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We’ve been speaking to Academy graduates about their time at Rangers and life after the Light Blues and next up is former defender Jordan Houston.
The talented right-back, now 26, spent 13 years with his boyhood heroes and although he didn’t play as many first-team games as he would have liked, he will always be grateful for the grounding he received at the club.
Jordan learned from the likes of Billy Kirkwood, Peter Lovenkrands and Kevin Thomson before training regularly with the senior squad and Steven Gerrard handed him his competitive debut in a Scottish Cup tie at Cowdenbeath in January 2019.
It was a moment he will never forget and a reward for more than a decade of hard graft at the Academy.
A loan move to Airdrie followed, ex-Ger Ian Murray took him to the Lanarkshire club and then another former Ranger, Ian McCall, recruited him for Ayr United – initially on loan before making the switch permanent in January 2020.
He thrived at Somerset Park then spent a season at Queen of the South in 2023/24 before linking up with McCall again at Clyde.
A life-changing experience in Finland with FC Haka was next for the Scottish youth international and he now plays for League of Ireland side Waterford, who were recently managed by one-time Ibrox striker Jon Daly and assisted by ex-defender Richard Foster.
Speaking as he showed his support for The Rangers Youth Development Company – who donated another £300,000 to the Academy in February, making it more than £12.5 million since 2002 – Houston reflected on his journey in football so far.
He said: “I’m a Rangers fan and all I wanted to do was play for the club.
“Jim McNee, one of the club’s scouts, actually lived round the corner from me in East Kilbride and he helped bring me to Rangers.
“I didn’t need to think about it when I was offered the chance to join the club.
“When you join you’re only thinking about one thing and that’s playing for the club. That’s the dream and it’s obviously very difficult.
“Football is a team sport but you need to do as much as you can for yourself within the team environment.
“When I was coming through we had players like Ross and Robby McCrorie, Ryan Hardie, Jamie Barjonas, Josh McPake, Stephen Kelly and Glenn Middleton.
“They all played for the first-team when they were young and it always gave me the hope that I could do the same. That was my motivation and the signs were there that it was possible.
“I worked with Billy Kirkwood, Craig Mulholland, Graeme Murty, Peter Lovenkrands and Kevin Thomson in brief spells when I was coming through the Academy.
“They had big influences on me and helped me massively, which is all you can ask for as a young kid.
“I think you’re working with top coaches in a top environment with the best facilities. You’ve got it all in front of you.
“It was great to learn from Peter and Kevin who played for the club and had great careers. They were obviously great professionals and happy to share their experiences.
“But going back to Kirky, he was a massive influence in terms of how good he was with all the young players.
“He was an excellent coach on the pitch and an excellent guy. Everybody respected him and really took to him.
“He was also excellent off the pitch on a personal level too.
“Football can be tough and if things weren’t going well, he was always speaking to players and trying to help them.
“You have to learn about the off-pitch struggles that can happen to young players and he was someone you could go to. He was such a big help.
“He was actually the Loans Manager when I left, so he had a lot of influence on my development.
“When I moved permanently he was still in contact with me and I was grateful for his support.
“There are twists and turns and bumps in the road with every journey in football but I look back on my time at Rangers positively.
“Obviously I would have loved to have played for the club a lot more but it was a fortunate time and I loved every second of it.
“I got to work with top people and top coaches at top facilities and there were also some top managers in there as well.
“I got to work with Steven Gerrard and he had a presence and an aura about him.
“I remember the first time he spoke to the youth players when we came back for pre-season. The first thing he said was, ‘If you’re good enough, you’re old enough’ and straight away that gives you confidence.
“I knew that if I could show what I could do, he was open to giving me the chance. I just had to prove to him that I deserved it and show my capabilities
“It’s obviously incredible to work with someone of his stature and also his staff with the knowledge and the football background they all had.
“To have that opportunity was incredible and I made my debut under Steven Gerrard in a cup game against Cowdenbeath.
“It was originally postponed a few hours before kick-off which was a blow as I was going to be part of the squad.
“We then played a friendly at Ibrox against Helsinki and I played in that and then made my competitive debut in the rescheduled cup game.
“To make my debut was a dream come true. You don’t have time to think about it or process it at the time as there are so many emotions.
“It’s an achievement to play for Rangers. I wanted to do it a lot more but football doesn’t always work out the way you would like.
“It’s something that can never get taken away from you and I achieved my dream which was to play for the club.
“Once you get a taste of it, you want more of it. It’s as simple as that and it’s almost addictive.
“I went on loan to Airdrie and worked with Ian Murray. That was my first introduction to lower league football and it was totally different.
“I then went to Ayr Utd on loan and Rangers offered me a contract to stay but I knew it was going to be difficult to displace James Tavernier at right back.
“He was the captain and an excellent servant so there wasn’t really a pathway into the first-team at that time for me unfortunately.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to leave Rangers permanently but I had to go and play games, showcase what I could do and make a career for myself
“I managed to do that at Ayr under Ian McCall, who was absolutely brilliant for me and great to work under.
“It was a club that was in a really good place and on the rise.
“It was a dressing room with a good mix of experienced and younger players who were in the same position as me.
“Each week I was growing and improving and I absolutely loved my time there.
“In 2023, it was time for me to try something else and I joined Queen of South who were quite ambitious at the time.
“Then I went to Clyde and worked with Ian McCall again. He trusted me and I knew what he and his staff were like to work under.
“It was a short stint at Clyde as my ambition was always to try and play at a higher level and then the life-changing opportunity came for me in Finland with Haka.
“It came at a time in my career when I was probably looking for something different.
“It came at the perfect time, to be honest. The manager, Andy Smith, was very close with Michael Beale which had a bit of an influence on it happening and I absolutely loved my time in Finland.
“It was a huge change at a good time for not just me but my family and my girlfriend who came over and we absolutely loved it.
“I always wanted to play abroad at some point and I’m glad I did.
“It was very tactical and very technical and I felt like I settled in really nicely.
“Finland is a beautiful country but I didn’t know what to expect when I was going there in January, when it was minus 20!
“I really bought into like the Finnish culture as well and it was definitely a good league. There was a lot of traveling to games but it was an experience I absolutely loved.
“It was my first time away from home and I learned a lot about myself.
“I was really out of my comfort zone and you need to be more disciplined as you’re doing everything for yourself.
“I really enjoyed myself over there, I really enjoyed my time playing in the league and the standard was very good.
“I was very impressed and I was really happy with how I did over there as well.
“The manager lost his job during the season and the club decided to go in a different direction but I loved my time there playing in a beautiful country.
“I only have good memories of it.
“Now I’m at Waterford and was brought there by two other men with Rangers links – Jon Daly and Richard Foster.
“It’s funny how football works at times. Once again, I was working with players who played for Rangers and also had very good careers elsewhere.
“When I had a season ticket at Rangers I watched both of them play.
“I’m only 26 and I’m happy with what I’ve achieved in football so far but I’ve definitely got aspirations of achieving even more.
“Rangers gave me the grounding and platform to go on and have a good career.
“I’m still on my journey but I’ve had a lot of different experiences.
“There’s still a long way to go for me and there’s still a lot I want to achieve as well.”
Jordan’s career development was assisted by annual RYDC donations to the Rangers Academy and more than £12.5 million has already been provided.
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