Having won two league titles and two FA Cups for Liverpool in the late 1980s, he signed for Palace and played 87 times for the club, scoring eight goals.
While Houghton was coming to the end of his career at the club, Rob Quinn was only just beginning. A successful youth team captain, he was promoted to the senior side and started the 1997 play-off final at Wembley, before enjoying a distinguished career in the football league and, later, a lengthy spell coaching at Palace's Academy.
At the start of 1995, Iain Dowie was enjoying a purple patch in front of goal. Snapped up by Alan Smith from Southampton for £400,000 in January to help keep Palace – who had only scored 17 league goals before his arrival – stay in the Premier League, the forward began imposing himself on opposition defences and netted five times in his first two months in red and blue.
The Northern Ireland international would eventually leave Palace the following September for West Ham United, with a record of 10 goals in 25 appearances - but he would return to Palace in 2003/04 to spectacular effect as a promotion-winning manager.
New Millennium
If you attended Selhurst Park in the early 2000s, you could bank on one thing: a Clinton Morrison goal. The centre-forward scored 113 times for the club in two separate spells, one of only eight men to hit triple figures.
Northern Ireland international Michael Hughes – who appeared over 70 times for his country – also experienced great success in red and blue. His time at Selhurst Park, which began in 2003, concluded after four seasons as a die-hard fan favourite, captaining the Eagles in the top-flight and amassing almost 150 appearances for the South Londoners.
As Morrison prepared to leave in 2008, a new Irish youngster was emerging into the senior side: Sean Scannell. He made his debut at just 17-years-old after graduating from the Academy, and played 141 times before departing for Huddersfield Town in 2012.