WHEN Steph Houghton was selected as part of the Team GB squad for the 2012 Olympics in London, she freely admits she did not know what to expect. Women’s football had grown in popularity in the five years since she had made her senior England debut, but was still regarded as something of a niche sporting pursuit. Britain did not generally field a football team at the Olympics, so while the fact the Games were being staged in London meant a certain degree of interest could be anticipated, it was hard to know whether the public would be interested in watching women’s football games.

What followed next was transformational, both for the standing of women’s football in this country and for Houghton as an individual. The GB team won all three of their group matches, with the highlight coming courtesy of a 1-0 win over Brazil at Wembley in front of 70,000 fans. A medal eluded them, as they lost to Canada in a tense quarter-final, but the status and profile of the women’s game would never be the same again.

For South Hetton’s Houghton, the Games would prove equally as groundbreaking. The defender was the star of the GB team, scoring in all three of her side’s group games, and for the next few months her face adorned magazines and billboards as she became one of the figureheads of women’s football.

Fast forward nine years, and the North-Easterner is looking forward to another Olympic experience in Tokyo after being named as part of the GB squad last week. A lot has changed in the last decade, with women’s football now firmly established in the mainstream and Houghton a multiple title winner with Manchester City, but the tingle of excitement ahead of the Games remains as powerful and thrilling as it was back in 2012.

“Being a part of London 2012, and experiencing what the Olympic Games are like, I was so desperate to get selected for this one,” said Houghton. “It’s not just me, with the rest of the team, we’re just so proud to be able to represent Team GB.

“In terms of women’s football, the last Olympics was probably a watershed moment in so many different ways, definitely in terms of how many fans came to watch us and the performances we were able to produce.

“For us as footballers, I think everybody presumes that we look towards a World Cup or a European Championships as the pinnacle of our career, but to have had that experience of London 2012, it outweighed all my expectations personally.

“First and foremost, to be part of a team is what makes football so special. But then also to be a team within a team, to make our country proud and go over there and be successful, that’s what excites us most.

“We know for a fact that we’re going to have the whole country behind us, and with the current climate with Covid and the last year that we’ve all had, it’s about us trying to put smiles back on faces and make people proud of us. Ultimately, as footballers, we want to do the best to try to win as many games as possible, and hopefully a medal as well.”

Back in 2012, GB’s women’s footballers were sporting pioneers, attempting to put their sport on the map. There will be a degree of that again this summer, with the rescheduled Tokyo Games set to dominate the TV schedules and media landscape, but almost a decade on, women’s football no longer has to fight for exposure or coverage.

This time around, Houghton and her team-mates can focus their energy on trying to improve on 2012’s quarter-final appearance, or the performances of the England team at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, where they were beaten in the semi-finals.

Can Hege Riise’s squad win a medal in Japan? The GB boss has selected a squad with an appealing balance of experience – Houghton, Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze, Ellen White – and youth – Ellie Roebuck, Sophie Ingle, Lauren Hemp. The draw is challenging, with England facing Canada, Chile and hosts Japan in the group stage, but there are plenty of reasons for optimism.

“If I look back to 2012, I think we performed really well in the group stages,” said Houghton. “I look back at the game against Canada in the quarter-finals, and I know that it wasn’t the best version of us as a team.

“Going into this one, I look at the squad and the individuals that we have, and the mix of not just English players, but Scottish and Welsh players too, and I think it’s a squad full of quality. We’ve got people that, individually, have played in big games, whether that’s a Champions League final or the biggest games within a World Cup for their country.

“It really excites me with the talent that we have – I think we’ve got the perfect blend of youth and experience. For us, our expectation is always to go and win as many games as we possibly can, and that doesn’t change regardless of whether I’m sitting here wearing a Team GB shirt or an England shirt.”

Houghton is certainly a different player than she was back in 2012, when she was one of the younger members of the group, looking up to the likes of Alex Scott and Kelly Smith.

Now, she is an elder stateswoman, with more than 120 senior appearances for England under her belt. She is looking forward to helping mentor some of her less experienced team-mates, and is confident her experiences of nine years ago will help her make the most of what is likely to be her final Olympic involvement.

“Over the last nine years, I think my role has definitely changed,” she said. “I remember being in the Olympics in 2012 and being one of the young players, with not that much experience, looking up to the likes of Kelly Smith, Casey Stoney, Alex Scott and Farah Williams. I was just trying to take as much experience from them as I could by training with them every day and playing in front of big crowds.

“I’d like to think I’m going to bring a lot of experience to this team. My leadership skills are something that I’ve worked on so hard over the last few years for England, and being part of Team GB, I’m not going to change the way I am, I just hope I can help as many of my team-mates in any way possible and be the best team player I can be to hopefully let everyone enjoy the experience. It only happens every four years, so we’ve got to enjoy it and then hopefully we’ll play to the best of our ability.”

As well as representing Team GB, Houghton will also be flying the flag for the North-East along with Scott, Bronze and Demi Stokes.

The region continues to punch well above its weight in the women’s game, with Houghton a proud ambassador., and while Beth Mead and Jordan Nobbs might have missed out on a place in the Olympic squad, four members of the 18-strong squad were still born and raised in the North-East, and represented Sunderland Ladies before heading elsewhere.

“We’ve not got a bad North-East contingent within the England squad, and also within this squad as well,” she said. “I’ve obviously grown up with Jill and Demi, and when you get to these moments, and experience these type of tournaments with people you’ve grown up with, and you know how hard they’ve worked, it makes it even more special.

"I’m delighted for Demi, Jill and Lucy, and hopefully we can do the North-East proud.”