Stage set for England to honour ‘humble, brilliant’ Steph Houghton

Humility. It is a word that keeps cropping up in conversations about Steph Houghton and a quality that is certain to ensure England’s captain can expect the warmest of ovations when she receives her 100th cap at Rotherham on Sunday.

“I want to make it a special day,” said Phil Neville as the Lionesses’ coach prepared for the friendly against Sweden. “Steph’s so humble that she doesn’t want a fuss, she doesn’t want it to be all about her but I’m determined to celebrate her international career.”

Given that Houghton’s husband, the former Bradford and Bolton defender, Stephen Darby, has recently been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, it is likely to be a particularly emotional occasion. “What Steph’s going through is horrific but you’d never know; she just gets on with things,” said Neville. “She’s a brilliant player – and an even better person.”

As he patrols the technical area in front of a sellout 12,000 crowd at the New York Stadium, England’s coach will quite possibly reflect on his fortune in inheriting such an impressive captain and central defender. It is not lost on him that Houghton’s career has involved her negotiating the sort of character‑building hard yards that some younger counterparts in a newly professional sport no longer need navigate.

READ MORE: Manchester derby winner my finest hour - Rashford

READ MORE: 'Varane, Griezmann or Mbappe should win Ballon d'Or'

READ MORE: Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha statue: Leicester City to build memorial

Now 30, she developed resilience early after becoming the first girl to play for the school team at South Hetton primary in County Durham – at centre-forward. After coping with complaints from parents of overlooked boys, making her senior debut for Sunderland Ladies at 14 must have been a relative breeze.

As part of a side from which the then coach, Mick Mulhern, produced a raft of current England players including Lucy Bronze, Jordan Nobbs and Jill Scott, Houghton’s game went from strength to strength. Even so, a subsequent move to Leeds involved juggling football with studying and part-time work while her progress was slowed by a broken leg swiftly followed by a torn cruciate ligament.

Overcoming these injuries as a part-timer required the sort of mental toughness that Neville fears the next generation of female footballers may fail to acquire. “My players get so much [support from the FA and their clubs] now that I actually think we’re getting too much,” said England’s coach. “My challenge is being able to say no to some of what’s being offered to us.”

This thought crystallised when his twin sister, the England netball head coach, Tracey Neville, brought her squad to meet their footballing counterparts at St George’s Park last week. “The netball team came here and saw what’s normal for my players,” he said. “But it’s not normal for them. They don’t get half of what my players get. We’ve got every resource here but my big challenge is to make sure we remain humble and keep our feet on the ground.”

That is precisely what Houghton did as she earned high-profile moves to Arsenal and, more recently, Manchester City in addition to becoming an England regular under first Hope Powell and then Mark Sampson. It was the latter who handed her the national armband, explaining that the first woman to adorn the front cover of Shoot! magazine “epitomised the values I want from my team, the hard work, the ambition and the honesty”.

Although he never contemplated replacing her, Neville has admitted he initially struggled to bond with his captain. “I didn’t really feel a connection with Steph until we met for a coffee in Manchester during the summer,” he said. “From that moment though we’ve become close; she’s a special person.”

Houghton is also integral to his blueprint for winning the 2019 World Cup in France but Neville will use this month’s friendlies for experimentation as he strives to introduce new faces and increased competition for places. After seeing the debutants Chioma Ubogagu and Georgia Stanway shine and score during Thursday’s 3-0 win against Austria in Vienna, further rotation seems likely on Sunday. England’s manager will demand another victory though Peter Gerhardsson’s Sweden – ranked ninth in the world to the Lionesses’ third – should offer a considerably trickier test than Austria. Pia Sundhage’s successor has implemented a more attacking, very much possession-based, style and the manner in which Neville’s players respond could offer a revealing insight as to exactly how far England’s own passing game has evolved since his installation last January.

But whatever happens, and whether she likes it or not, Sunday will be all about Houghton.