Houghton’s mother carries a crate of 24 milk bottles filled with water, leaving them metres from her house for the hoard of aspiring footballers to refresh themselves with.
There are “no pubs” and only slightly more jobs, so the people of Castlemilk - young or old - are left with a ball at their feet and little else.
“Football was all we had,” Houghton recalls, detailing a clear childhood image almost 50 years later. “That’s all we had. It was playing football or that was it. That was it for everyone.”
The effect was clear: Castlemilk - a working-class district designed to accommodate emigrants from neighbouring former slums - proudly lays claim to a host of successful footballers, Houghton being one name amongst many.
The former Liverpool man forms part of an illustrious list too long to write out, but alongside its more recent additions sits James McCarthy: a Scottish midfielder representing Ireland internationally, who moved to south London after a lengthy spell on Merseyside. Sound familiar?
“James McCarthy’s dad,” Houghton explains, “my oldest brother John would know him. They went to school together, St Margaret Mary’s.”
Like so many other Scottish footballers, Houghton’s company and upbringing on the vast pitches of Castlemilk would shape his style and career and lead the midfielder to win the league and feature at both the 1990 and ‘94 World Cups.
