Salford-born defender, who started his career under Sam Allardyce at Bolton before moving onto Oldham after a successful loan period. He made over 100 first-team appearances for Oldham before joining Peterborough United in 2005. He was made captain but, with his contract close to expiry, he was transferred to Falkirk in January 2007 for an undisclosed fee. Holden is nominally a right back but can also play as a centre back or left back. He occasionally played in central midfield while with Peterborough, largely due to the absence of Paul Garden.

Despite his English birth and having played for the England Youth team, Holden qualifies to represent Northern Ireland through his grandparents (from Omagh) and was called up to their full squad for the first time in June 2007. in January 2008, Holden broke his leg in a game against Celtic but came back and played 22 games before being released at the end of last season. Holden signed a two-year contract with Shrewsbury on 26 June 2009.