Former England and Manchester City captain Steph Houghton MBE has announced that she and her husband, Stephen Darby, are expecting their first baby.
Houghton, who was the inaugural winner of BusinessCloud’s 2024 Northern Leaders Overall Award, posted a photo of a heart-shaped cake on Instagram with the words ‘Oh Baby’ written in icing across the top, alongside some ultrasound photos.
The 38-year-old, who is now a popular pundit, wrote: “Half of You. Half of Me. Our family will soon be three! Baby Darby 2026.”
Sally Nugent, Helen Skelton, Micah Richards, Jack Grealish and Lucy Bronze were among the stars from the worlds of football and TV to post their congratulations.
Houghton shared her story at the inaugural Northern Leaders Awards at KPMG’s Manchester offices in January 2025, where she walked away with the main award.
Former footballer Steph Houghton took to Instagram to announce she and her husband Stephen Darby are expecting their first baby
The award was presented to her by Jonathan Bernstein, son of the late Sir Howard Bernstein, former chief executive of Manchester City Council, who died in 2024.
The award was given in recognition of her stellar football career but also her ongoing role in the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, which was set up after her husband Stephen Darby was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Houghton told the audience at the invite-only dinner that her life was turned upside down in 2018.
She was in Spain with her Manchester City team when a phone call from home changed the direction of her life.
Her husband of just three months, who was then a footballer at Bradford City, had just been told he had motor neurone disease.
“It was a tough period for everybody,” she recalled. “I didn’t really know anything about motor neurone disease.
“That’s the aim of the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation – to make people aware of what this disease does to them and to their family.
“For me it’s about awareness. Throughout the country, throughout Europe, throughout the world, we want people to know what MND is. Ultimately there’s no cure for the disease, so we need as much research as possible.
“The funds that people are raising for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation are crucial to us finding a cure. Once you’ve been told you’ve got MND there’s no other real advice that goes with it. The idea of the foundation was to help as many people as possible.”
At the time, the organisation had already raised £2m to fund medical research in addition to providing a support network for those diagnosed with the disease.
Overcoming adversity
Houghton, who played 121 times for England, has spent much of her life dealing with adversity.
She’s from the former mining village of South Hetton, County Durham, and was the only girl in her primary school football team.
Houghton is widely regarded as one of the world’s best centre-backs, but she originally caught the attention of Sunderland’s Centre of Excellence as a striker before moving back into midfield and later into defence.
It was only when she went to Loughborough University and had started to break into the England first team that she considered a career as a professional footballer.
Until she moved to Arsenal in 2010, she had to pay to play and was initially paid less than £9,000 at the Gunners.
Her book, Leading from the Back, has been described as being as much about the rise of women’s football in England and internationally as it is about her own career.
Houghton was appointed England captain in January 2014 and went on to lead her country at two World Cups and a Women’s European Championship, earning a bronze medal at the 2015 World Cup.
Jonathan Bernstein with the winner of the Northern Leaders Overall Award Steph Houghton
She signed for Manchester City in 2014 and was the first female player to appear on the cover of Shoot magazine.
“Football is football and everyone should have an opportunity to be celebrated for the success they have achieved and the influence they have on the game,” she said.
Houghton last played for England in 2021 and missed out on the triumphant Euro 2022 squad because of an Achilles injury.
Asked about her approach to disappointment, she said: “First and foremost you’ve got to allow the emotions to be real and understand that it hurts, but you can only do that for so long.
“I don’t tend to mope about things like not being selected and injuries. I’m a bit of a fighter and I like to prove people wrong. It was a case of ‘what can I do to get better and stronger?’”