City leader on building legacy in women’s game
Blues and England leader reflects on an incredible few years in women’s game
CITY and England captain Steph Houghton says that the last few years have been a very special time to be part of the women’s game.
Speaking to Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes on The High Performance Podcast, the 32-year-old said: “When I was younger there wasn’t that much of a legacy and there wasn’t that much to kind of aspire to be, whereas now I know that I’ve been a part of a legacy of women’s football over the last 10-12 years.
“I think back to the Olympics in 2012 – I think that was probably the biggest watershed moment for women’s football to get that many people watching on telly and at the stadium (Wembley) and for us to go and win (against Brazil in the group stage) was unbelievable, and that really put women’s football on the map.
“I look back to 2015 when we won bronze medal in Canada [at the Women’s World Cup]. We didn’t expect to go and get anything, but to come home with a medal and know that everybody’ s watching back home and knowing when you come back that you have been in living in a little bit of a bubble and people are actually knowing your name and wearing your shirt, which was a special feeling. “So I think there’s so much more we can achieve, but I’d like to know that we have been a part of something special over the last few years.”
In a wide-ranging discussion, Houghton also spoke about starting her football career by playing with the boys in her school team, adding that she thought that having to fight for the right to play had been a benefit to her.
“You don’t actually know what’s going to happen in the future so I’m going to make the most of now,” she explained.
“And I’ll try and fight for everything that I want and just to keep playing football, because I love the sport so much, and it was a bonus that I could be a professional footballer.”
When I was younger there wasn’t much to kind of aspire to be Steph Houghton