Majic.iE

HISTORY IS WRITTEN BY THE WINNERS

“Time froze when the ball went in. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been told that the roar of the travelling fans could be heard back in Ireland when I beat Shilton, but I could have heard a penny drop,” he says.Houghton was part of a historic Irish football team and helped deliver many more fantastic memories. Who could forget when Bonner saved a Romanian penalty in Genoa two years later? What about Houghton’s other famous goal that beat the Italians in Giants stadium at USA 94?The stout former number six is quick to point out that the goal against England meant much more that either of those moments:“It was my first goal for Ireland. I hadn’t scored in my previous 20 appearances and to do it against the ‘old enemy’ at our first major international tournament in the Euros was a dream come true for me.”

JUMPERS FOR GOALPOSTS

Houghton learned his trade on the hardened streets of working class Glasgow.“Football’s been in my blood since I was a boy, ever since my Nan bought me my first pair of Georgie Best football boots for Christmas. I was the richest boy in town. Not many others I knew had those boots. I learned with my mates to survive bumping into people, to get up and carry on. I practiced every day. Against the wall, heading, kicking, every moment I could.”At just 17 years of age, Houghton signed his first professional contract in 1979 with London club West Ham United. Hours spent mimicking his boyhood Liverpool heroes in his back garden paid off three years later when he joined the club he had followed as a youngster.“Playing with Liverpool was a dream come true for me. I have since heard that when West Ham released me, Arsenal, Milan and Leeds were all interested but when Liverpool came in with a n offer, my heart was set on the Merseyside. I had watched them as a kid. Id loved them.”

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

I had watched Houghton as a kid. I vividly remember him singing “Who put the ball in the England net!?! I did! I did!” from the open top bus that carried Jack’s heroes down O Connell St following their return from euro 88.It’s hard to believe that we could have been deprived of that moment were it not for the Scottish manager at the time dropping the proverbial ball.“Scotland never asked me to play. At the trials for the Under 18s the gaffer separated the ‘Anglos’ from the Scots.”Houghton was considered an ‘Anglo’ because he was living in London at the time. Bad move.Jack Charlton jumped on the Scot’s missed opportunity and Ray took little convincing to declare for Ireland. Ray’s father is from Buncrana and he helped Ray become an honorary Irishman.

TALKING FOOTBALL

Our trip down memory lane takes a stumble as a passer by interrupts. A cue from someone in the background brings us back to the evening in question and Ray must now offer himself to Bill O Herlihy as he prepares to discuss the finer points of the day’s big game.Speaking of his new career path as sports commentator and TV pundit for RTE Sport, he echoes the statement made by his fellow commentator Graeme Souness to Bill O Herlihy about being allowed to tell it like it is.“We can be a bit more opinionated. RTE is good at giving you your head. You can say what you feel within reason and as forcefully as you like, and if you get it wrong you put your hand up and say so and no one is going to pressure you,” he says.Ironic really considering his success as a footballer came from Big Jack’s obsession with putting the opposition “under pressure.”I could have talked all night. Interviewing Ray was like talking to an old friend about the good old days. We were reminiscing. Ray was called once more and this time his cue meant business. He rolls his eyes to the heavens that smiled on him that faithful moment in Stuttgart and retires to the studio.As I watch him walk down the tunnel towards his new teammates at RTE, I once again resist the temptation to throw myself at the mercy of the former midfield magician. I call to him once more. He spins on a dime and nods as I simply say: “Thanks for the memories.”