A-Z with

Olivia Holdt

Our A-Z feature will appear first & exclusively in this season’s official matchday programme and next up is Olivia Holdt...

The Denmark international joined us last month and instantly made her mark in England, netting the winner on her debut against Crystal Palace in the Barclays Women's Super League.

We posed our newest arrival with some quickfire questions to get to know her a little better, from her favourite hobby outside of football to her favourite holiday destination...

Ability – Define your best attributes as a player?

“I’m quite an offensive player, I like to score goals and I try to be very technical.”

Best friend– Who is your best friend in football?

“This is hard, but they’re two who play in England. Mille Geji from Crystal Palace and Sofie Lundgaard from Liverpool, I played with them both through the age groups with Denmark.”

Cinema – What is the best film you have watched?

“I just watched Notting Hill earlier this month, it was such a good movie.”

Debut – When did you make your debut and where?

“I’m going to choose my international debut, which was in April, 2021, for Denmark against Republic of Ireland.”

Olivia Holdt in action for Denmark.

Olivia in our home kit, wearing the number 11 shirt.

Eat – Who would you most like to invite around for a dinner?

“I would probably have to invite my boyfriend. Then I would choose Rihanna because she’s cool and Neymar or Ronaldinho as they’re players I looked up to when growing up.”

Fanatic – What is your favourite memory in football?

“Making my senior debut for Denmark was one of my biggest moments in my career so far. Also, it was reaching the semi-final of the Under-19 European Championships in Switzerland, that was one of my first moments where I sort of went ‘wow’.”

Grades – what was your favourite subject in school?

“It was sports, but we also had a class where we would write novels and stuff like that, I really enjoyed that as well.”

Hobbies – what do you do when you are not playing football?

“Before I became a professional footballer, I played a lot of Padel and Tennis. If it’s more like day-to-day stuff, I like doing puzzles as it’s very relaxing.”

Inspire – who did you look up to when growing up?

“Neymar or Ronaldinho, I would watch clips of them and try to base my game around them both.”

Job – what would you be doing if you weren’t a professional footballer?

“If I had to stay in sport, I would say either a tennis player or a golfer. I would also like to have a go at being presenter on TV for sports shows/games.”

Karaoke – What is your go-to karaoke song?

“The first song that comes into mind is ‘Mockingbird’ by Eminem or ‘Mamma Mia’ by ABBA.”

Love – What do you most love about playing football?

“That I’m just having fun.”

Ronaldinho, who Olivia named as one of the players she looked up to, in action for Barcelona in 2006.

Our new number 11...

Meet – What one person would you most like to meet?

“Barack Obama. No particular reason why but I just think he’s cool.”

Number – What is your lucky number?

“It would be number 13 as that was my first-ever number on the back of my shirt.”

Overcome – How did you overcome personal setbacks in your career?

“I used my family, boyfriend and all the people around me for any advice or challenges to overcome.”

Position – What was your first position in football?

“I have always been a midfielder, but I actually started as a defensive midfielder when playing with the boys then moved further forward in girls football.”

Quality – Who is the best player you’ve played with?

“I have two. I need to say Pernille Harder because she’s a phenomenal player back in Denmark and, recently, I have played with an upcoming star, Momoko Tanikawa, who I was with at Rosengard. She’s only 19 years old and I believe she’s a very big talent.”

Rewind – Where would you go if you could go back in time?

“I would probably go back to the Under-19s EUROs as I missed a big, big chance in the semi-finals against Spain and they scored straight after that, so we lost. I would like to change that.”

Sport – If you weren’t playing football, what other sport would you do?

“As I mentioned previously, most likely tennis or padel and even golf.”

TV – What series are you currently watching?

“I’m currently watching the second season of Squid Game, it’s very crazy and not sure why I’m really watching it.”

Denmark's Pernille Harder, who Olivia listed as one of the best players she has played with.

All smiles from Olivia in training.

Olivia with Lenna Gunning-Williams walking out for training.

Unique - What is something we might not know about you?

“One thing you don’t know about me is that my mum actually sent me to hip hop dance lessons when I was younger.”

Vacation – What is your favourite holiday destination?

“I went to Mauritius, that was insane and so nice. I like places with nice beaches, lovely weather so I would also love to go to Maldives or Bali.”

Wisdom – What advice would you give to kids aspiring to be a professional footballer?

“Just have fun and work hard.”

Xylophone – can you play any musical instruments?

“I can’t play any but if I choose one instrument, it would be the piano. However, that’s never going to happen as I don’t think I can sit still for that long and concentrate.”

Yikes – What is your biggest fear?

“Vomiting – I can’t deal with that.”

Zoo – What is your favourite animal?

“A dog. I have dog that my family is looking after, she turned 13 this year.”

Olivia in action against Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.