Holtham attended
West Bridgford School and was said to have shone in
football from an early age. She started playing her club football with
West Bridgford Colts alongside
English cricketer and
Women's Ashes winner
Jenny Gunn. but due to age restrictions had to stop playing in 'mixed teams'. To overcome this problem her dad set up West Bridgford Colts Girls. Holtham advanced to playing for
Lincoln City in the
FA Women's Premier League Northern Division, then signed for
Bristol Rovers in 2004. After becoming captain of the 'Gas Girls' Holtham signed for
Charlton Athletic in 2006. In her first season
Charlton were beaten 4–1 by quadruple-winning
Arsenal in the final of the
FA Women's Cup. This was despite Holtham opening the scoring after two minutes, before a record crowd of 24,529 at the
City Ground in her home town of
Nottingham. Holtham joined
Leeds Carnegie that summer when
Charlton Athletic FC scrapped their women's team after being relegated from the
FA Premier League. In her first season at
Leeds Carnegie she returned to
Nottingham for the
FA Women's Cup final, but again lost out 4–1 to
Arsenal. She scored in a 3–1
Premier League Cup final win over
Everton on 11 February 2010, to help
Leeds Carnegie win their first major silverware. With
Leeds Carnegie's future uncertain, Holtham departed to play the 2010 summer season with professional
W-League club
Buffalo Flash. She scored three goals in seven matches as the Flash stayed unbeaten and won the league. She was awarded the club
captaincy and finished the WSL season playing as a central defender. In October 2011 Holtham moved to Australian
W-League outfit
Perth Glory. She captured the club Players' Player of the Year award after making nine appearances for Perth, in central defence and then in midfield. Holtham returned to captain The Belles in the
2012 FA WSL, but rejected a contract extension at the end of the season. A transfer to
Chelsea Ladies was announced in January 2013. A year later Holtham moved again, returning to Nottingham to sign for Notts County, who were managed by her former Leeds boss Rick Passmoor. Holtham joined
Adelaide United in September 2014 for the
2014 season. ==International career==