Carlisle United are delighted to announce the arrival of keeper Tomas Holy on a two-year deal.
Born in the Czech Republic Holy, 30, started playing his football with Hradlec Kralove before joining Sparta Prague as a teenager.
He gained valuable experience whilst with Sparta with loan spells at Graffin Vlasim, Viktoria Zizkov and Fastav Zlin, where he amassed over 75 first-team appearances.
A move to England followed during the January 2017 transfer window when he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Gillingham.
He established himself as first choice between the sticks with the Gills, with scouts from the Premier League and Championship shadowing his every move as he kept 15 clean sheets in his 52 outings through the 2018/19 campaign.
A switch to Ipswich followed in the summer of 2019, with 65 appearances in all competitions complemented by a half-season loan stay with Port Vale through the second half of last season, after his contract had been triggered to keep him at Portman Road for a further year.
A renowned shot-stopper with an incredible physical presence, he has represented his country at U16, U17 and U18 level.
Manager Paul Simpson said: “He’s a keeper I’ve known about for years,” he said. “He’s done really well at Ipswich, and he’s had a couple of good loans, and obviously when I found he was being released and available I knew it was something I’d be interested in.
“I had a number of conversations with Greg [Abbott] and my other staff about him, and we spoke to people who know him, and I’ve got to say that everybody has said the same thing – he’s not only a top player, he’s a top quality person and an excellent professional as well.
“I had a facetime meeting with him a couple of weeks ago, and he came across as a very good individual and someone I want to work with.
“He’s really keen on the whole Carlisle project that we want to get going here and I’m delighted that he’s jumped on board.
“It’s a really big position to fill and I think he does that for us really well. I’ve never talked about it but I’m fully aware of the criticism I received when we released Mark Howard, but from a footballing point of view, and where I want the football club to go, I’m just delighted that Tomas has agreed to sign.”
Speaking more about the attributes that will be brought to the squad, he added: “I want a keeper who can make the saves and who can also dominate the 18-yard box, as well as get us moving once he has the ball in his hands.
“With his presence and distribution I think Carlisle fans will take to him once they see the way that he can strike a ball in terms of getting it out to our own players.
“As a 30-year-old he’s still got a lot of football left in him and he’s got such a good pedigree. That started at an early age with his involvement in the Czech Republic national age groups, and with the clubs he subsequently played for.
“I’m really hoping he throws himself into it and shows us what it’s all about. At the moment, with him having joined us, I’m going to wait and see how that position develops.
“My idea is to get a spine of a team that I’m comfortable with. The keeper is part of that spine, and I have situations going on with two other areas through that spine which hopefully over the next week or two will come to fruition.
“I’d like them to be finalised by 22 June, because I’d like them to be in place. The one thing I will say to the fans on this is that even though it could look as if nothing is happening, believe me we have plenty going on in the background.
“It’s a cliché but we have plates spinning, we’re keeping things going and we’re hopeful that we’ll be in a position over the next few weeks to give everybody even more good news.”
