“That would have been the dream – to kind of mic drop and leave by winning a trophy with England,” says Steph Houghton as she reflects on a 22-year career during which she played for Sunderland, Leeds Carnegie, Arsenal and Manchester City and won three Women’s Super League titles, alongside captaining the Lionesses at three major tournaments. “But I wouldn’t change any of that because I think that has made me the person that I am today.”
The highs live long in the memory. Houghton, who retired at the end of the season having announced her decision in March, played a significant role in drawing the kind of attention that laid foundations for a boom in the women’s game. Since rounding Andréia Suntaque to open the scoring against a Marta-led Brazil for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, the 36-year-old has led the way in advocating professional standards. She was also one of the first female players given a central contract by the Football Association, in 2009, when many of the Lionesses were part-time.
“We really stuck together to try and make change,” says Houghton, who credits that period with her growth into a leader. “A lot of hard work hasn’t been spoken about behind the scenes, the potentially not signing contracts to allow us to get something bigger, and the team to become more powerful. I think we tried to change people’s perception of what we wanted. We wanted to keep driving that standard for a long time.”
Alex Greenwood and Jen Beattie make her list of teammates she rates highly but, in terms of impact on her as a player, she has particular praise for the former England defender Laura Bassett who, Houghton says, allowed her to be herself – a thread that ran up to the 2019 World Cup, where Houghton missed a penalty as the Lionesses lost against USA in the semi-finals.
“When I got the England captaincy [in 2014], I was 25-26, we were going to the 2015 World Cup,” Houghton says. “I’d never captained the country before in a tournament where there was real expectation on us. Without her [Bassett] taking a bit of pressure off me and allowing me to be me, I don’t think I would have lasted as long as England captain. I’ll be forever grateful for that. And I don’t think ‘Bass’ ever really gets the credit that she deserves for what she’s done for the game.”
Injury prevented Houghton from finishing her England story. An achilles problem meant no place in the squad that won Euro 2022, and the centre-back also missed the run to the World Cup final last year. Houghton has not played for the Lionesses since 2021 and has never played for Sarina Wiegman. She finished with an impressive 121 caps for England.
Houghton was inaugurated last week to the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame in recognition of her services to the game. It was an honour which naturally led to reflection on her journey that started with growing up in Durham and being the only girl in her primary school team.
“Before [Arsenal] I always had to pay to play, I had a hand‑me‑down kit, you didn’t really get any training kit. You had to bring your own stuff. We certainly never got any boots, which is probably now a given in the game – that every player gets a boot deal, especially those who are playing internationally or at top clubs. The game’s moved on massively since I first started.”
Houghton readily admits she has moonlighted as a scout for Manchester City to help procure the best talent for a club she joined from Arsenal in 2014. Jess Park and Lauren Hemp joined City as schoolgirls with Houghton saying she rang her agent immediately after seeing the latter dribble through a whole team at a local school event. “When I first joined, this building [Joie Stadium, home to City’s women and academy teams] wasn’t here. “So my idea was to be here for the long term and to be part of a project where we are winning and we are one of the best clubs in Europe, from a women’s point of view.”
City are holding a special Q&A session with Houghton, with proceeds going to the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, which raises awareness of motor neurone disease. Houghton’s husband, the former Liverpool and Bradford defender Stephen Darby, was diagnosed with MND in 2018. The charity has raised more than £1.3m to fund medical research in addition to providing a support network for those diagnosed with the disease.
“When you have someone like Stephen with the condition that he has, things do get put into perspective quite quickly,” Houghton says. “It’s time I put a little bit more energy into my family and to being a part of Stephen’s life a lot more in terms of being with him every single day rather than going away. But other than that, we’re really good. Our mental state is good, we’re positive and trying to fight the fight as always.”
The FA, Uefa and the Professional Footballers’ Association announced on Friday the first all‑female cohort for the Uefa A Licence coaching badge. Houghton, Izzy Christiansen and 15 others are taking the 12‑month course in a move to give opportunities to women in coaching. “After two days at St George’s Park when you are working nine till seven, I was thinking: ‘Oh, my God, I don’t know whether I’m down for this.’ It’s a lot of hard work,” Houghton says. “But I’ve worked with so many amazing people, teammates, support staff, that it would be a bit of a miss if I didn’t use those experiences in some way, shape or form, whether that’s on the grass or at a higher level.”
Houghton is undecided on whether or not she wants to go into coaching but is sure women could soon have a bigger part to play in the men’s game. “We are learning the same thing, we all know the game,” she says. “We all know that if you do get this qualification you are on the level with a lot of coaches within the country.”
Having been a guiding light for club and country for so long, Houghton gives the sense of not knowing how to truly step away from the game. She insists, however, that she is looking forward to having a Sunday dinner, being with her nephews and “doing a bit of everything”.
