Grafton Holband
{{short description|Dutch footballer (born 1965)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Grafton Holband
| image =
| image_size =
| fullname = Lionel Grafton Holband{{cite web |title=Matches Holband, Grafton Holband {{!}} BDFutbol |url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en//p/j63124.html |website=BDFutbol |access-date=9 August 2024}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|2|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Paramaribo, Suriname
| height =
| position = Midfielder
| currentclub =
| clubnumber =
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 = GRC Groningen
| years1 = 1983–1985
| clubs1 = GRC Groningen
| caps1 =
| goals1 =
| years2 = 1985–1986
| clubs2 = Jong Groningen
| caps2 =
| goals2 =
| years3 = 1986–1988
| clubs3 = GRC Groningen
| caps3 =
| goals3 =
| years4 = 1988–1989
| clubs4 = Hoogeveen
| caps4 =
| goals4 =
| years5 = 1989–1994
| clubs5 = Groningen
| caps5 = 109
| goals5 = 6
}}
Lionel Grafton Holband (born 25 February 1965) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Eredivisie league club Groningen between 1989 and 1994.{{Worldfootball.net|grafton-holband}}
Career
Lionel Grafton Holband was born on 25 February 1975 in Paramaribo, Suriname. During his childhood, he moved with his family from the newly independent Suriname to Groningen in the Netherlands, and became a Dutch citizen in 1983.{{cite web |title=Naturalisatie van Baldew, Chittrawatie en 28 anderen |url=https://repository.overheid.nl/frbr/sgd/19821983/0000147084/1/pdf/SGD_19821983_0006061.pdf |website=Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809221520/https://repository.overheid.nl/frbr/sgd/19821983/0000147084/1/pdf/SGD_19821983_0006061.pdf |archive-date=9 August 2024 |page=3 |language=nl |date=8 March 1983 |url-status=live}}
At a young age, Holband moved from GRC to FC Groningen. After a year, he was released and returned to GRC, which was subsequently relegated from the Hoofdklasse. Holband then spent two years playing in Hoogeveen. Reflecting on his return to Groningen, he remarked in February 1990, "Koeman came by last season and said, 'What's done is done.' I was surprised that Groningen took me back, as it had only happened to Claus Boekweg before. But there's a difference: Claus returned as an amateur, while I returned as a professional. Have I improved over the years? I've mainly become mentally stronger."{{cite news |last1=Nielsen |first1=Bouke |title='Mijn tegenspelers hebben tot nu toe een onvoldoende' |url=http://www.dekrantvantoen.nl/vw/article.do?id=NVHN-19900223-AE0019005 |work=Nieuwsblad van het Noorden |date=23 February 1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923230027/http://www.dekrantvantoen.nl/vw/article.do?id=NVHN-19900223-AE0019005 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |page=19 |language=nl}}
During his tenure at Groningen, the team achieved some of its best-ever results in the Eredivisie, finishing third in the 1990–91 season. Hip osteoarthritis forced Holband to retire from professional football in 1994. However, he played one more season at the amateur level for Club Italiano while taking coaching courses.{{cite news |last1=Zweverink |first1=Paul |title=Grafton Holband richt zich nu op trainerschap |url=https://www.dekrantvantoen.nl/vw/article.do?id=NVHN-19940715-AE0026007 |access-date=9 August 2024 |work=Nieuwsblad van het Noorden |date=15 July 1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809220829/https://www.dekrantvantoen.nl/vw/article.do?id=NVHN-19940715-AE0026007 |archive-date=9 August 2024 |page=26 |language=nl}}
After his playing career, Holband served as a youth coach at Groningen from 1994 to 2011.{{cite web |title=Grafton Holband verlaat FC Groningen |url=https://www.fcgroningen.nl/nieuws/grafton-holband-verlaat-fc-groningen/ |website=FC Groningen |access-date=9 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809214111/https://www.fcgroningen.nl/nieuws/grafton-holband-verlaat-fc-groningen/ |archive-date=9 August 2024 |language=nl-NL |date=3 March 2011}}
References
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Category:Footballers from Paramaribo
Category:Dutch men's footballers
Category:Men's association football midfielders
Category:Vierde Divisie players
Category:Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands
Category:20th-century Dutch sportsmen
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