craig missed the next match, in the league at Dulwich Hamlet on 24.9.13, through injury but returned for an FA Cup tie against the same opposition on 28.9.13.

The appointment of Terry Brown as manager in December meant Craig stepped down from the post of joint-manager but he continued to play until the signing of Nikki Bull in February. Craig's last game for Margate that season was a 4-1 win at Cray on 4.2.14. He spent the remainder of 2013/14 on loan at Dartford.

Craig then joined Greenwich Borough, becoming a coach in January 2016. He started the 2017/18 season at Sevenoaks Town of the SCEFL, signing for Sheppey United later that season.

He then returned to Margate to work under Jay Saunders as a goalkeeper coach in July 2019 and made a brief return to the first-team in November when regular keeper Joe Tupper was unavailable. On 5.11.19, Craig played in a Kent Senior Cup tie at Hartsdown against Phoenix Sports, which Margate lost 4-1. Craig also played the next match on 9.11.19, a 4-0 defeat at home to Tooting in the FA Trophy.

Craig went on to coach at Welling United and, in 2023/24, was appointed to a similar role at Barnet.