Ian Holloway has fans shedding a tear after giving an emotional heartfelt interview about his children, three of four diagnosed as being deaf.
The former footballer turned manager and pundit has opened up on his experiences of raising deaf children and how it gives him some magic to his life.
In an exclusive interview with JOE, Holloway shares that he has four children, three of them diagnosed as being deaf, and recalls how one of the moments with his children that left him with a “tear in his eye.”
“We were walking back to the place [in the Maldives] and my little daughter, she’s only seven or eight went, ‘what’s wrong?’
“I went, ‘You can’t hear the waves on the…You can’t hear that.” And she went, ‘Oh yeah, but can you see the diamonds dancing on the water?’
“So I stopped thinking like I did and I looked over and Oh my God, exactly what it looked like. We were both hugging and, you know, ‘Don’t worry, Dad. I’m deaf and you know, wow, it’s just different.'”
“You don’t realise what they can teach you.”
Ian Holloway on the marvel of raising deaf children ❤️ pic.twitter.com/SfSIQaeNSw
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 1, 2022
Holloway goes on to explain how that one special moment with his daughter taught him how magic life can be and just how important learning sign language was as communication.
“Because you want to provide and you take everything away, you don’t realise what they can teach you.
“It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle with no picture on the box. They’re wonderful and I’m proud of them.
“I want the world to know that if you’ve got a deaf child, don’t worry, they’ll be fine. But do this because it makes their life easier.”
Ian Holloway has also paid tribute to his wife, Kim, after revealing she’s moved house 48 times during his career.
“Forty-eight times we’ve moved since we’ve been together,” he says.
“That’s your life in football, never in one place for long. She’s allowed me to follow my dreams. But she’s only been in places because I have a need to be there. As a job, I’ve come to realise, it’s all a little bit selfish.”
Holloway, 59, is currently weighing up his next career move after 40 years in football, 25 of those as a manager and has been out of work since departing League Two outfit Grimsby Town in December 2020.
“Maybe it’s time for me to not do that, I don’t know, ” he said.
“I really truly miss it. I believe I’m better now than I’ve ever been.”
On the question is he really still a football manager? He replied: “In my head I am, in my heart I am. But physically? No I’m not. I don’t think you ever say you’re finished, but if people deem me not being worthy of having a job then I’ll have to live with that.”
“That said, you never know what’s round the corner in football.”
So much to enjoy about this @JimW1 interview with Ian Holloway.
🎨 His own paintings
🌵 His wife’s cactus collection
🏡 The garden he built himself
😠 Why Bristolians aren’t taken seriously
🤪 What he learned in Wimbledon’s crazy gang— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) October 28, 2022
He isn’t so sure analogies did him any favours as a manager, as mentioned in an interview with The Telegraph.
“I wish sometimes I’d thought about it a bit more before opening my mouth. You know there’s a Tao of Ian Holloway which collected my sayings together? Some of them don’t make any sense.”
He suggests it’s his distinctive west country accent that informed people’s opinion.
“We Bristolians, we’re dumped in with the Wurzels, combine harvesters and drink up ee zider. I’m very proud of where I’m from, but I have to admit, people don’t take us seriously.”
“Without a shadow of a doubt it’s harder now than when I started,” he says of management. “Until you’ve actually done it, you won’t know. I’m hoping when people read this book they’ll see there’s more to it than you think. Because some of it is total madness.”
On his time at Blackpool, where the chairman Karl Oyston made things as tough as possible, he said: “But I loved my time working with Karl. I used him: I made him the bad cop to my good cop. I knew what he would say, so I had to outthink him, which made my thinking much better. Plus there was only him in the way. At so many clubs these days there’s this hierarchy that seems designed just to stop the manager doing his job.”
“Some of the football my lads played there I’d have paid to watch. The way they improvised around the plan you gave them and made it better was just wonderful.”
🗣️ “That smashed me to bits.”
Ian Holloway explains the issues of being a football manager and balancing it with his personal life. pic.twitter.com/fuqnlx3aX3
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 28, 2022
Reflecting again on life with three profoundly deaf daughters.
“We had to change the way we communicated. We had to get it right. Also seeing that side of the world has really helped me understand how privileged we are who aren’t deprived of a sense. I try to make my players realise how lucky they are and how important it is to make life better for the family with tattoos all over them who spend every last penny they haven’t really got on a club shirt. My Blackpool lot understood it, my Palace lot understood it. Not sure everybody did. But I always used to harp on about that.”
Back on his enthusiasm for football: “This game is such a wonderful game. I want people to understand it belongs to all of us and I want us to cherish it.”
Ian Holloway’s new book ‘How To Be A Football Manager’ was released on the 27th of October 2022. It’s bound to sell well. You’d be silly not to buy it, it’s Ian Holloway for crying out loud. You just know it’s going to be a good read.
As mentioned, Ian Holloway has fans shedding a tear after giving the emotional heartfelt interview on his daughters…
@nathangunn13: That’s tremendous
@El_capitano1888: Massive respect to Holloway 👌🏻
@John10649040: Gas legend!
@lewie_last: Be tough to find someone who doesn’t love olly! Top manager and top bloke.
@Gwenno_U: This has made my morning
@DeafVillage_NW: 7.9 billion people on the planet – every single one of us is different. 💖🌟
@mistyann1984: So much time for this man!!
@CarolineSmith34: Love Olly 💜💜 he’s a gem
@Tange_88: This has touched me knowing I’m doing my very best for my own Daughter. Bsl is a beautiful visual language 💕
@Funkenhoffer: Wasn’t just a great player , top manager he was a really special bloke @IanOllie7 very moving words .
@Tripledeemusic: Tissues ready. Lovely start to my day.
@J0eMurf3: Teaching sign language in schools? Always been a fan 👍🏻
@jonnorris12: This is really wonderful.
@craigscott88: What a guy
@chasboyuk: Top fella Ian, mad as a box of frogs. But a Gent
@ManCityJimbo: Ian Holloway seems such a nice bloke. What a lovely story!
@Anthony_Has: I wish my Dad was like Ian Holloway. Absolute legend
@LewyDoc: What a guy 💙
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