Ex-Wanderers Ace Re-lives Broken Leg Agony

Another Broken Leg
By Mark Heys
February 16 2008

It's a case of deja vu for Falkirk defender Dean Holden as it has been confirmed that he will miss the rest of the Scottish Premier League season following a horror tackle by Celtic player Stephen McManus.

Holden was stretchered off with a broken leg during the Bairns 1-0 defeat against Celtic last month and for the 28-year old Salford lad it would mark a flashback to March 2000 when he suffered a similar injury against Sheffield United.

Back then aged 20, he was tipped to be a major player in the Wanderers future success but the injury robbed him of an FA Cup Semi Final appearance against Aston Villa and a long term career at the Reebok Stadium.

He scored on his return to action for the Wanderers in 2001, ironically against Sheffield United, but he could only muster a couple more cup appearances before being allowed to join Oldham Athletic.

Holden played almost 100 games for Oldham, many of which where as captain but an incident with the supporters lead to his hasty departure from Boundary Park.

A two year spell with Peterborough United followed, where he made over 50 appearances for Posh prior to making a move North of the Border last summer in a surprise move.

Despite being capped for England at youth level, Holden was called up to the full Northern Ireland squad last summer but failed to get any playing time for Nigel Worthington's side.

Falkirk manager John Hughes describes Holden as an inspiration and is hopeful of having him back in action sooner rather than later and that is something that the hardcore Wanderers fans would like to echo.