Bill Shankly, the legendary Liverpool manager, has granted the world an unforgettable quote: “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.”
Quotes aside, Steph Houghton’s story proves that even a legends like Shankly can be wrong. Houghton is the current captain of Manchester City W.F.C and England’s women’s national team. But besides leadership skills on the pitch, Houghton is also a social leader off the pitch. Like other women’s football icons such as U.S. stars Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, Houghton uses her status to promote women’s football in the UK and feminine issues related to football. But it was only recently that she discovered she was about to face her toughest opponent yet – and this time, it was really about to become a matter of life and death.
Houghton grew up in Sunderland and started playing football early on in childhood. At first she played for her local club, Sunderland, admiring other players from North East England such as David Beckham and Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips. Eventually, after short spells with Leeds and Arsenal, Houghton signed with Manchester City W.F.C. in 2014.
In several interviews held with her, Houghton stated that although she was happy to have Beckham and Phillips as role models, she wishes to become one for a new generation. In order to do so, Houghton did not hesitate to use her persona to promote various social issues, one of them is the #endperiodpoverty campaign. According to the campaign, 31% of girls miss after-school activities of their clubs since they lack the means to deal with their period, including sanitary products.
Recently, another cause has grown closer to her heart. Houghton is married to former Bolton and Liverpool defender Stephen Darby. In September 2018, Darby had to retire from football at the age of 29, after he was diagnosed with a Motor Neurone Disease, a group of disorders affecting the muscles. The prognosis came only a month after their wedding. As a family of professional athletes, Houghton and Darby started to do what they know best – fight in order to win. Darby joined forces with British Forces Veteran Chris Rimmer to launch the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation. The foundation was established in order to raise awareness to the disease, support individuals and families who are coping with it and to raise funds for research in order to find a treatment and a cure for MND. Houghton serves as one of the patrons of the foundation, alongside her fellow teammate and promising football player, Georgia Stanway, and other legends such as James Milner, Jamie Redknapp and Jamie Carragher.
For all her activities, Houghton was recently named as North East Football Writers’ Association’s Personality of the Year, in association with the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. The award, previously awarded to Alan Shearer, is meant to “recognize someone who uses their position in football to benefit the wider community”. Houghton is the first woman to win the prize, and soon after receiving the award she has not forgotten to act as a role model for the younger generation:
In a “regular” life, Stephen Darby and Steph Houghton’s story would already be considered impressive just for their struggle with Darby’s disease. However, it seems that as a person who is used to achieving personal goals through football, the fight to cure MND might be Houghton’s long-term challenge. We can only wish more athletes would take on the same responsibility for their community as she has.
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Thumbnail photo by Manchester City official Facebook page