38-year-old Holland decided to stay local and had turned down a similar post at Chelsea's Academy.
Holland has vast experience at academy level having served 16 years at the Alex in a similar role and also steered the Alex to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup where they lost to Middlesbrough.
Holland became Crewe manager back in the summer of 2007 and in his first season narrowly avoided relegation to League Two, after much investment during the summer where Holland spent near on £800k the Alex found themselves struggling yet again.
The final straw came in a 2-0 defeat against Leyton Orient and with fans letting their feeling know the board sacked Holland.
Holland now arrives at Stoke knowing that the club is to invest heavily with £5m earmarked to improve the facilities.