Thomas Herbert Houghton was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1909.

Personal life

Houghton was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and was one of two sons of Joseph Houghton. Joseph served as the chairman of the

Northern Union The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

before migrating to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

with Thomas and helping set up the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

. Houghton's brother, Samuel, later served as the secretary of the ARL.

Playing career

Houghton was signed by St. Helens from Liverpool City in 1907, however he never played a first team match for the club. Houghton then moved to New Zealand and played for

in their third ever match on 17 September 1908 against

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

. He was then part of the City combination that played against the North Shore on 24 July 1909 in the

's first ever sanctioned match. He again played for Auckland that year and toured Australia with New Zealand. On 3 July he played for

in the third Test against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.HOUGHTON, Thomas Herbert 1909 - Kiwi #34
''nzleague.co.nz'' Houghton joined the new

Newton Rangers The City Newton Dragons are a defunct New Zealand rugby league club that was based at Victoria Park, Auckland. The club was created in 1948 by a merger of two original clubs, the City Rovers and Newton Rangers. Both the Rovers and the Rangers par ...

club and played for them in the inaugural Auckland Rugby League competition in 1910.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. .

Later years

Houghton served as an official at the North Sydney Bears club in the

NSWRL Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

.Sean Fagan ''The Rugby Rebellion: The Divide of League and Union'' RL1908 2005. . p.316.

References

External links

Saints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Thomas Living people New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Auckland rugby league team players St Helens R.F.C. players Newton Rangers players Rugby league centres Rugby league halfbacks Liverpool City (rugby league) players Rugby league fullbacks North Sydney Bears New Zealand rugby league administrators Year of birth missing (living people)