Ray Houghton made his international debut for Ireland in Jack Charlton's first match in charge - the 1-0 defeat by Wales in a friendly at Lansdowne Road on March 26, 1986.
There was little indication in that game, when Ian Rush scored the only goal of the afternoon, that the little Glaswegian would go on to win a remarkable 73 caps in a distinguished international career over the next eleven years.
A never to be forgotten headed goal after just five minutes against England in the 1-0 victory in Stuttgart at the start of the European Championships finals in West Germany in 1988 was one of just six goals Houghton scored at international level.
Houghton appeared in all eight qualifying matches for the World Cup finals in 1990 and was an ever-present in the five games in Italy that summer.
He scored another memorable goal at the Giants Stadium in New Jersey when Italy were beaten 1-0 at the start of the USA '94 World Cup finals. An exquisite early lob from 20 yards over the head of 'keeper Gianluca Pagliuca had 60,000 Irish fans celebrating.
The curtain eventually came down on his international career with a substitute appearance in the World Cup play-off match against Belgium in Brussels in 1997. Sadly Ireland went down 2-1 (3-2 on aggregate) but Houghton signed off by scoring an early second half goal.
