Lionesses hero Steph Houghton MBE has entered the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame, after an induction at the Etihad stadium.
Steph was inducted during ‘An Afternoon with Steph Houghton’. The event celebrated the many highs of Houghton’s career and brought fans closer to the legendary defender. All money raised from the event will also go toward CITC and the Darby Rimmer Foundation.
Houghton was inducted for her huge impact on the women’s game at domestic and international level, and her monumental influence on the growth of the game in this country.
Speaking at the event, Houghton said: “I am honoured to be inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame so soon after announcing my retirement from football. It is a prestigious list, with less than 200 players, managers and teams inducted so I am very humbled.
“I share the recognition with my teammates, managers, coaches, club support staff and family, who have all contributed so much to my career and without them then I wouldn’t have achieved the success and enjoyment that I had in football.”
Born in Durham, Houghton’s career began in the North-East at childhood club Sunderland. The young defender spent five years on Wearside and helped the Black Cats achieve promotion from the Northern Division in 2005, as well as the personal accolade of Young Player of the Season in the following year.
Houghton would then move on to Leeds Carnegie in 2007 and lift the Women’s Premier League Cup with them in her final year at the club in 2010. The silverware continued to flow for Houghton after signing for Arsenal, collecting two WSL trophies, two FA Women’s Cups and three FA WSL Cups in her three-year spell with the Gunners.
The last chapter in Houghton’s domestic career would be one that spanned another decade at the top level, playing and captaining Manchester City between 2014 and 2024, amassing over 240 caps in that time. Houghton retired as City’s highest capped and most decorated player, with eight titles to her name, featuring in the Barclays WSL Team of the Year on two occasions.
Her leadership qualities carried through into the national team where she would collect 121 caps for England across 14 years, captaining the lionesses to third place in the 2015 Canada World Cup. This tournament served as a ground-breaking moment for women’s football in the UK and undoubtedly catapulted the growth of the game.
Everyone at Leeds United would like to congratulate Steph on the achievement.
