Stuart Holden

Sunderland

After playing two seasons of college soccer at Clemson University, Holden signed with English club Sunderland in early 2005. On March 12, Holden was attacked outside a bar in Newcastle because he was a Sunderland player, leaving him with a fractured left eye socket, which prevented him from training with the club for two months. When Holden resumed training, he suffered an ankle injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season. Holden was released after his six-month stay having never played for Sunderland's first team.

Houston Dynamo

Holden returned to the United States to play in Major League Soccer with the Houston Dynamo for the 2006 season. He made his MLS debut on May 27, 2006, and scored his first professional goal on July 22, 2006, in a 1–1 home draw against New England. He appeared thirteen times in the 2006 regular season and twice as a substitute in Houston's run to the MLS Cup 2006 championship. In the championship penalty shootout, Holden took the Dynamo's second shot and scored to the top right corner. Holden's playing time increased in the 2007 season. He mostly started on the left wing when teammate Brad Davis went down with injury. In July, Holden scored goals on consecutive Thursday night games and added three assists in league play and another in SuperLiga play, as of July 25. In Holden's final season with the Houston Dynamo, he finished the season with over 30 games played, 6 goals and 4 assists. He was named to Major…

Holden was capped 11 times as a United States youth international at the U-20 level, scoring two goals, the first being on July 18, 2004, in a 2–2 home draw against Denmark U-20 in the 2004 Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. and the other on June 24, 2004, in a 1–2 defeat against Brazil U-20 in the Busan Four Nations International Youth Tournament. Early in 2007, Holden was called in to the U.S. U-23 squad for a camp in California and in December for a camp and trip to China to play matches against the China U-23 team. In July 2008, Holden was named to the U.S. squad competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On August 7, he scored in the U.S.'s opening match, a 1–0 victory against Japan. In December 2008 Holden was called into a camp set to begin in January 2009 preceding a friendly against Sweden on January 24. He sustained a hip injury prior to the friendly and was forced to withdraw from camp. Gold Cup Holden was named to the United States Gold Cup squad on June 25, 2009, as nearly all of the senior regulars were rested following the Confederations Cup. Holden scored a goal for the U.S. in his national team debut against Grenada on July 4, 2009. On July 11, 2009, Holden scored his second international goal against Haiti with a thirty-yard strike that tied the game in the ninety-second minute, and assisted the U.S.'s first goal in that match, which was scored by Davy Arnaud. Holden added two more assists in the 2–0 semi-final win against Honduras. Stuart was selected to the Gold…

Upon retiring from professional soccer, Holden pursued a career in TV and has become one of the top voices of soccer in North America. He worked as an analyst for ESPN and NBC in 2014, before signing exclusively with Fox Sports 1 in 2016. Holden has also done work as a host, where he had a series with Steve Nash called 'Speak Responsibly'. Fox Sports Holden first started working with Fox Sports in 2014, working on all of their marquee soccer properties (UEFA Champions League, MLS, FIFA, FA Cup, Europa League). He made a sharp rise in the TV business and within two years has established himself as Fox's lead color commentator across multiple soccer properties. On April 25, 2018, Fox announced that he will be their lead color commentator for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He partnered in the booth with John Strong, and the pair traveled throughout Russia calling the tournament's biggest games, including the 2018 World Cup Final on July 15, 2018, featuring Croatia and France. The duo continue to call games as Fox's #1 broadcast team for MLS, USMNT, and 2022 FIFA World Cup matches. The duo went on to call the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where they were assigned the tournament’s marquee matches throughout the group stage and knockout rounds, culminating in the 2022 World Cup Final on December 18, 2022 — one of the most watched matches in American television history — as Argentina defeated France on penalties. Strong and Holden have now called two consecutive World Cup…

Holden was born in Cults, Aberdeen and grew up in Sugar Land, Texas after moving there with his family at age 10. His father worked for Chevron Corporation in its human resources department. He played high school soccer in Houston for Awty International School. He graduated from Awty in 2003 and attended April 22, 2008 opening ceremony of the Awty athletic complex. He played soccer for Clemson University and also played Counter-Strike professionally for Forsaken before his MLS career.