Ray Houghton

Early career

Houghton was born in Castlemilk, Glasgow (where Arthur Graham, who would also become an international footballer, was an upstairs neighbour in the same tenement block). However, he moved to London at the age of 10 and began his professional career at West Ham United, where he came through the ranks and signed professional forms as a 17-year-old on 5 July 1979. He failed to make an impact at Upton Park and on 7 July 1982, after 3 years and just one substitute appearance, moved on to Fulham on a free transfer.

Fulham

Malcolm Macdonald had 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 to 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 promotions; however, their form after the turn of the year dipped.

Oxford United

Jim Smith had taken Oxford United to the top tier of English football. When he left in 1985, his replacement, Maurice Evans, looked to Houghton to help solidify their place in the league. He paid £147,000 for Houghton on 13 September…

Houghton was born in Scotland to an Irish father and Scottish mother. Prior to his career with the Republic of Ireland, Houghton was a member of a Scotland U18 squad under Andy Roxburgh, failing to gain any caps. Despite becoming increasingly successful in his club career by 1986, he was not considered for the Scotland squad for the upcoming World Cup. Houghton qualified to play international football for the Republic of Ireland through his father, who was born in Buncrana in Inishowen, County Donegal, in Ulster. He earned his first cap in Jack Charlton's first match as manager, a 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 on 12 June was against an England team that included Gary Lineker, Bryan Robson and Houghton's Liverpool club mates Peter Beardsley and John Barnes. Houghton scored with an early looping header to win the game 1–0, his first goal for Ireland. Ireland failed to get through the group stage after a draw against the USSR and a defeat against eventual champions The Netherlands. Houghton was selected for the Irish squad which qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. They were once again drawn in the same group as England, which included Lineker, Robson, Beardsley and Barnes as well as Paul Gascoigne and Chris Waddle. The game finished in a…

Houghton now works as a pundit on the game, working for outlets such as RTÉ in Ireland, and Talksport, Sky Sports, Sportsxchange in the UK and LFC TV. Since 2002 he has also worked for Sports Interactive as a consultant on their game Football Manager. In 2005, he was given an honorary degree by the University of Huddersfield, for his services to sport. He joined actor Tim Brooke Taylor and former Olympic swimmer Adrian Moorhouse in collecting degrees. He contributed to RTÉ Sport's coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and was a co-commentator during their coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, UEFA Euro 2020, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Oxford United

Football League Cup: 1985–86 Liverpool

Football League First Division: 1987–88, 1989–90 FA Cup: 1988–89, 1991–92; runner-up: 1987–88 FA Charity Shield: 1990 Aston Villa

Football League Cup: 1993–94 Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1982–83 Second Division, 1991–92 First Division FAI Senior International Player of the Year: 1994