Ray Houghton

At 62 years old, Ray Houghton has this physical status:

Raymond James Houghton (born 9 January 1962) is a former football player, as well as a current analyst and commentator with RTÉ Sport.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Houghton played for the Republic of Ireland, for whom he qualified through his Irish father. Houghton is best remembered by Irish fans for scoring two of the country's most important goals, including victories over England in Stuttgart at the 1988 European Championships and Italy at Giants Stadium in the 1994 World Cup.

Houghton is best known for his time in the Liverpool club of the late 1980s.

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Club career

Arthur Graham, who would later become a professional footballer in the same block block, was born in Castlemilk, Glasgow, but he began his career in London at West Ham United before heading to London at the age of 10, where he advanced through the ranks and signed professional careers as a 17-year-old in 1977. In 3 years, Houghton's effort made no difference at Upton Park, and after three years, in which he made just one appearance as a replacement, he was on the move. On a free transfer to Fulham on July 7, 1982, he went to Fulham.

Malcolm Macdonald (later a Premier League winner with Blackburn Rovers), Paul Parker (Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper) and Ray Lewington (ex-Chelsea) all worked together to produce a combination of youth and experience that culminated in Fulham's promotion to the Second Division in 1981. Houghton was then drafted to the team that would attempt to hold the Cottagers in the second division. They did, and comfortably so; in fact, Fulham did appear to have returned-to-back promotions for the bulk of the 1982-83 season, but their form was lacking after the year's began. When Houghton was at Fulham on the League Cup third round tie against Liverpool in 1983, it was one of the most memorable sequences of matches ever played. The first game at Craven Cottage was 1-1, as did the replay at Anfield, Fulham then took the toss for the second replay back to the Cottage. Fulham is expected to have defeated the reigning cup champions, according to many, but the Reds were letting the Reds off the hook for failing to put away the hopes they created. Liverpool defeated the game 1–0 with a 25-yard thunderbolt from Graeme Souness.

In May 1985, he appeared in Peter Foley's testimonial as a guest in Manchester United.

Jim Smith had taken Oxford United to the top of English football, putting them in the top of the table. Maurice Evans, Maurice Evans, Evans, who left in 1985, was hoping to Houghton to help the team solidify their position in the league. On September 13, 1985, he paid £147,000 for Houghton. Houghton had played 145 times for Fulham and scored 21 goals. In a 2–2 draw with Liverpool at the Manor Ground, he made his United States debut the day after he signed. Houghton helped Oxford stay out of the relegation ranks by the end of his first season by winning on the final day of the season, but he had more than scored his second goal against Smith's new team Queens Park Rangers at Wembley Stadium.

Oxford were defeated 2–0 by Liverpool, who then paid £825,000 for his services at the start of the 1987-1988 season. The union was completed, and Houghton took his place at Craig Johnston's right side of Liverpool's midfield, wearing the No. 82. John Aldridge, his ex Oxford teammate who had made the Anfield move a year before, had asked not to wear due to the pressure of replacing Ian Rush.

Houghton was one of the club's most exciting forward lines ever, with Aldridge, Peter Beardsley, and John Barnes being added to the new acquisitions. In the 1–0 league victory over Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on October 24, he made his Reds debut on October 24, 1987. In the 1–1 draw with Wimbledon at Plough Lane on November 4, 1987, his first game for the club came on November 4th. Just two minutes after Houghton had come on as a sub for Johnston, he had struck the 62nd-minute ball. It also extended Liverpool's streak of 29 unbeaten league matches from the start of the season.

Liverpool continued to coast to the League title, with Houghton delivering some memorable performances as a marauding creator from the flank. He had his share of goals, including the first goal in the era's defining 5–0 victory over Nottingham Forest, which was later described as the "match of the century" by some journalists, and was lauded by the game's greats, including Tom Finney.

In the quarter-finals at Liverpool, Houghton played his part in the FA Cup finals, scoring the winner in a fifth round derby at Everton and then clipping away a shot on the turn. Liverpool surprisingly lost to Wimbledon in the final and missed out on the "double."

Houghton returned to action in the league and FA Cup "double" last season, although they would not be able to participate again. Although the Hillsborough fire claimed 94 lives on April 15th, more significant issues than football affected Houghton and his colleagues in April 1989 (with the death toll eventually hitting 96). Liverpool beat Everton 3–2 extra time, but lost the League title with just the last kick of the season at Anfield against Arsenal.

Houghton and Liverpool regained the trophy when they finished 9 points ahead of Aston Villa in the 1989–90 season, but Houghton only scored once.

Houghton played 32 times in the 1990–91 season, scoring seven goals, when Liverpool finished second in the League to Arsenal. He won his second FA Cup championships with Liverpool in 1991-92 season and had his best return in goals during his time at Anfield, finishing second in the team's second best goalscorer with 12 goals, only bettered by Dean Saunders. However, Souness allowed Houghton to leave at the end of the season, partially because of Steve McManaman's arrival.

After 202 appearances and 38 goals during his five years at Liverpool, Houghton joined Aston Villa for £900,000, with Villa boss Ron Atkinson fighting Chelsea manager Ian Porterfield's attempts to bring Houghton to West London.

He made his debut in the 1–1 draw with Ipswich Town at Portman Road in 1992, Villa's first game in the new FA Premier League.

He won the fans over with his strong style and helped Villa win the League Cup on March 27, 1994, but he was still an ineffective sub for a Villa team that defeated Manchester United 3–1.

This would be his only trophy he received at Villa during his time as coach. In his first season at Villa Park, he came close to winning another championship medal, but the Villans were ultimately pushed into runners-up position by Manchester United, who were crowned champions by a 10-point margin. For Villa, Houghton scored 11 goals out of 117 times.

Houghton left Villa on March 23, 1995 (transfer deadline day) and joined Crystal Palace. Palace invested £300,000 in the hopes that his expertise would help Palace prevent relegation from the Premier League and progress in the FA Cup, but the club was relegated (despite being limited to 20 clubs) and suspended at the semi-final stage of the respective competitions.

In the 2–1 victory over Manchester City on April 1, 1995, Houghton made his Palace debut as a 33-year-old. In a Division One fixture at Selhurst Park on September 28, 1996, one of Houghton's finest performances for the South London club was thrashing of Southend United 1-6. Houghton was at the forefront of everything Palace did, and he scored a goal in the 38th minute. He spent only over two years at Palace, scoring 8 goals and playing 87 times.

On July 15, 1997, Houghton signed for Reading on a free transfer. On August, he made his debut in a 1–1 league draw with Bury at Gigg Lane, his first month.

He spent a season at Elm Park and another at Reading's new home, the Madejski Stadium, in which he scored just once against Manchester City. Houghton's last professional club will be Reading, although he played 723 times during his career, scoring 93 goals.

In the Conference, Houghton began his career at Stevenage Borough. He joined Stevenage on September 24, 1999 but made three appearances before being suspended from the game on May 31, 2000.

International career

Houghton was a member of a Scotland U18 squad under Andy Roxburgh but did not gain any caps before his time with the Republic of Ireland. Despite being extremely successful in his club career by 1986, he was not selected for the Scotland squad for the forthcoming World Cup.

Through his father, who was born in Buncrana, County Donegal, Ulster, Houghton qualified to play international football for the Republic of Ireland. He earned his first cap in Jack Charlton's first match as boss, a 1–0 loss by Wales in a friendly international at Lansdowne Road on March 26, 1986.

In 1988, Houghton was chosen for the Irish squad that had reached its first-ever major finals, the European Championships in West Germany. On June 12th, the England team defeated a team that featured Gary Lineker, Bryan Robson, and Houghton's Liverpool club mates Peter Beardsley and John Barnes. Houghton won the game 1–0, his first goal for Ireland, after scoring with a looping header early in the game. After a draw against the USSR and a loss to eventual champions The Netherlands, Ireland was unable to progress to the group stage.

Houghton was selected for the Irish team that qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. They were all linked in the same group as England, which included Lineker, Robson, Beardsley, and Barnes as well as Paul Gascoigne and Chris Waddle. The game was a 1–1 draw. Both Egypt and the Netherlands were 0–0, and the Irish were 1–1, scoring on the same points (3), goal difference (0), and goals scored (2) as the Dutch. Both teams advanced to the second round, along with England who dominated the competition.

At the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa on June 25, Ireland met Romania. The game was decided on penalties, with Houghton scoring his second penalty kick to help Ireland win 5–4 and qualify for the quarter-finals after a hard earned 0–0 draw. In a close match, Ireland was defeated 1–0 by Italy's host nation, Italy.

Houghton was selected in the Irish squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, and she was named in a surprise victory. Houghton beat Italy in the 11th minute of the group E match at Giants Stadium on June 18, getting revenge for the humiliating of Ireland that had been dealt with four years ago. The Netherlands knocked Ireland out of the tournament at the next stage.

In the 1998 FIFA World Cup play-off match against Belgium in Brussels, Houghton was a replacement. Ireland lost the match 2–1 (3–2 on aggregate), with Houghton scoring his final international goal. He had played for Ireland 73 times, scoring 6 goals.

Houghton has now been named as an ambassador for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

Houghton, along with Don Givens and Don Howe, was voted to head-hunt the next international manager in 2008. Giovanni Trattoni was eventually nominated by Houghton and the team after interviewing several candidates.

Media career

Houghton has joined RTÉ in Ireland and work with talkSPORT, Sky Sports, Sportsxchange in the United Kingdom, and LFC TV, and also worked as a pundit on the game. He has been with Sports Interactive as a coach on their game Football Manager since 2002.

He was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Huddersfield in 2005 for his contributions to sport. Tim Brooke Taylor and former Olympic swimmer Adrian Moorhouse earned degrees from University of Oxford.

He was involved in the 2010 FIFA World Cup coverage for RTÉ Sport. He was also a co-commentator and a fan of UEFA Euro 2016 and UEFA Euro 2020, and was also part of RTÉ Sport's coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup as a co-commentator.

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