Early career Holt began his career as a youth player at his hometown club
Carlisle United, but joined
Workington after being released aged 18. Following success at Workington he signed for
Halifax Town in the
Third Division. He scored one goal for Halifax in the
Football League Cup against
Tranmere Rovers, He had
trials with full-time teams but did not get signed until 2003, when
Sheffield Wednesday signed him in March 2003. He made 30 appearances, half of them as a substitute, but only managed four goals. Holt dropped down to
League Two, signing for
Rochdale, for whom he made 83 appearances and scored 42 goals. Holt views his time at Rochdale as his major break-through. However, despite being on the bench for approximately half of Forest's matches in the
2006–07 season, he managed to score 18 goals in all competitions to become the club's top scorer. Forest fans recognised Holt's performances by handing him the 'Player of the Season' award. In the summer of 2007, Holt and Forest boss
Colin Calderwood reached an "uneasy truce" after the striker had a transfer request rebuffed, when Forest refused to give him an improved contract. Holt made it clear that he would be "happy to stay" with Forest for the
2007–08 campaign, while Calderwood admitted "he's not a player we want to see leave". He made four substitute appearances before returning to Forest in the summer of 2008, saying he would like to stay and fight for his place in Forest's team next season, despite interest being shown from his home town club
Carlisle United.
Shrewsbury Town On 24 June 2008,
Shrewsbury Town broke their club transfer record by signing Holt for £170,000. Holt opened his scoring account for the Shrews on his debut, scoring from the penalty spot against
Macclesfield Town, in a game the Shrews won 4–0. On 7 October 2008, in a
Football League Trophy second round match against
Wycombe Wanderers, Holt scored five goals in the Shrews' 7–0 win. In the March 2009 edition of
FourFourTwo, it was stated that Holt was the player to cover the greatest distance per game in both Leagues One and Two, averaging 4.8 kilometres per game. At the end of the season, Holt finished as joint-top scorer with
Jack Lester for League Two, with 20 League goals, as well as, winning
League Two Player of the Year, Shrewsbury Town Player of the Year and named in the League Two
PFA Team of the Year for the
2008–09 season.
Norwich City On 24 July 2009, Holt transferred to
Norwich City after Shrewsbury Town accepted an undisclosed bid, thought to be £400,000. Holt signed a three-year contract with the option of a further year at
Carrow Road. Holt made his debut in the heavy 7–1 opening day defeat to
Colchester United at
Carrow Road, and scored his first Norwich goals with a hat-trick against
Yeovil Town in a first round
League Cup tie on 11 August 2009. His first league goals came with a brace against
Wycombe Wanderers on 22 August 2009. Starting with that game, new manager
Paul Lambert made Holt team captain. He won the League One Player of the Month award for October 2009, for "excellent performances throughout October", a month in which he scored "an impressive five goals in as many league fixtures". He reached the landmark of 20 goals for the season in the home game against
Millwall on 26 December 2009. Holt received his first red card for Norwich City against
Brentford on 23 January 2010. He finished the season winning the Norwich City Player of the Year award, having scored 30 goals in 44 appearances in total, as the club finished as champions of
League One and earned promotion to the
Championship. Holt scored his first goals of the
2010–11 season in the League Cup first round against
Gillingham, netting a brace. His first league goal of the season came during stoppage time in a 1–0 away win over
Scunthorpe United on 14 August 2010. He scored his first league hat-trick against local rivals
Ipswich Town on 28 November 2010. During his time at Norwich he passed the landmark of 150 career goals with a penalty in the first minute in the 3–1 win over
Bristol City. He reached the landmark of 50 goals for Norwich City on 2 April 2011 when he scored a hat trick in a 6–0 win against
Scunthorpe United at Carrow Road. He was then nominated for the Championship Player of the Year in 2011, but was beaten by
Adel Taarabt. He was the winner of Norwich's player of the season for a second consecutive year as the club were automatically promoted to the
Premier League. Holt started the first game of the
2011–12 Premier League season in Norwich's 1–1 draw at
Wigan Athletic, partnering
Steve Morison in attack, meaning he had played in all four English divisions. He scored his first Premier League goal in the third game of the season, scoring against
Chelsea following an error by the goalkeeper
Henrique Hilário. For the first part of the season Holt was used mainly as a substitute, becoming a regular starter again later in the campaign, scoring 15 league goals and being voted the
player of the year for the third season in succession. He was inducted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame on 20 March 2012. Holt's impressive opening season in the Premier League earned him much acclaim by pundits and managers alike and even conjured talk of a possible place in
Roy Hodgson's first
England squad for the
2012 European Championship. On 18 May 2012, Holt handed in a transfer request six days after being voted Norwich's
Player of the Season for the third year running; the request was immediately rejected by Norwich City. On 1 June, Holt reiterated his request to depart Norwich City via his Twitter account, before signing a new three-year contract with the club on 3 July. He played in 34 league games during the 2012–13 season, scoring eight goals for the club as they again retained their place in the Premier League, including a goal in his final game for the club; a 3–2 victory against
Manchester City at the
Etihad Stadium.
Wigan Athletic Holt joined
Wigan Athletic on a three-year deal, on 8 July 2013, for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £2 million. He made his Wigan debut on 3 August 2013 and scored in a 4–0 away win against
Barnsley. He then scored a penalty in an eventual 2–2 draw with
Middlesbrough. On 14 January 2014, Holt joined
Aston Villa on loan until the end of the
2013–14 season. Holt made his Aston Villa debut five days later, coming on as a substitute for
Gabriel Agbonlahor in the 49th minute, in a 2–2 draw against
Liverpool. Holt then scored his first Aston Villa goal, in a 2–1 loss against
Fulham on 5 April 2014. Holt went to make ten appearances and score once before returning to Wigan at the end of the season. On 27 September 2014, Holt joined
Huddersfield Town on an initial emergency loan until 8 November 2014. Holt made his Huddersfield Town debut the same day, coming on as a substitute for
Lee Peltier in the 64th minute, in a 2–1 win over
Millwall. His first goal for the club came in their 4–2 win over
Blackpool at the
John Smith's Stadium on 18 October 2014. Following his first goal, Holt had his loan spell with Huddersfield Town extended until 28 December 2014. On 28 December 2014, Holt returned to his parent club Wigan. This came after Holt had a successful operation on his knee, though it kept him out for nine months. On 30 October 2015, he moved on loan to Championship side
Wolverhampton Wanderers until 2 January 2016.
Later career On 18 February 2016, Holt joined
Rochdale until the end of the season. Holt then signed a one-year contract with Scottish club
Hibernian in June 2016. He scored seven goals in 39 appearances for Hibs during the 2016–17 season, as the team won the
2016–17 Scottish Championship. Holt was released by Hibs in May 2017, at the end of his contract. Less than a month later, his former club
Barrow made an approach for him to join as a player-coach, with Holt moving to the club in the higher level
National League. On 16 July 2018, it was announced that Holt would be leaving Barrow. He played three games for
Wroxham in the
2019–20 Eastern Counties Football League and scored two goals, one of which was against
South Normanton Athletic in the
FA Vase. Holt made three more appearances for Wroxham in January 2022, playing in defence. In February 2024, he was part of a consortium that formed a partnership with
Dereham Town. As part of this, he was registered as a player. == Coaching career ==