Duane Holmes

Duane Holmes was born in Columbus, Georgia, but his footballing education happened in England, where he joined the Huddersfield Town academy at under-9 level and worked his way up to a first professional contract in 2013 — the same year he was shortlisted for the Football League Championship Apprentice of the Year award. Loan spells at Yeovil Town and Bury followed before Huddersfield released him in 2016.

A free transfer to Scunthorpe United kept his career moving, and in August 2018 Derby County paid a reported £500,000, potentially rising to £700,000, to bring him to Pride Park. Fans voted him Derby County's Player of the Season for 2019–2020. It was also during his Derby spell that Holmes earned international recognition, winning two caps for the United States in June 2019, against Jamaica and then Venezuela, both friendlies. He was later named in the 23-man squad for that summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup but had to withdraw before the tournament through injury.

His contract at Derby expired in January 2021, and he returned to Huddersfield Town on a free transfer, staying until 2023 before joining Preston North End, again without a fee changing hands. In March 2025, Holmes crossed the Atlantic once more, signing for Houston Dynamo on a two-year contract with club options extending through 2028 — a free transfer that brought his career appearance tally past the 300 mark to a league he first left as a boy.