Arthur Holt

Holt was born in Southampton in April 1911. He represented Southampton Schoolboys, before turning out for Bitterne Congregational in the Church League. Moving to Totton in the Hampshire League he came to the notice of Southampton, whom he joined in September 1931 as an amateur, before signing as a professional in October 1932. He made his first-team debut away to Manchester United on 7 January 1933 as centre-forward in place of Ted Drake, who was suffering from influenza. Despite scoring twice in five games, he lost his place to Drake and only made three more appearances in the 1932–33 season. In the following season, he established his place in the side, playing as an inside-forward alongside Drake, Dick Neal, Tommy Brewis and Fred Tully. It soon became obvious to manager George Kay that in Holt and Drake "Saints possessed two extremely promising young forwards". He was "a punchy, enterprising player" and was "reputed to be one of the hardest kickers of a dead ball in the Football League". Over the next few seasons he remained a stalwart in the forward line as other players came and went as Saints struggled both on the pitch and financially. His best season was 1935–36 when, now supporting Vic Watson, he scored 13 goals (to Watson's 14). The 7–2 home win over Nottingham Forest on 15 February 1936 was the first time that two Southampton players had scored hat-tricks in the same match, with both Holt and Watson scoring hat-tricks, along with Dick Neal scoring a seventh in…

Playing career

A club cricketer in Southampton for Deanery Cricket Club, he represented Hampshire at youth level, prior to joining the staff at Hampshire in 1934. He made his debut in first-class cricket for Hampshire against Somerset at Taunton in the 1935 County Championship. He made seven appearances that season, scoring 174 runs. In the season that followed, he made just three first-class appearances. He managed to establish himself in the Hampshire side during the 1937 season, making sixteen appearances in the County Championship. scoring 586 runs. Notably that season against Surrey at The Oval, he made 78 in Hampshire's first innings in a third wicket partnership of 122 with Johnny Arnold, while in their second innings he made 64 in a stand of 125 for the second wicket with Arthur Pothecary. Hampshire would go onto win the match by 71 runs. His first game in the following season was against Leicestershire at Leicester, with Holt scoring his maiden first-class century, making 116 and partnering Neil McCorkell in an opening stand of 101. He played eight times for Hampshire in 1938, and in the season before the war, he made eleven appearances, all in the County Championship. He scored his second first-class century in 1939, making 115 against Warwickshire and adding 137 for the fourth wicket Johnny Arnold. During the war, he played a number of exhibition matches for, including for a British Empire XI in 1944. Following the war, he returned to play first-class…

In 1946, Holt established Holt & Haskell Limited, a sports retailers in Shirley, Southampton. The business operated until 2022, specialising in the sale of cricket clothing and equipment, and was one of the United Kingdom's leading cricket specialists. He was known to provide friends with large discounts on the goods he sold. Holt died at Southampton in July 1994, following a short illness. In 2004, the Second XI pavilion on the Nursery Ground at Hampshire's new Rose Bowl ground was named The Arthur Holt Pavilion in his memory.