Stewart Mackie Houston (born 20 August 1949) is a Scottish former football player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Born in

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As wel ...

, he began his professional career in 1967 with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, before moving to Brentford and then Manchester United, where he spent seven years. He also made one appearance for the Scotland national team in 1975. He was George Graham's assistant at Arsenal and caretaker manager after the sackings of Graham and his replacement

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in the Fo ...

, and later manager of

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. He then had spells as the first-team coach at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

. Houston later worked as a scout for Arsenal.Haynes in Arsenal's sights
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Career

A left back, Houston's first professional club was

, but he failed to break into the first team and only made 14 appearances in five years. He was sold to Brentford in 1972. A year later he signed for Manchester United for £55,000, where he made 250 appearances (plus two as substitute) and scored 16 goals. While he was at Old Trafford, Houston helped United win the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and the

1976–77 FA Cup The 1976–77 FA Cup was the 96th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The final saw Manchester United beat Liverpool 2–1. First round proper Teams from the Football ...

, although he did not feature in the

1977 FA Cup Final The 1977 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1976–77 FA Cup, the 96th season of England's premier cup football competition. The match was played on 21 May 1977 at Wembley Stadium, London, and it was contested by Manchester United and Liver ...

. He joined

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

in 1980, before ending his playing career with

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

in 1986. He also played international football for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, making one appearance in 1975 against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Houston was assistant manager to

George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944), nicknamed "Stroller", is a Scottish former Association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. In his successful playing career, he made 455 appearances in England's Football ...

at Arsenal in 1990, and was twice the club's caretaker-manager: first for three months in 1995 after Graham's sacking in February 1995. Houston took his team to the final of the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, but the Gunners lost to a last-minute goal from

Nayim Mohamed Alí Amar (born 5 November 1966), known as Nayim, is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He scored a last-minute goal for Real Zaragoza in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Arsenal, w ...

. Arsenal appointed

in the summer of 1995, but Houston stayed on as his assistant. Just over a year after his appointment, Rioch was sacked, and Houston was reappointed as caretaker. Arsène Wenger was identified as Rioch's successor in August, but Arsenal were forced to wait as Wenger was contracted to Japanese club Grampus Eight. Houston left Arsenal in mid-September to become manager of

, where he appointed Bruce Rioch as his assistant. QPR had just been relegated to the First Division and were aiming for a return to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. Houston and Rioch were sacked by QPR in November 1997, with the club sitting 13th in the First Division. Houston then went to

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

's first team coach, but was later reunited with George Graham in March 1999 when Graham appointed him assistant manager at

. Houston was fired two weeks after Graham was sacked in March 2001. He then spent a brief period as first-team coach of

. Houston also worked as a scout for Arsenal from 2008 to 2020.

Honours

Club

Brentford * Football League Fourth Division promotion: 1971–72 Manchester United *

: 1974–75 Sheffield United * Football League Fourth Division: 1981–82

Individual

Player

* PFA Team of the Year: 1974–75

Manager

* Football League First Division Manager of the Month: September 1997

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Stewart 1949 births Living people People from Dunoon Association football fullbacks Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland under-23 international footballers Chelsea F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players English Football League players Scottish football managers Arsenal F.C. managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers Premier League managers English Football League managers Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff Plymouth Argyle F.C. non-playing staff Ipswich Town F.C. non-playing staff Walsall F.C. non-playing staff Sportspeople from Argyll and Bute FA Cup Final players