Spent all his money wining, dinning and housing an asylum seeker, moved on after a month leaving a very nice goodbye and thank you note in almost perfect English. The asylum seeker moved on not Gary
It is indeed the 70/71season,my first game i went to was against Millwall we won 2-0,aug/Sept 1970.....hence the username!!!
Whenever I watch old footage such as this, the brilliance of Waggy and Chillo never surprises me. I was brought up on tales of their magnificence. But how good was Ken Houghton? Everything I ever see him do just oozes class. He looks like a midfielder who would have been exceptional in any era, in any team.
Houghton was the creative genius of the team. His passing, particularly long range, was some of the best I've ever seen. He could open up a defence like a hot knife through butter. Of course, he had a superb forward line of willing runners who had excellent skills themselves. A pleasure and privilege to watch him play.
He was a fabulous player Richard. He was also a decent manager for a while but didn't really get a fair crack of the whip. Remember the gasp that went up before the Forest FA Cup game in 1966 when it was announced that Houghton wasn't in the team ( unheard of in those days) and Terry Heath ( who ?, we all said) deputised.....and scored both of the goals. As manager, a 7-2 defeat at Brentford was the final nail in his short career as manager with us. But he pulled real rabbit out of the hat when he paid Sheff U £50k for a 21 year old Keith Edwards. The home game after he was sacked Ken was seen entering the Best Stand before the game and the crowd, sparse as it was, gave him a standing ovation.
There's an extended video here of Waggy talking about Chillo. I think it's particularly lovely. Francesca features too.
Thanks Urika. I've had the honour - and I really mean honour - of speaking with Ken half-a-dozen or so times in the past few years, and each time I'm taken aback by just how lovely a man he is. I mean, lots of people are lovely, but Ken takes it to new extremes. A worthy Hull City legend on and off the pitch.
Thanks for posting this Richard - and for your efforts with the funding drive. A really poignant video indeed. A big piece of Hull City's history evoked in these memories. Thanks go to Waggy and his daughter too.
Ken is indeed a lovely man as is his family,i am privileged to call him a friend and keep in touch with him
I remember it coming over the Tannoy that Ken Houghton was out for the Forest game, and Terry Heath was taking his place. I remember thinking, well, that's scuppered what little chance we might have had of beating Forest. How wrong I was.
