Ray Houghton
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| Ray Houghton | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raymond James Houghton | |
| Date of birth | January 9, 1962 | |
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | |
| Playing position | Midfielder (retired) | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1979-1982 1982-1985 1985-1987 1987-1992 1992-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2000 |
West Ham United Fulham Oxford United Liverpool Aston Villa Crystal Palace Reading Stevenage Borough |
1 (0) 129 (16) 83 (10) 153 (28) 95 (6) 73 (7) 43 (1) 3 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1986-1997 | Republic of Ireland | 73 (6) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Raymond James Houghton (born January 9, 1962 in Glasgow, Scotland) was a Scottish-born footballer who represented the Republic of Ireland at international level (due to his Irish ancestry) and at club level he is best remembered for his success in the great Liverpool side of the late 1980s.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
Houghton was born in Scotland but began his football career south of the border in London at West Ham United where he came through the ranks and signed professional forms as a 17 year-old on the 5 July 1979. Ray's endeavour failed to make any impact at Upton Park and after 3 years, in which he made just 1 appearance as substitute, he was on the move. On 7 July 1982 he moved on to Fulham on a free transfer and it was there that his name grew as a young, hardworking ballplayer in midfield.
[edit] Fulham F.C.
Malcolm MacDonald had the likes of Tony Gale (later a Premier League title winner with Blackburn Rovers), Paul Parker (who went on to win several major trophies with Manchester United, Gerry Peyton (Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper) and Ray Lewington (ex-Chelsea) to form a mixture of youth and experience which ultimately won Fulham promotion to the Second Division at the end of the 1981-82 season. He then added Houghton to the side that would try and keep the Cottagers in the second division. They did, and comfortably so; in fact for much of the 1982-83 season it looked as though Fulham would achieve back-to-back promotion campaigns, however, their form after the turn of the year dipped and they had to be content with just cementing their spot in the division.
One of the most memorable sequences of matches that happened whilst Ray was at Fulham was the Milk Cup 3rd round tie against Liverpool in 1983. The first game finished 1-1 at Craven Cottage as did the replay at Anfield, Fulham then won the toss to take the second replay back to the Cottage. Many observers believe Fulham had done enough to have beaten the reigning cup holders but had let the Reds off the hook with their failure to put away the chances they created. This would prove to be their downfall as Liverpool won the game 1-0 with a 25 yard thunderbolt from Graeme Souness. Liverpool would go on to retain the trophy, beating Everton in the first ever all Merseyside final after a replay.
Houghton's own form was decent enough with his industrious manner and creativity making other sides sit up and take notice.
[edit] Oxford United F.C.
Jim Smith had taken Oxford United to the top tier of English football. When he left for QPR in the summer of 1985, his replacement Maurice Evans looked to Houghton to help solidify their place in the league. He paid a bargain £147,000 for Houghton's signature on the 13th September 1985. Houghton had played 145 times for Fulham and scored 21 goals. He made his U's debut the day after his signed, the 14th September in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool at the Manor Ground.
By the end of his first season at the Manor Ground, Houghton had helped steer Oxford clear of the relegation places, (just staying up with a win on the final day of the season), but most notably scored the second goal in the club's 3-0 League/Milk Cup final victory over Jim Smith's new team QPR at Wembley.
At Oxford, Ray's career remained admired but still not spectacular, as if nobody at one of the game's biggest clubs was quite sure whether to take a chance on him. In fact it wasn't until another memorable appearance for Oxford that his break finally came.
[edit] Liverpool F.C.
At the start of the 1987-88 season, Oxford were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool, who then offered £825,000 for his services. The deal was done and Houghton took the place of Craig Johnston on the right side of Liverpool's midfield, unusually wearing the No.9 shirt which striker John Aldridge, his former Oxford team-mate who had made the Anfield move himself a year earlier, had asked not to wear because of the pressure of replacing Italy-bound goalscorer Ian Rush.
Houghton was added to the new acquisitions Aldridge, Peter Beardsley and John Barnes to form one of the most exciting forward lines in the club's history. He made his Reds debut on24th October 1987 in the 1-0 league victory over Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. His first goal for the club came on 4 November 1987 in the 1-1 draw with Wimbledon at Plough Lane. Ray's 62nd minute strike came just 2 minutes after he had come on as a sub for Johnston. It also kept up Liverpool's remarkable start to the campaign which saw the side rack up 29 unbeaten league matches from the start of the season.
Liverpool went on to coast to the League title by the end of 1988, with Houghton contributing some fantastic displays as a marauding creator from the flank. He scored his share of goals too (though he was also renowned for missing great chances from close range)[citation needed] and contributed the first goal in the memorable, era-defining 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest which was later described as the performance of the century and was complimented by the game's greats such as Tom Finney and Michel Platini.[citation needed]
Houghton did his bit in the run to that season's FA Cup final too, scoring the winner in a hotly-contested fifth round tie at derby rivals Everton and then clipping home a shot on the turn as Liverpool romped past Manchester City 4-0 in the quarter final. In the final, Liverpool surprisingly lost to Wimbledon and missed out on the "double" with Houghton putting in one of the game's more disappointing individual displays.[citation needed]
The following season, Houghton was again a regular as Liverpool battled towards another League and FA Cup "double", though they again would be denied. More important matters than football affected Houghton and his team-mates in April 1989 however, as the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April claimed 94 lives (with the death toll eventually reaching 96). Houghton, like the rest of Liverpool Football Club, was commended for the way he conducted himself during this harrowing period, he attended numerous funerals and comforted the victims families and friends.
Upon returning to the game Liverpool went win the Cup with a 3-2 extra-time victory over Everton but lost the League title with virtually the last kick of the season in the title decider at Anfield against Arsenal. The following year Houghton and Liverpool regained the title when they finished 9 points ahead of Aston Villa.
Houghton picked up another FA Cup winners' medal with Liverpool in 1992 and also had his best return in goals during his time at Anfield, finishing as the club 2nd highest goalscorer with 12 goals, however, new Reds manager Graeme Souness was bringing in his own players and allowed Houghton to leave.
[edit] Aston Villa F.C.
So after 202 appearances and 38 goals in his 5 successful years at Liverpool Houghton joined Aston Villa. Villa signed him on 28 July 1992 for £900,000, he made his debut on the 15th August in the 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
He again won the fans over with his robust style and helped Villa win the League Cup on 27 March 1994, although he was an unused sub as his Villa teammates beat Man Utd 3-1 at Wembley.
This would be the only trophy that he won during his time at Villa. He did come close to collecting another title medal in his first season at Villa Park, as Villa had led the league at several stages of the campaign, but were eventually pushed into runners-up place by Manchester United, who were crowned champions by a 10-point margin.
Houghton played 117 times for Villa in which he scored 11 times.
[edit] Crystal Palace F.C.
On 23 March 1995 (transfer deadline day) Houghton left Villa Park to join Crystal Palace. Palace paid £300,000 for the Irish international hoping that his experience would help Palace stave off relegation from the Premier League, however, although they finished fourth from bottom of the league they were relegated as the Premier League was being reduced to 20 clubs. He was unable to play in the FA Cup semi-final, as he had already played for Crystal Palace earlier in the competition.
Ray made his Palace debut, as a 33 year-old, on 1 April 1995 in the 2-1 win overManchester City at Selhurst Park. One of Houghton's best performances for the South London club was on 28 September 1996 in the 6-1 thrashing of Southend United in a Division One fixture at Selhurst Park. Houghton was at the heart of everything Palace did, and scored a goal in the 38th minute.
He spent just over two years years at Palace, playing 87 times and scoring 8 goals.
[edit] Reading F.C.
Houghton signed for Reading on a free transfer on 15 July 1997. He made his debut the following month on 9 August in the 1-1 league draw with Bury at Gigg Lane.
He spent a season at Elm Park and another at Reading's new home, the Madejski Stadium, which saw him rack up 56 appearances in which he scored just 1 goal. Reading would prove to be Houghton's last professional club, he had played 723 times during his career scoring 93 goals.
[edit] Stevenage Borough F.C.
Houghton wound his career down at Stevenage Borough in the Nationwide Conference.
He signed for Stevenage 24 September 1999 but only made three appearances before he finally retired from the game on 31 May 2000.
[edit] Republic of Ireland
Houghton took advantage of his Irish roots to gain qualification to play international football for the Republic of Ireland under Jack Charlton, and earned his first cap in Charlton's first match the 1-0 defeat by Wales in a friendly international at Lansdowne Road on 26 March 1986.
In the summer of 1988, Houghton was selected for the Irish squad which had reached its first ever major finals, the European Championships in West Germany. The first group game was against an England team that included Gary Lineker and Bryan Robson and also club mates Peter Beardsley and John Barnes. It was Houghton who would claim the bragging rights as he scored with an early looping header to win the game 1-0, it was also his first goal for Ireland.
However, after that great performance they still failed to get through the group stage after a draw against the USSR and a defeat against eventual champions The Netherlands.
Houghton was, again, selected for the Irish squad which qualified for the World Cup in Italy. They were once again drawn in the same group as England, which, again, included Lineker, Robson, Beardsley and Barnes as well as Paul Gascoigne and Chris Waddle, this time they had to settle for a 1-1 draw. The Irish also drew with both Egypt, 0-0, and Holland, 1-1, finishing on the same points, 3, goal difference, 0, and goals scored, 2 as the Dutch. Both teams then progressed to the second round, along with England who topped the group.
On 25 June they faced Romania at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa, the sides fought out a hard earned 0-0 draw, with the game going to penalties Houghton stepped up to take the second of them and put it away with great aplomb, in-fact Ireland scored all of their spot kicks as did the Romanian's, that was until their final kick which Pat Bonner saved thus sending the Irish to the quarter finals where they were ultimately knocked out, 1-0, by the host nation, Italy, in a closely fought match.
In the summer of 1994, he, again, was in the Irish squad for the World Cup in the U.S. and once again was the goalscoring hero in a shock victory. In the 11th minute of the group E match at the Giants Stadium, New York/New Jersey on the 18th June Houghton hit a fantastic looping shot into the net to defeat Italy thus gaining revenge for the defeat they had suffered at the hands of the Italians 4 years earlier, Houghton was overjoyed and celebrated with a forward roll. Ireland went out in the following round, the second, to The Netherlands.
Houghton's final appearance was as a substitute in the FIFA World Cup play-off match with Belgium in Brussels. Ireland lost the match 2-1 (3-2 on aggregate) but Houghton in typical style had a major impact and scored again on the biggest of stages. He had represented Ireland 73 times scoring 6 goals.
[edit] Punditry
Houghton is now in demand as a pundit on the game, working for outlets such as RTÉ in Ireland, talkSPORT and Sky Sports in the UK. Since 2002 he has also worked for Sports Interactive as a consultant on their PC & Xbox 360 game Football Manager. He is well known for his mocking of SI employee Phil Rolfe following Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Rolfe's Chelsea team in January 2007.
[edit] Fan Favourite
Throughout his career Ray became a fan favourite wherever he played, a true gentleman whose workrate and honesty was much admired. This fact was underlined in the summer of 2006 when he finished in 52nd place in the poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop. More than 110,000 Liverpool supporters from all over the world voted for their top 10 Reds of all time on the official Liverpool Football Club web site.
[edit] Honours
[edit] 
Oxford United
Winner
- 1985/86 League Cup
[edit] Liverpool
Winner
- 1987/88 League Championship (Level 1)
- 1988/89 Charity Shield
- 1988/89 FA Cup
- 1989/90 League Championship (Level 1)
- 1990/91 Charity Shield Shared
- 1991/92 FA Cup
Runner Up
- 1987/88 FA Cup
- 1988/89 League Championship (Level 1)
- 1990/91 League Championship (Level 1)
[edit] Aston Villa
Winner
- 1993/94 League Cup
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official past players at Liverpoolfc.tv
- Player profile at LFChistory.net
- Ray Houghton at Soccerbase.com
- Ray Houghton index at Sporting-heroes.net
- Irish football greats at FAI.ie
- Ray Houghton,Euro 88 Winner
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