Steph Houghton has captained England for the last eight years, but was not selected to represent her country ahead of Euro 2022. So, why wasn't she been picked and what is she doing now?
The 34-year-old has played in five major tournaments with England, and made 121 appearances for the Lionesses.
With this year's tournament is being hosted by England and a big chance for the home nation to win their first ever international trophy, Houghton will be gutted to miss out.
Why was Steph Houghton left out?
The Manchester City player has been struggling with an Achilles injury since the start of the year, and has not played a competitive game since January 21.
Although Houghton was initially named in England’s 28-player squad and had been training with the team, she failed to make the final cut of 23.
England manager Sarina Wiegman said that time had run out for Houghton to get back to full fitness and that she just wasn’t ready.
Wiegman added: “We set a plan in place for her and she did everything that she could do. It is really hard for every player we had to disappoint. It was really hard conversation for me as well.”
What will Houghton be doing during Euro 2022
Although there were rumours of the Manchester City player joining the coaching staff in some capacity for the competition, that looks unlikely now.
Houghton has yet to comment publicly in response to be being omitted from the squad, but given her dedication to the team we have no doubt she’ll be cheering her country on every step of the way.
Her only recent posts on social media have been adverts for Lucozade, in which she tweeted on Tuesday:
“Dedication is dedication, sacrifice is sacrifice, hurt is hurt, winning is winning, England fans are England fans and team England is team England.”
Maybe a subtle a message of support.
Who will captain England now?
Leah Williamson of Arsenal will lead the Lionesses this summer. The 25-year-old took the armband when Houghton was first injured and will continue to wear it throughout the tournament.
England’s opening match takes place at Old Trafford on Wednesday at 8pm.
Bring it home!
