Born in Barnsley, Holland became a Football League linesman in 1947 and graduated to the Referees List in 1951, taking charge of the FA Amateur Cup Final in 1959.[2] Later, in the same year he was appointed to the FIFA List and later refereed in the 1963 European Cup Final between Benfica and Milan.[3] He ended his domestic refereeing career with the 1964 FA Cup Final between West Ham United and Preston North End. A few weeks later his final match was the European Nations Cup Final between Spain and the USSR in Madrid.