death_date nationalcaps manageryears birth_date years death_place caps goals nationalyears name fullname birth_place nationalteam nationalgoals youthclubs clubs position managerclubs article_title
1 may 1996 7 1949 -- 1953 1953 -- 1958 29 june 1910 1946 -- 1949 birmingham , england 361 55 160 10 1930 -- 1932 eric houghton william eric houghton billingborough , england england 5 billingborough billingborough notts county winger notts county aston villa eric houghton

eric houghton

william eric houghton -lrb- 29 june 1910 -- 1 may 1996 -rrb- was an english footballer and manager .
eric houghton was born in billingborough , lincolnshire and educated at donington grammar school .
he signed for aston villa as a seventeen-year-old and played in the villa side for two decades , scoring 170 goals in 392 games .
-lrb- the total including war-time matches was over 200 goals . -rrb-
he also won 7 caps for england .
his formidable and powerful shot was regarded as the hardest shot of his era .
houghton converted 58 spot kicks and also scored direct from about 30 free-kicks .
he finished his playing career at notts county .
he went on to become aston villa manager , guiding villa to a record seventh fa cup triumph in 1957 , and after a spell managing notts county , he returned to villa as a director , the only person to do this at the club .
he had 4 children .
often referred to as mr aston villa in recognition of his long standing service and contribution to the club .
he also played seven first-class matches as a right-handed batsman and a right-arm bowler for warwickshire county cricket club -lrb- 1946 -- 1947 -rrb- and also minor counties cricket for lincolnshire county cricket club .
he also played club cricket for sleaford , aston unity and olton cricket clubs .
his son neil is the current chairman of warwickshire county cricket club and his great-nephew chris woods was a successful international footballer .
he died in sutton coldfield on 1 may 1996 , aged 85 .
