Glaswegian who played for Ireland
Raymond James Houghton, born in Glasgow in 1962, was capped for the Republic of Ireland 73 times between 1986 and 1997, and scored six goals.
The two most memorable of those goals, and the ones most often remembered by the fans and historians, were those in the 1-nil victory over England at the 1988 European Championship game in Stuttgart, and the goal he scored against Italy at Giants Stadium in New York in the 1994 World Cup.
Ray qualified for Ireland through his father being Irish.
As well as with Ireland, his name is inextricably linked with Liverpool. He made 153 appearances for the club between 1987 and 1992, scoring 28 goals.
The midfielder also had spells with West Ham, Fulham, Oxford United, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Reading.
It was when the family moved to London when Ray was 10 that he began his professional career. As a 17-year-old he signed professional forms at West Ham, failed to make an impact, and three years later moved to Fulham on a free transfer. Which was when his professional football career began to take off.
The picture accompanying this narrative was taken at the Dublin Airport Complex, which was one of Ireland’s training venues. Mick McCarthy was Manager at the time.
I had a brief chat with Ray abut the upcoming match against Lichtenstein — a game they would go on to win. I was curious to know which goal was his favourite — his headed goal against England, or that great half volley against Italy in the World Cup finals?
He said, “Both were high points in my career. To be quite honest I couldn’t place one above the other.” Thoughtful and honest answer. A nice man.
He trotted of then to re-join the training session.
