Houghton left out as England confirm squad for Euro 2022

By Sports Desk June 15, 2022

Steph Houghton has not been named in England's squad for the upcoming Euro 2022 tournament.

Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman named her 23-woman squad on Wednesday, and included recently recovered Manchester City forward Chloe Kelly and Chelsea's Fran Kirby.

There was no place for former captain Houghton, though, who has not played since January after suffering an Achilles injury.

The Manchester City defender has appeared at five major tournaments for England and made 121 appearances so far in her international career.

Speaking at a media conference for the squad announcement at St George's Park, Wiegman confirmed: "It was a hard decision [to leave Houghton out], but she's just not ready to compete.

"We set a plan in place with her for her and she did everything she could do, we supported her as well as possible. 

"She's in a very good place but just not ready to compete, I think. It's a matter of time, and we don't have that time.

"It was really hard. It's hard for every player we had to disappoint, but of course for such a big player with such a big impact on the England game, she did everything - but other players do everything too.

"Of course, she was very disappointed and I know she did everything to make it, so she wasn't happy, but she took the arguments I gave her and then we left it for now."

Wiegman named a provisional 28-woman squad in May, with Sandy MacIver, Niamh Charles, Katie Zelem and Lucy Staniforth also missing out on the final cut.

As the host nation, England kick off the tournament against Austria at Old Trafford on July 6.

England squad for Euro 2022: Mary Earps (Manchester United), Hannah Hampton (Aston Villa), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City); Millie Bright, Jess Carter (both Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (free agent), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), Alex Greenwood, Demi Stokes (both Manchester City), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal); Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Jill Scott (free agent), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Keira Walsh (Manchester City), Leah Williamson (Arsenal); Beth England (Chelsea), Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly, Ellen White (all Manchester City), Beth Mead, Nikita Parris (both Arsenal), Alessia Russo (Manchester United).

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