 He was a strong and powerful defender and was capped by Wales once at both full and under-21 level in 1984.Holden's full appearance for Wales as a substitute against Israel at the end of the 1983–84 season was remarkable as a year earlier he had been playing non-league football for Rhyl and his new Chester City team had comfortably finished bottom of Division Four.However, Holden had stood out in a poor side and he would retain his player of the season accolade the following campaign.