Steph Houghton hailed as ‘one of the most inspirational England players of this generation’ at Wembley retirement ceremony – before Lionesses lose seven-goal thriller against Germany

Steph Houghton was hailed as ‘one of the most inspirational England players of this generation’ at a retirement ceremony at Wembley.

The former centre-back hung up her boots at the end of last season after making 121 appearances for the Lionesses across 14 seasons. 

The 36-year-old was presented to the crowd prior to England’s thrilling 4-3 defeat by Germany in a friendly match and former team-mates offered words of praise for her.

Nikita Parris told BBC Sport: ‘To captain the side for as long as she did and through the times that she did, she really stepped up in the situation.

‘Right now we’re playing regular games at big stadiums like Wembley, but before this, people like Steph, Fara Williams and Jill Scott were going in and fighting for us to be on these stages.

The former England captain stood alongside the Lionesses as they lined up for a friendly

‘Without their hard work and sacrifice, we wouldn’t be able to play in stadiums like this in front of 90,000 people to win a home Euros.’

‘As a young player coming through, she gave me advice and put her arm around my shoulder but also gave me a kick up the backside when needed,’ Parris said.

‘We have been through ups and downs with the national team. Now everything is on the up – but then it wasn’t. Those were the players who showed their experience and what it takes to be an England international.’

Houghton, who scored 13 goals for the Lionesses, had not featured for national side since 2021.

She captained England to the bronze medal at the 2015 World Cup and semi-final runs at Euro 2017 and the 2019 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Georgia Stanway scored twice but England could not complete the comeback after slipping to an early three-goal deficit in their 4-3 loss to Germany at Wembley.

Houghton was hailed as ‘one of the most inspirational England players of this generation’

Georgia Stanway scored twice but couldn’t prevent the Lionesses losing 4-3 to Germany

The last time these sides met was at the same venue for England’s triumphant 2-1 comeback in the Euro 2022 final. That match remained goalless until the second half but Friday night’s friendly was an utterly different story.

The visitors stunned the hosts with a penalty in an early brace for captain Giulia Gwinn and a third from Klara Buhl in the opening 30 minutes, before Stanway clawed two back including a spot-kick of her own.

England conceded another penalty after the break, converted by Sara Dabritz, with Lucy Bronze able to draw the sides within one late in the thoroughly entertaining contest in front of a 47,967 crowd.