Samuel Houghton (16 August 1870 – 17 August 1920) was an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1890s and 1900s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, and at club level for

Runcorn RFC Runcorn FC was a rugby league club. Having formed in 1876 and played rugby union as members of the RFU, they joined the Northern Union in 1895, just several days after it was founded, and played in the league from 1895–96 to 1917–18. The ...

, and Birkenhead Wanderers, as a fullback. and representative level rugby league (RL) for

, and at club level for

, who he rejoined in January 1896, and who had switched to professional

in 1895.

International honours

Sam Houghton was born in

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

, England, and he also died in

, England.

International honours

Sam Houghton won first selected to play for

(RU), while representing Runcorn at club level, for the encounter against Ireland in the

1892 Home Nations Championship The 1892 Home Nations Championship was the tenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 2 January and 5 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England took the 1892 Champio ...

. Despite England winning 7–0, Houghton was replaced for the next match of the tournament by Thomas Coop, who himself was uncapped before the match. It would take almost four years for Houghton to win his second cap, when he was chosen for the

1896 Home Nations Championship The 1896 Home Nations Championship was the fourteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 4 January and 14 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

. This was a key match for England, as it was the first international after the formation of the Northern League, and the selectors were now unable to call upon a large number of former players who had now turned professional. Houghton by this time had switched clubs from Runcorn to Birkenhead Wanderers, and on 4 January 1896 he was called upon to face Wales in the opening game of the Championship, the match was a one-sided affair after the talented Welsh three-quarters, Owen Badger, broke his collar bone within the first fifteen minutes and was forced to leave the pitch. England went on to win 25–0. Despite being called back into the England team, and then being selected for the second match of the 1896 Championship against Ireland, Houghton switched codes before the 1 February fixture, joining his old club Runcorn. Runcorn who were previously a union team had turned professional in 1895, and by signing back to the club, Houghton was now considered a professional footballer, and could therefore never represent a rugby union team at club, county, or country level.

Note

ESPN states Samuel Houghton's date of birth as 16 August 1870, whereas FreeBMD quotes the birth as being registered during first ¼ 1870.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Samuel 1870 births 1920 deaths Cheshire rugby league team players England international rugby union players English rugby league players English rugby union players Rugby league players from Runcorn Rugby union fullbacks Sportspeople from Runcorn Rugby union players from Runcorn Runcorn RFC players Cheshire RFU players