By Freya Hiscott (30/03/24)
Steph Houghton MBE recently revealed that she will be retiring from football and Manchester City at the end of the 2023-24 WSL season. Houghton is one of the most famous names in women’s football and has earned accolades for her impact on and off the pitch, lifting the women’s game into the spotlight. It has been a career that coincided with the rise of of the women’s game globally.
Houghton has had an extremely successful career spanning across 20 years, playing for four different clubs, Sunderland, Leeds United, Arsenal and her current club Manchester City as well as representing England at international level.
The former England captain achieved 121 caps for the lionesses across 14 years with the senior team. In the 2012 London Olympics, playing at left-back, Houghton scored three of team GB’s five goals at the tournament, including the winners in both of their 1-0 wins against New Zealand and Brazil.
Houghton captained the lionesses to a bronze medal at the 2015 World Cup in Canada, in addition to the Semi-Finals of the European Championship in 2017 in the Netherlands and the 2019 World Cup in France. Houghton’s international record certainly paved the way for England’s triumph in the 2022 European Championship.
Houghton is widely regarded as one of the world’s best centre-backs and one of the most successful players in the game. The 35-year-old became the first player to reach 150 FA Women’s Super League appearances, as well as 100 wins in the competition.
But beyond all of that, her career has transcended the evolution of the women’s game and is synonymous with the explosive development of women’s football. Houghton performed in the first ever WSL game back in April 2011, where she won 1-0 with Arsenal against current title holders Chelsea.
Since then, Houghton has lifted 16 domestic trophies including eight with current club, Manchester City. Houghton signed for City back in 2014 and over a decade later, will be hanging her boots up at the same club. She helped City win the Continental Cup the same year she joined and and lifted the WSL trophy two years later in 2016.
The Manchester City captain is valued for her commitment and leadership and is deemed an inspiration to many football players across the world.
From a fan’s perspective, I believe that Houghton has been the driver of the women’s game since the beginning of her career and her legacy and influence will remain a part of women’s football history forever. As a life-long Manchester City supporter Houghton has always been the player that comes to mind when I think of the club, and she truly has been the glue, consistently helping City stay in form.
Houghton has been pivotal in the rapid rise of the club and has paved the way for the team’s success. Her impact at City has been felt both on and off the pitch, developing a winning culture whilst helping the development of young talents such as Georgia Stanway, Jess Park and Esme Morgan.
As she announced her retirement Houghton said “I hope I leave the game in a better place than when I started, and that I have contributed in some small way to giving the girls of tomorrow a better future in football”. Houghton will be remembered for her on field achievements as well as her broader influence on the development of the women’s game, which I’m sure the Manchester City team will take with them as they enter the new season without Houghton’s captaincy.
With the gripping end of season battle between Chelsea and City so delicately poised, two icons of the English game, Emma Hayes and Steph Houghton, will fight for the right to end their WSL career by helping lift the coveted League title.
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