On this day in 2007, Danny Houghton made his Hull FC debut – we look back at the last 13 years of the now club captain’s spell in Black & White.
Houghton began his career at community club East Hull. As a youngster, he was at one point coached by none other than former Hull FC head coach Lee Radford.
After being snapped up by the Black & Whites as a teenager, he progressed through the club’s academy ranks to make his début in 2007, coming off the bench in a 20-8 home win over Harlequins.
Houghton made four appearances in his debut season, but went on to become a regular starter in 2008 where he would feature 28 times.
However, the hooker missed out on a spot in Hull FC’s Challenge Cup final squad as the club made their first appearance at the new Wembley against St Helens.
Houghton quickly established himself as Hull’s starting hooker and was also handed the vice-captaincy of the team. In 2011, he picked up his first title as Super League Hitman of the Year, making over 1,000 tackles.
In the same year, Houghton also became a member of the England Knights squad, scoring on his debut against France in October 2011.
Continuing as Hull’s first choice hooker into the seasons that followed, Houghton made his first Wembley appearance in 2013 as Hull took on Wigan in the Cup final, but would once again be on the losing side.
Houghton would pick up his second Hitman award in 2013, and once again in 2015 before he would have his most impressive season to date in 2016.
A spectacular try-saving effort in the 2016 Challenge Cup final on Warrington’s Ben Currie was arguably the most important moment in Hull FC’s modern history, gifting the club their first-ever victory at Wembley in their 151-year history.
Although pipped to the post by Marc Sneyd that day for the Lance Todd Trophy, Houghton’s efforts that season were recognised. Not only did he pick up the Hitman award for the third time, he was also named in the 2016 Super League Dream Team alongside five other Hull FC teammates.
However, Houghton’s proudest achievement that season would be being named the Steve Prescott Man of Steel, beating off competition from team-mates Gareth Ellis and former Castleford winger Denny Solomona.
The glory would continue for Houghton into 2017 when again, he picked up the Challenge Cup trophy once more and collected another Hitman of the Year award, despite missing a large chunk of the season through injury.
Despite missing much of the early stages of the 2018 season with a calf injury, Houghton returned to his usual reliable self, missing just three games during the 2019 campaign.
It would be in Round Two of 2020 that Houghton would surpass the 350 mark in terms of number of appearances for the Black & Whites, as he begins to close in on becoming the club’s all-time top appearance maker in Super League.
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