| Johnny Houston | |
| Fullname: | John Houston |
| Birth Date: | 14 May 1889 |
| Birth Place: | Ahoghill, Ireland |
| Death Date: | [1] |
| Death Place: | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Position: | Forward |
| Years1: | –1912 |
| Clubs1: | South End Olympic |
| Years2: | 1912–1913 |
| Clubs2: | Linfield |
| Years3: | 1913–1915 |
| Clubs3: | Everton |
| Caps3: | 26 |
| Goals3: | 2 |
| Years4: | 1915–1919 |
| Clubs4: | Linfield |
| Years5: | 1919–1920 |
| Clubs5: | Ulster Rangers |
| Years6: | 1919–1920 |
| Clubs6: | Partick Thistle |
| Caps6: | 17 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 1912 |
| Nationalteam1: | Irish League XI |
| Nationalcaps1: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 1912–1914 |
| Nationalteam2: | Ireland |
| Nationalcaps2: | 6 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
John Houston (14 May 1889 – 11 December 1964) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Everton and in the Scottish League for Partick Thistle.[2] [3] He was capped by Ireland at international level and represented the Irish League XI.[4]
Houston served in the Royal Irish Rifles before and during the First World War and held the rank of acting colour sergeant.[5] His brother Leslie died of wounds during the war. Houston won the Military Medal in 1917 for conspicuous bravery, when "during an attack on the enemy’s lines all the officers were put out of action and Sergeant Houston took command of his platoon. Houston led the attack in face of a murderous fire, advance 100 yards and succeeded in taking and holding the objective for 36 hours until relief arrived".[6] He was later awarded a bar to his Military Medal.[7] Houston married in 1915 and later worked at the Belfast General Post Office. He served in the Tank Corps during the Second World War.
| Season | League | National Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Everton | 1912–13[8] | First Division | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ― | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1913–14 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ― | 18 | 2 | ||||
| 1914–15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ― | 28 | 2 | ||||
| Partick Thistle | 1919–20 | Scottish First Division | 17 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3[9] | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| Career total | 43 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 51 | 3 | |||
Linfield