Keith Houchen

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Keith Houchen

Personal information
Full name	Keith Morton Houchen
Date of birth	25 July 1960 (1960-07-25) (age 49)
Place of birth	Middlesbrough, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
1977–1978	Chesterfield
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1978–1982	Hartlepool United	170	(65)
1982–1984	Leyton Orient	76	(20)
1984–1986	York City	67	(19)
1986	Scunthorpe United	9	(3)
1986–1989	Coventry City	54	(7)
1989–1991	Hibernian	57	(11)
1991–1993	Port Vale	49	(10)
1993–1996	Hartlepool United	109	(27)
Total		509	(162)
Teams managed
1995–1996	Hartlepool United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Keith Morton Houchen (born 25 July 1960) is an English former footballer.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Post retirement 3 Biography 4 Honours 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Playing career

After leaving Chesterfield without having made a first team appearance he signed with Hartlepool United in February 1978. He would go on to score an impressive 65 goals in 170 league games for the club, making himself as the club's top scorer for four consecutive seasons, before being transferred to Second Division side Leyton Orient in March 1982 for £25,000.

Two years later, unhappy with the North London-based side, he returned north to York City for a £40,000 fee. York went on to win that season's Fourth Division championship. Unable to quite find the league form he hit at Hartlepool, he managed to score the only goal (a penalty) in York's historic 1-0 giant-killing victory of Arsenal in the FA Cup. He was sold on to Scunthorpe United for £40,000 in March 1986. Though by July that year he moved on to Coventry City for £60,000.

He struck 7 times in 54 league games for Coventry, though it was in the FA Cup once again that he ensured his name went down in the club's history. He bagged four goals in their 1986-87 cup-winning run, including the winning goal away at Old Trafford against Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.

He is most famous for scoring a spectacular diving header in the 1987 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in a 3-2 win over Tottenham. As well as his FA Cup winning medal, this also earned him the BBC Match of the Day's Goal of the Season award for the 1987 season. This was due to the acrobatic effort involved and partly due to the incredible run he had made from deep midfield to meet the crossed ball delivered by team-mate Dave Bennett. It is generally considered as one of the most famous goals scored at Wembley,^[1] and certainly the best headed goal.

Houchen struggled to form a regular striker role in the Coventry City team. His talismanic ability in the FA Cup rarely transferred to regular league form. In his defence, the purchasing of David Speedie and later Gary Bannister meant that competition was high, and a deserved run in the first team never materialized. He did however score the winning goal in November 1988 that would end one of Coventry City's lasting hoodoo's - their inability to beat Aston Villa. The jinx was broken after Regis had opened the scoring before Houchen's close range reaction secured a 2-1 win. It would prove to be his last goal for the Sky Blues.

Houchen left Coventry on a £100,000 transfer in March 1989 for Scottish Premier League side Hibernian, which enabled him to play in the UEFA Cup. In August 1991 he returned to England with a £100,000 move to Port Vale. Initially a regular in the first team, a torn hamstring injury in September 1991 saw him sidelined and he struggled to regain his place. Though he was a member of the sides that won the TNT Tournament in 1992 and played fairly regularly in the 1992-93 season.^[2] He left Vale Park on a free transfer in June 1993 and returned to old club Hartlepool. Appointed player-manager in April 1995, his reign was to last until November 1996. The club had lost 37 of his 73 games in charge, though there was a distinct lack of money at the club.

[edit] Post retirement

He appeared as one of the players selected for the new Wembley Stadium's 'Walk of Fame' prior to the venue's first FA Cup final in May 2007,^[1] to unanimous applause from the 90,000-strong crowd. It was almost 20 years to the day from his historic goal at the old Wembley stadium, which was scored in front of 98,000 fans.

[edit] Biography

A 256-page biography of his footballing career entitled A Tenner & A Box of Kippers, written by Jonathan Strange, was published in 2006.

[edit] Honours

with Coventry City

• FA Cup winner: 1987
• FA Charity Shield runner-up: 1987

with Port Vale

• TNT Tournament winner: 1992

Individual

• Match of the Day's Goal of the Season Award: 1986-87

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Keith Houchen career stats at Soccerbase
• Keith Houchen management career stats at Soccerbase
• That goal at YouTube

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