Another in a long line of uncomprimising Saints full backs.
To describe Denis Hollywood as hard would be like calling Vinny Jones a little over the top, such a short word cannot describe just how tough he was, befitting his middle name of Fallen which would be an apt description of those who came against him.
Denis Fallen Hollywood was born in Govan, Glasgow in 1944 although he had moved to Essex aged 12 where he had trials with both West Ham & Spurs before joining the apprentice ranks at Saints in 1944 from where he became the first of these new fangled inventions to graduate to the Saints league side
After making his debut in 1962 it took him a couple of years to finally oust Tommy Traynor, but in 1964 he did so and played most of the games that season, in 65/66 Saints were heading for promotion but Denis found his place under threat by the newly signed Ken Jones not to mention Stuart Williams who was switched from the right, but in the final run in, as Saints promotion push faltered a little, Ted Bates turned to Dens to add steel to the side and he would play the final 10 games of the season, Saints would win six and draw 4.
In the first top flight season it would be between Denis & Jones for the left back spot, but it would be the Scotsman who won through with the lions share and from then on Jones had to play on the right if he got in the side, only filling the left back role through injury or suspension.
In 69/70 came Tony Byrne to contest the berth and he would be ever present for 2/3 of the season pushing Hollywood into the reserves, however in 70/71 Denis bounced back and was virrtually ever present.
No one could have predicted that 71/72 would be his last season not only for Saints but in League football, after losing his place early on to Roger Fry, Denis bounced back and finished the season in fine form and his final home performance saw Ted Bates walk off the pitch with his arm round him after a robust effort including a split head ensured a bruising 0-0 draw with Spurs.
But in the summer he was gone, oop north as they say to Blackpool, he didnt stay long and by October he was at bath City in non league, his professional career over at 27.
It had been an action packed one though and he had played 266(1) in total in all competitions including Europe and scored 4 goals, he later admitted that he had losst his appetite for the game and he returned so his adopted home of Southampton to work in the Docks alongside men who only a matter of months earlier had been cheering him on, they had always felt he was one of them (a man of the people that is) and now he was.
Ask any Saints fan who watched Denis Hollywood and they will tell you a story about him, he was THE hard man in a team dubbed by Bill Shankly as Ale House Brawlers, most supporters of that era would dismiss the later years tough guys like Mark Dennis, Neil Ruddock or Terry Hurlock as effeminate in comparison, thats a little harsh, but the fact remains that Denis Hollywood played a great number of games for Saints and had a reputation in the tackle that stretched far beyond the confines of the Dell