Arsenal defender Rob Holding has revealed to talkSPORT he doesn’t have his FA Cup and Community Shield winner’s medals anymore…
Because he gave them away to his dad!
It’s fair to say Holding’s journey to Arsenal was a bit of a whirlwind.
The centre-back spent a short spell on loan at League Two side Bury, where he only made one appearance, and then played just one season for boyhood club Bolton in the Championship before signing for the Gunners for around £2million in July 2016.
He wasn’t expected to be a major part of the side, but injuries to Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista thrust him straight into the first-team for their Premier League opener that season.
He ended up making 18 appearances in all competitions, and his performances at the back helped the Gunners to a strong end to the campaign with six straight league victories.
He even capped his first season in Arsenal colours by lifting the FA Cup, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 win over Chelsea, and then followed that up with a victory in the Community Shield with a penalty shoot-out defeat of the Blues again at Wembley.
An ACL injury hampered his early progress in north London, but Holding is now an Arsenal regular again and added another FA Cup/Community Shield double to his personal haul this year, with wins over Chelsea and Liverpool.
But, speaking to talkSPORT ahead of our LIVE and EXCLUSIVE commentary of Arsenal vs Chelsea on Boxing Day, he said he no longer has any of his medals…
“My dad’s got both my FA Cup medals and my Community Shield medals, too,” he said in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.
“He’s got them safe somewhere locked up. I don’t know where, but if I asked him he’d know how to get them straight away. He’ll have them treasured for sure.
“I didn’t have time to prepare [for his move to Arsenal]. Literally I’d got to London, signed for Arsenal, and we were going to LA the next week for the pre-season tour. Then we were back for a week or two and it was the start of the season and going straight into the games.
“So there wasn’t really a moment where I could sit back and think: ‘I’ve come a long way here’.
“But winning the FA Cup was a great way to end my first season at Arsenal. It was unexpected and I didn’t appreciate it.
“I remember standing on the pitch after winning the game at Wembley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain said to me: ‘You don’t really appreciate what you’ve done right now until a couple of days later’.
“And he was absolutely right; about a week later I looked back thinking: ‘Phwoar, that was some achievement’.”
Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT as we bring you three LIVE Premier League commentaries, including Arsenal vs Chelsea at 5:30pm