Grant Holt is to be a member of the ITV4 team for live coverage of Barrow’s FA Cup First Round tie at Banbury United tonight.
Holt, now 40, has been well known in Cumbrian and beyond after a hugely successful playing career – part of which was spent in the county.
Carlisle-born he first played with local side Northbank before joining Workington Reds as a teenager and helping them win promotion as champions of the North Western Trains League.
His goals for the Reds, playing alongside ex-Man City, Liverpool and Spurs star Paul Stewart, got him the first move to Halifax which eventually led all the way to the Premier League.
He later played 69 times for Barrow between 2002 and 2003 before joining Sheffield Wednesday and from there via Rochdale, Notts, Forest and Shrewsbury to Norwich where he played in the Premier League , clocking up 154 games for the Canaries.
After seven more moves he returned to Barrow in 2017 for 17 more games when he also took on the role of player coach.
Former England international Ian Wright will join Holt as a pitch-side pundit at The Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium on Saturday evening for the show which will be presented by Mark Pougatch.
The commentary team will be Seb Hutchinson and former Brighton & Hove Albion defender Adam Virgo, while Gabriel Clarke will be the touchline reporter.
Coverage will begin at 4.30pm ahead of a 5.15pm kick-off.
Meanwhile Carlisle United have given more tickets to Barrow for next weekend’s game at Brunton Park.
South Cumbrian supporters had snapped up the initial allocation of about 1,500 by Thursday and United have since confirmed that they have sent “a small number of extra tickets for away fans.”
No tickets for away fans will be available on the day.
Barrow will put on sale the extra batch from Monday as the derby game will be the first league meeting between the clubs in front of supporters since 1964.
Both of last season’s encounters were played behind closed doors because of Covid-19 restrictions.
It is the first ever Cumbrian derby between the two clubs to be played in front of respective supporters, as in 1964 the county did not exist.
It was Cumberland against North Lancashire back then, when the real county derby was between Carlisle and Workington, which attracted 18,000-plus gates at Brunton Park and Borough Park.
