Steph Houghton has said it is even more frustrating when Manchester City lose a game now she has retired.
Houghton, who is a former England captain, played for City for 10 years before hanging up her boots at the end of last season after a 22-year career where she won 20 trophies.
The 36-year-old, who is now a pundit, was speaking before she was inducted into the Women’s Super League Hall of Fame alongside Alex Scott, Gilly Flaherty and Rebecca Welch.
Steph Houghton: ‘Ian Wright and I have a good partnership’
When asked by FourFourTwo how she is finding it being on the sidelines this season, she said: “Very different to be honest. People always ask ‘how do you feel about retiring?’ I am glad I made the decision. I am happy and I enjoy what I am doing now.
“I am able to watch the games and try not to be too bias, obviously when Man City play it’s hard not to be bias as they are my club and I love it when they win but it frustrates me even more when we get beat.
“I think you are always going to have those loyal ties. I am happy to be in a privileged position to be on both sides. I am conscious I need to keep doing things to make the game better.”
As well as game punditry, Houghton co-hosts a podcast called Crossways with Arsenal legend Ian Wright. They discuss women’s football and highlight issues that need to be addressed in the game.
Houghton added: “I think for me you have to be careful, you have to justify the things you are saying. I have a lot of friends who still play, I have a lot of ties to different clubs but I think for me the podcast is about highlighting the issues but also the strengths of what we have.
“I think it is important we remain balanced and I think me and Ian we have struck a good partnership in that we can keep each other balanced as much as we can. I think we need to be honest we want things to be better, we want things to be moved on. Firstly we have to talk, we can’t go behind everyone’s backs, we need to have open conversation.”
Women’s football has come a long way since Houghton, who in FourFourTwo’s view is one of the most recognisable women’s footballers in the country, first began her career in 2002. There is regular national coverage and professional standards are implemented across the game.
There is still more to do though, according to Houghton. “Sometimes it frustrates me a little bit, I’m not going to lie,” she said.
“I don’t want us to be stagnant, I don’t want us to be in that zone of ‘oh everything is okay’, we need to stay moving. Sometimes it is good to have been in the game and now come out to feed that information back.”
