Bobby Houghton
Personal information
Full name	Robert Douglas Houghton
Date of birth	13 October 1947 (1947-10-13) (age 62)
Place of birth	England
Club information
Current club	India (manager)
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1966–1969 1969–1970 1970–1971 1971–1975	Fulham Brighton & Hove Albion Hastings United Maidstone United Total	84 (62) 93 (76) 38 (33) 94 (21) 309 (192)
Teams managed
1970–1971 1971–1975 1974–1980 1980 1980–1982 1982–1984 1984–1986 1987–1989 1990–1992 1993 1994–1995 1996 1997–1999 2005 2006–	Hastings United Maidstone United Malmö FF Ethnikos Piraeus Bristol City Toronto Blizzard Al-Ittihad Örgryte IS Malmö FF Al-Ittihad FC Zürich Colorado Rapids China Uzbekistan India
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Robert Douglas Houghton (born 13 October 1947), commonly known as either Bob Houghton or Bobby Houghton, is an English football manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Indian national team. His career has spanned over 30 years and 10 different countries. A tall and powerful striker, he was a prolific goal scorer for all four of his clubs, most notably for Fulham F.C..

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Malmö FF 1.3 1980s and 90s 1.4 International management 1.4.1 China 1.4.2 Uzbekistan 1.4.3 India 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

During his brief playing career, Houghton was a midfielder for Fulham (1966–69) and Brighton & Hove Albion (1969–70). Houghton was one of the youngest coaches ever to manage in English senior football, being appointed player-manager of Hastings United in the Southern League at only 23. In the early 1970s he also managed Maidstone United and worked as an assistant to Bobby Robson at Ipswich Town.^[1]

[edit] Malmö FF

He became the manager of Swedish top flight side Malmö FF in 1974. Then a provincial, amateur side, he guided them to success domestically and internationally, reaching the European Cup final against Nottingham Forest in 1979, narrowly losing 1–0. The team was all based on local players who came from within 60 km from Malmö. It was the first and so far only time a Swedish team has reached the European Cup final.

He also won the Swedish championship and Svenska Cupen several times and was runner-up in the Intercontinental Cup in 1979 (Nottingham Forest had declined to participate). Along with close friend Roy Hodgson he is widely regarded as being responsible for the transformation of Swedish football into a relative modern power.^[2]

[edit] 1980s and 90s

After a short spell in Greece with Ethnikos Piraeus, Houghton returned to his homeland in 1980 to manage Bristol City. His spell at Ashton Gate was unsuccessful as the financially stricken club were relegated and Houghton resigned after a defeat to Wimbledon. Houghton's next job was with North American Soccer League side Toronto Blizzard between 1982 and 1984. He then managed in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad before returing to Sweden at Örgryte IS and Malmö again. After another spell with Al-Ittihad in 1993, he joined Swiss side FC Zürich in April 1994 and remained in charge for just over a year before leaving in March 1995. In 1996 he became the first ever coach of Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids before being sacked after just one season.

[edit] International management

[edit] China

Houghton then assumed control of the Chinese national team in late 1997, who had just failed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup. Within weeks, Houghton was able to memorise the names of all his players, a rare feat in foreign coaches, and helped build the team's confidence and self-belief. China were placed second in the Dynasty Cup very shortly after Houghton took over, and he developed a reputation for being able to implement an effective technical football program for struggling teams. They also attained a bronze medal at the 1998 Asian Games. After failing to qualify for the 2000 Olympic football tournament, Houghton left as manager of the Chinese national team in 1999. He later had several spells as a club manager in China and was also a coaching instructor.

[edit] Uzbekistan

He had a spell in charge of Uzbekistan in 2005 when he was charged with qualifying for the 2006 World Cup though his attempt failed after losing a controversial play-off tie against Bahrain. Uzbekistan won the first match 1–0 but FIFA declared the result void after a refereeing mistake, and Uzbekistan were eliminated on the away goals rule.

[edit] India

Houghton was then appointed head coach of India in June 2006 by the All India Football Federation. His appointment saw a general progress in India's performances^[3] crowned by victory in the Nehru Cup in August 2007. But India suffered a huge loss when Maldives defeated them at the final of SAFF Championship 2008, despite a 100% record in the group stage^[4], including a victory over the hosts. However, Houghton led India to the AFC Challenge Cup title as they beat Tajikistan 4-1 in August 2008. He also oversaw the Indian team to its second consecutive Nehru Cup trophy win in 2009.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• All India Football Federation profile of Houghton
• FC Zürich stats

Sporting positions
Preceded by Dave Turner	Toronto Blizzard head coach 1982–1984	League defunct
Preceded by Vanderlei Luxemburgo	Al-Ittihad (Jeddah) manager 1984–1986	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by Syed Nayeemuddin	India national football team coach 2006–present	Succeeded by Current

Bob Houghton managerial positions v • d • e Malmö FF – Managers Hjertberg (1917) · Ruff (1922) · Wijk (1932–34) · Simon (1935–37) · Lundahl (1937–41) · Ahlberg (1941–43) · S. Nilsson (1944) · Wampetits (1945) · S. Nilsson (1945–47) · Konrád (1947–50) · S. Nilsson (1950) · Turner (1951–55) · Stroh (1955–58) · Sandell (1959–63) · Durán (1964–71) · Hult (1972–73) · Houghton (1974–80) · Blunt (1980–82) · Grip (1983–84) · Hodgson (1985–89) · Houghton (1990–92) · Jensen (1992–93) · Zetterlund (1994–96) · Thijssen (1997–98) · R. Andersson (1998–99) · M. Andersson (2000–01) · Prahl (2002–05) · Åkeby (2006–07) · R. Nilsson (2008–) v • d • e Bristol City F.C. – Managers Hollis (1897–99) · Campbell (1899–1901) · Hollis (1901–05) · Thickett (1905–10) · Bacon (1910–11) · Hollis (1911–13) · Hedley (1913–15) · Hamilton (1915–19) · Palmer (1919–21) · Raisbeck (1921–29) · Bradshaw (1929–32) · Hewison (1932–49) · Wright (1949–50) · Beasley (1950–58) · Doherty (1958–60) · Ford (1960–67) · Dicks (1967–80) · Houghton (1980–82) · Hodgson (1982) · Cooper (1982–88) · Jordan (1988–90) · Lumsden (1990–92) · Smith (1992–93) · Osman (1993–94) · Jordan (1994–97) · Sweeney (1997) · Ward (1997–98) · Lennartsson (1998–99) · Pulis (1999–2000) · Fawthrop & Burnside (2000) · Rosenior (2000) · Wilson (2000–04) · Tinnion (2004–05) · Millen (2005) · Johnson (2005–) v • d • e Örgryte IS – Managers King (1909–10) · Bunyan (1911–12) · Lindberg (1918) · Carr (1920) · Puddefoot (1927–28) · Friberg (1930–31) · Slade (1932–33) · Chapman (1933) · Rydell (1934–35) · Wiberg (1935–36) · Slade (1936–37) · Carlund (1937–38) · Billing (1938–40) · Zachrisson (1940–41) · Holmgren (1942–43) · Granath (1943–44) · Magnusson (1944–45) · Granath (1945–48) · Wampetits (1949–50) · Granath (1951–53) · Bengtsson (1953–54) · Magnusson (1954–56) · Gren (1956–59) · Adamek (1960) · Larsson (1961–63) · Probst (1964–65) · Larsson (1966–70) · Simonsson (1971–72) · Börjesson (1973) · Huntley (1974–75) · Wing (1976) · Hallén (1976) · Berghamn (1977–78) · Larsson (1979–82) · Simonsson (1983–86) · Houghton (1987–88) · C. Carlsson (1989–90) · Nilsson (1991–93) · Björklund (1994–97) · Backman (1998) · Hamrén (1998–2003) · Ikäläinen (2004) · Lukić (2005–06) · Börjesson (2006) · J. Carlsson (2007–09) · Hareide (2009) · Andersson (2009–) v • d • e FC Zürich – Managers Winkler (1920–22) · Studnicka (1922–24) · Konrád (1930–31) · Sobotka (1942–43) · Minelli (1943–46) · Iseli (1946–48) · Lohrmann (1948–53) · Friedl (1953–55) · Müller (1955–57) · Molina & Barras (1957–58) · Rappan (1958–59) · Barras (1959–60) · Wurzer (1960–62) · Maurer (1962–66) · Kubala (1966–67) · Brodmann (1967) · Mantula (1967–69) · Gawliczek (1969–70) · Schwanner (1970–71) · Konietzka (1971–78) · Čajkovski (1978–80) · Sing & Martinelli (1980) · Jeandupeux (1980–83) · Glättli (1983) · Merkel (1983) · Kuhn (1983) · Kodric (1983) · Kuhn (1983–84) · Ježek (1984–86) · Stessl (1986–87) · Konietzka (1987–88) · Bongartz (1988–89) · Iselin (1989) · Neumann (1989–91) · Jara (1991–94) · Houghton (1994–95) · Ponte (1995–2000) · Gress (2000–01) · Bregy (2001–03) · Grüter (2003) · Favre (2003–07) · Challandes (2007–) v • d • e Colorado Rapids – Managers Houghton (1996) · Wegerle (1996) · Myernick (1997–00) · Hankinson (2001–04) · Clavijo (2005–2008) · Smith (2008–) v • d • e China national football team – Managers Li Fenglou (1951–1952) · Joseph (1954–1956) · Dai Linjing (1957) · Chen Chengda (1958–1962) · Nian Weisi (1963) · Fang Renqiu (1964) · Nian Weisi (1965–1973) · Nian Weisi & Ren Bin (1974–1976) · Zhang Honggen (1977) · Nian Weisi (1978) · Zhang Honggen (1979) · Nian Weisi (1980) · Su Yongshun (1980–1982) · Zhang Honggen (1982) · Zeng Xuelin (1983–1985) · Nian Weisi (1985–1986) · Gao Fengwen (1986–1990) · Xu Genbao (1991–1992) · Schlappner (1992–1993) · Qi Wusheng (1994–1997) · Houghton (1997–99) · Jin Zhiyang (2000c) · Milutinović (2000–2002) · Shen Xiangfu (2002c) · Haan (2002–2004) · Zhu Guanghu (2005–2007) · Petrović (2007–2008) · Yin Tiesheng (2008–2009c) · Gao Hongbo (2009–) C (caretaker manager) v • d • e India national football team – Managers Rahim (1950–62) · Wright (1963–64) · Banerjee (1981–82) · Bootland (1982) · Kinnear (1983) · Ćirić (1984–85) · Banerjee (1985) · Nayeemuddin (1986) · Dutta (1987) · Gelei (1990–91) · Pešek (1993–94) · Akhramov (1995–97) · Nayeemuddin (1997–1998) · Singh (1998–2001) · Constantine (2002–05) · Singh (2005) · Nayeemuddin (2005–06) · Houghton (2006–)