football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
,
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
Craig Levein
Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional association football, football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone.
During his playing c ...
at Hearts,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
and
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
. After Levein was appointed
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
manager in December 2009, Houston was appointed Dundee United manager and assisted Levein with the national team. He guided United to their 2009–10 Scottish Cup victory, but left the club by mutual consent in January 2013. After working for
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
as a scout, Houston was appointed manager of
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
in June 2014. He guided Falkirk to the promotion playoffs twice and the 2015 Scottish Cup Final, but was unable to win promotion.
Early life
Peter Houston was born on 19 July 1958 in
Baillieston
Baillieston () is a working class suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It is about east of the city centre.
It also gives its name to Ward 20 of Glasgow City Council and forms part of the Glasgow East constituency of the UK Parliament.
Geographical ...
, Lanarkshire.
Playing career
Houston began his career in 1977 with Airdrieonians but made just one senior league appearance and dropped into junior football with Livingston United. In 1979, Houston moved back into senior football with Albion Rovers and played over 100 league matches over four years, scoring 33 times. A similar length of spell at
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
also yielded 33 goals and upon leaving in 1986 to join
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
, Houston had made over 250 senior league appearances. After two years with Dumbarton, Houston returned to Falkirk for a further three years before a final playing spell with East Stirlingshire.
Management career
Early coaching roles
Upon retiring in 1993, Houston returned to Falkirk for his third spell with the club, although this time in a coaching capacity. Houston was involved in setting up Falkirk's youth academy and went on to work as an SFA Development Officer at
Brockville
Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and ...
. When manager Jim Jefferies moved to Hearts in 1995, Houston joined him as reserve and youth team manager, becoming caretaker manager when Jefferies left for
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander.
The club was founded in 1903 and ...
in 2000. Despite being backed by the players for the manager role, Houston had to settle for an assistant manager role when
Craig Levein
Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional association football, football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone.
During his playing c ...
was appointed instead. Houston followed Levein to
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
in 2004, where he stayed until Levein and his backroom staff were sacked in January 2006.
Houston lead a young Hearts team that included future
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
Scottish Youth Cup
The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual football in Scotland, Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,
Dundee United
Houston was out of football until his appointment as assistant manager to Levein at
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
in October 2006. During the summer of 2007, he suffered a bizarre injury by falling off his bike over the handlebars and breaking both wrists. Levein left the club in December 2009 to become manager of the Scotland national team, with Houston taking over as caretaker manager. Despite initially being considered favourite to take over on a permanent basis, Houston announced he would not be applying for the job following a 7–1 Ibrox defeat against
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
under his tenure. In the wake of that result, the club tried to appoint then Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon as Levein's successor, but the deal to bring Fenlon to Tannadice broke down after the clubs were unable to agree compensation. After an improved run of form under his management, Houston was appointed United's manager until the end of the 2009–10 season. Houston will also assist Levein with his Scotland duties on a part-time basis.
He guided Dundee United to 3rd place in the SPL and the final of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Ross County 3–0 at
Hampden Park
Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
on 15 May 2010 to seal their first major trophy for 16 years. On 25 May 2010, Houston accepted a three-year deal to become manager of Dundee United. "I'm absolutely privileged and honoured to be the manager of Dundee United. For me, the hard works starts now," he told
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
.
In his first full season as manager United in 4th place in the SPL, thereby qualifying for Europe again and reached the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup. In the summer of 2011 several key players left the club or were sold including David Goodwillie, Craig Conway and Morgaro Gomis. United's start to the 2011–2012 season was patchy. United won only two of their first 12 league matches and a League Cup defeat by First Division side
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
led to reports that a loss in the Terrors' next league game away to
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries.
The earliest ...
would result in Houston being sacked. After a convincing 4–1 win the United board backed Houston, but former manager Craig Levein criticised the board for not publicly supporting Houston earlier. Eventually, United's form improved and the club again finished in fourth place, once again qualifying for the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
, an achievement which pleased Houston who expressed pride in his players' performance.
Dundee United and Houston started contract negotiations during the 2012–13 season, but United chairman Stephen Thompson insisted that Houston would have to accept a cut in salary. On 14 January 2013, Dundee United granted
Football League Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...
club
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
permission to speak to Houston about their vacant managerial position. On 17 January 2013, Houston announced he would leave United at the end of the season after rejected a new contract. Following a 1–1 home result against Ross County on 26 January 2013, Houston left the club by mutual consent on 28 January 2013, bringing forward his date of departure. United chairman Stephen Thompson commented that football fans in the United Kingdom were not accustomed to managers pre-announcing their departure.
Falkirk
After leaving Dundee United, Houston joined
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
as a
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
** Scouts BSA, sect ...
in December 2013. Houston later says his time at Celtic was a positive one for him because they "were fantastic to work for".
After eight months at the club, Houston was appointed manager of
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...
. Falkirk finished second in the Championship in each of the following two seasons, but lost out in the promotion playoffs. After a slow start to the 2017–18 season, Houston was sacked by Falkirk on 24 September.
Scotland U21 and Morton assistant
Houston joined the Scotland U21 side as assistant manager to
Scot Gemmill
Scot Gemmill (born 2 January 1971) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player, who is the head coach of the Scotland under-21 team.
As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Nottingham Fore ...
in March 2018. In September of that year, he was also appointed as Jonatan Johansson's assistant at
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...
; continuing in both roles. Houston left Morton at the end of the 2018–19 season, as the club decided not to exercise the option of retaining him for the second year of his contract.
Honours and achievements
Player
;Falkirk
*
Scottish Football League First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...
Scottish Football League First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...