Omar Holness

Omar Holness
Personal information
Full name Omar Duke Holness[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-13) 13 March 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Kingston, Jamaica
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Hednesford Town
Youth career
2009–2011 Real Mona
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 North Carolina Tar Heels 59 (5)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Portland Timbers U23s 5 (1)
2016–2017 Real Salt Lake 18 (1)
2016–2017 → Real Monarchs (loan) 9 (0)
2018 Bethlehem Steel 9 (2)
2019 San Roque 1 (0)
2019–2021 Darlington 38 (4)
2021–2022 Bath City 26 (1)
2023 Gloucester City 3 (0)
2023 Jaro 6 (1)
2024– Hednesford Town 14 (0)
International career‡
2011 Jamaica U17 8 (0)
2012–2013 Jamaica U20 6 (1)
2014–2015 Jamaica U23 6 (1)
2014– Jamaica 5 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Jamaica
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Runner-up 2015 United States–Canada Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:15, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 09:30, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

Omar Duke Holness (born 13 March 1994) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Northern Premier League Division One West club Hednesford Town[2] and the Jamaican national team.

Holness played college soccer in the United States before being drafted by Major League Soccer outfit Real Salt Lake in 2016. He also played for USL team Bethlehem Steel before joining English club Darlington in 2019. He later played for Bath City and Gloucester City in England and Jaro in Finland before returning to English football with Hednesford Town in 2024. In international football, he played for Jamaica at youth levels and has been capped five times for the senior team.

Career

College and amateur

On 22 May 2013, it was announced that Holness committed to the University of North Carolina. In his first season with the Tar Heels, he made 20 appearances and finished the year with two goals and three assists. One of his two goals came on 21 November in a 1–0 win over the University of South Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.[3]

Holness also spent time with Portland Timbers U23s in the USL Premier Development League.[4]

Professional club career

Real Salt Lake

Holness was drafted in the first round of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft (5th overall) by Real Salt Lake.[5]

Bethlehem Steel

In January 2018, Holness signed for Bethlehem Steel FC of the USL.[6] Bethlehem Steel released Holness at the end of the 2018 season.[7]

Darlington

Holness signed for English National League North (sixth-tier) club Darlington on his 25th birthday.[8] He started in their next match, a 2–1 win away to Nuneaton Borough; he was involved in the first goal but was sent off late in the match for a second yellow card.[9]

On 9 November 2019, Holness scored Darlington's first goal as they held League Two side Walsall to a 2–2 draw in the first round of the FA Cup.[10] He also scored the winner as Darlington beat National League team Solihull Moors 1–0 in the FA Trophy first round replay.[11] At the end of the curtailed season he was offered terms for a further season but did not accept, and left the club having made 34 National League North appearances.[12][13] Holness rejoined Darlington on 16 October 2020 on non-contract terms,[14] and played in 11 matches, 7 in cup competitions and 4 in the National League North, whose season was again ended early because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][15]

Bath City

Holness joined National League South club Bath City on 13 June 2021.[16] His first goal for the club, an 82nd-minute header, secured an FA Cup second qualifying round win against ninth-tier opponents Shaftesbury.[17]

Gloucester City

On 25 March 2023, Holness signed with National League North club Gloucester City.

FF Jaro

In July 2023, Holness joined Ykkönen side Jaro until the end of the season.[18] On 25 June 2023, Holness signed a professional contract with Ykkönen side FF Jaro, scoring his first goal for the team three weeks later against HIFK in a 3–0 win at Jakobstads Centralplan stadium. He left the club at the end of 2023.

Hednesford Town

Holness signed for Northern Premier League Division One West club Hednesford Town in July 2024.[19]

International career

Holness represented Jamaica at both the under-17 and under-20 level.[13] On 5 September 2014, he received his first senior call up to the Jamaica national team.[20][21] He made his debut on 9 September in a 3–1 defeat to Canada.[22]

Personal

In February 2018 Holness received a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[23] Holness completed his undergraduate degree in December 2022 from UNC-Chapel Hill. [24]

References

  1. ^ "Jamaica's 40 player provisional list to Copa Centenario". Jamaica Football Federation. 3 May 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "Hednesford Town – Appearances – Omar Holness". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Carolina Advances 1–0 Over USF In NCAA First Round". GoHeels.com. University of North Carolina. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  4. ^ "2014 Portland Timbers U23s stats". USLsoccer.com. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  5. ^ Kamrani, Christopher (15 January 2016). "Real Salt Lake snags its guy at No. 5 in UNC midfielder Omar Holness". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Bethlehem Steel FC add midfielder Omar Holness". bethlehemsteelfc.com. 9 January 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Bethlehem Steel FC announces roster moves with 2019 in mind". bethlehemsteelfc.com. 19 November 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  8. ^ Simpson, Ray (13 March 2019). "Quakers sign midfielder Omar Holness". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  9. ^ Stoddart, Craig (23 March 2019). "Report: Nuneaton Borough 1 Darlington 2". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Walsall 2–2 Darlington". BBC Sport. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  11. ^ Stoddart, Craig (8 January 2020). "Quakers stun Solihull in FA Trophy: Darlington 1 Solihull Moors 0". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  12. ^ Simpson, Ray (30 May 2020). "Status of Darlington FC players". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
    Simpson, Ray (3 October 2020). "The 203 day wait is finally over!". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  13. ^ a b c "O. Holness". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  14. ^ Simpson, Ray (16 October 2020). "Omar signs for Quakers for the second time". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  15. ^ Williams, Adam (19 February 2021). "National League North and South seasons null and void: 'It's a bit of a nightmare'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Player News - Omar Holness". Bath City F.C. 13 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Late Holness header secures FA Cup win". Bath City F.C. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  18. ^ "OMAR HOLNESS JA FF JARO SOPIVAT LOPPUKAUDEN 2023 KATTAVASTA SOPIMUKSESTA!" (in Finnish). FF Jaro. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Hednesford Town sign Omar Holness". Hednesford Town F.C. 16 July 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Jamaica squad to face Canada". Jamaica Football Federation. 5 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ Fellwock, Laura (8 September 2014). "Holness called to Jamaican National Team". GoHeels.com. North Carolina Athletic Communications. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  22. ^ "Boxscore: Canada Men's National Team vs Jamaica 09/09/2014". MLS Soccer. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  23. ^ "Steel FC's Omar Holness Receives Green Card". Philadelphia Union. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  24. ^ https://goheels.com/news/2022/12/19/mens-soccer-player-to-coach-to-unc-graduate-why-omar-holness-came-back