Steph Houghton was not a part of the England's historic 2022 European Championships squad despite battling back from injury and making herself available for selection.
Houghton had been England captain under Mark Sampson and Phil Neville and Sarina Wiegman looked as though she was going to keep the former Manchester City player in the role.
However, Houghton injured her Achilles earlier in the tournament year and Leah Williamson took over as skipper. Houghton did return to the pitch but never played for England again.
‘My God, if that hadn’t happened…’
Houghton, who retired from football in 2024, recently told FourFourTwo how it felt being left out of the squad: "If you talk about the worst moments of my career, that period was really tough, especially when you’ve got a plan in your head of playing in that Euros and then probably retiring from international football.
"It was delayed a year because of COVID and you think, ‘My God, if that hadn’t happened…’ My Achilles injury was pretty bad, then I came back from that and did it again – I had to have an operation.
"It was probably a six-month injury that I was trying to rehab in four months, continually going through the plan with Manchester City, England, Sarina and the staff to know if I had a chance of playing.
"Once I got that go-ahead to know that I had a chance of being part of the squad, it was, ‘OK, get your head down, get the best physio, work from 9am to 6pm every single day, sacrifice time with Stephen’[Darby, her husband who has been diagnosed with MND], because all I ever wanted was to represent England at a home Euros.
"I was confident I’d get back, and I did. I did everything asked of me – and then you’re told you aren’t going to be part of it. You think, ‘I went through all of this, for you not to take me’. It was massively upsetting."
England went on to win the Euros trophy, the Lionesses' first major silverware, in front of a sold-out Wembley. They beat Germany 2-1 after extra time.
Houghton, who in FourFourTwo's view is one of the best England players of all-time, explains what it was like watching the Lionesses win their first major trophy: "Mixed emotions. I’m only human: I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t upset that I wasn’t there. I was frustrated. I felt as though I could make a difference in that team.
"But there were so many amazing people I adore in that team, and to see them so happy, and for England to finally win a trophy... it’s only since I’ve retired that I’ve looked back and thought, ‘I didn’t physically have my hands on the trophy but I played a huge part in that journey’."
Houghton had a huge influence over the team for a number of years. She won her first England cap in 2007 and went on to win an incredible 121 in total, her final game the team was in 2021.
Houghton featured at two Euros, in 2013 and 2017, and three World Cups, in 2011, 2015 and 2019. The star is now a pundit after hanging up her boots and is to be inducted into the Women's Super League hall of fame in January.
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