Andrew Peter Butler (born 4 November 1983) is an English football manager and player who plays for
Farsley Celtic as well as being youth development phase coach at
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
.
Born in
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, Butler was a
defender in a playing career that lasted from 2002 until 2021. He played for
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
,
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
,
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...
,
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
,
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
,
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
,
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
and
Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...
. Butler is also a qualified referee, and has had two interim spells as Doncaster Rovers manager.
Playing career
Scunthorpe United
Butler started his career at
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
. He made his debut for ''the Iron'', then in the
Third Division, on 20 September 2003 as a 34th-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw with
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...
at
Brisbane Road
Brisbane Road, originally known as Osborne Road, is a football stadium in Brisbane Road, Leyton, East London, England. It has been the home ground of Leyton Orient since 1937, before which it was the home of amateur football team Leyton F.C., w ...
. His full debut came three days later, a 2–3 defeat to
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
at
Glanford Park
Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the current home of team Scunthorpe United.
Opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, it was the first new purpose-built Football League st ...
in the third round of the
2003–04 League Cup. Midway through the season Butler signed a four-year contract.
On 7 February 2004 he scored his first goal in a 2–2 home draw with
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
. He made a total of 42 appearances, scoring two goals in the
2003–04 season. The
following season he scored ten goals in 37 league games as Scunthorpe finished second in
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
and were promoted to
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
. His goal tally that season included scoring twice in a 3–2 home win over
Lincoln City on 21 August 2004 and two goals in a 3–1 victory over
Rushden & Diamonds
Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town.
The cl ...
at
Nene Park
Nene Park was a sports stadium situated at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England, along the bank of the River Nene, which could accommodate 6,441 spectators, with 4,641 seated and 1,800 standing. It formerly hosted football matches but at ...
on 18 December. He suffered a serious injury in early 2005 before returning to action later in the season. At the end of the season he won four different honours at the club's annual awards.
The
2005–06 season saw Butler suffer a string of injuries. On 14 January 2006 he was injured in a 1–1 draw with
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
at
Ashton Gate and was ruled out for the rest of the season.
Prior to the start of the
2006–07 season Butler was injured again, dislocating his shoulder in a pre-season friendly with
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
. He was out of action until October 2006 when he joined
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
side
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
on loan, in order to build up his match fitness. He made five appearances for the Mariners. On his return to Scunthorpe he was unable to break back into the first team until later on in the season as the Iron won promotion to the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
as League One champions.
In the
2007–08 season Butler made 36 league appearances, scoring two goals as the Iron finished 23rd in the Championship and were relegated back to League One. In May 2008 he appeared on
Soccer AM
''Soccer AM'' is a British football-based comedy/talk show, produced by Sky Sports.
First broadcast in 1995, the programme currently airs on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football at 10.30am on Saturdays during the fo ...
's Crossbar Challenge on
Sky Sports 1
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It h ...
dressed as
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
.
Butler left Scunthorpe in June 2008, turning down a new three-year contract offer,
so he could move to a club that would be more suitable for his family needs. In six years with the club, Butler made a total of 153 appearances scoring 13 times, playing for them in all three divisions of
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
.
Huddersfield Town
On 2 July 2008 Butler joined
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
club
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...
on a three-year deal.
Along with five other players, he made his Huddersfield debut in a 1–1 draw with
Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...
at the
Galpharm Stadium
Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to naming rights, sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Association football, football club ...
on 9 August 2008. His first goal came in a 3–2 home win over
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
on 1 November 2008. He made a total of 45 appearances in the
2008–09 season, scoring four goals. Butler began the
2009–10 season as a first team regular. However, Terriers manager
Lee Clark started using
Peter Clarke and
Nathan Clarke as the club's regular centre back pairing.
On 7 January 2010, after not making an appearance for two months, Butler joined Championship side
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
on loan until the end of
the season.
On the move up a division Butler said, ''"I'm really happy with the move. It's a weird one because I've gone a step up, but it's something I'm hoping to thrive on. It looks a good club and I'm happy to be here. Hopefully I can play as many games as I can and help this club where it wants to go, which is the
Premiership I suppose."''
He made his debut two days later in a 1–1 draw with
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
at the
Cardiff City Stadium
The Cardiff City Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd) is a stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City Football Club and the Wales national football team.
Following expansion of the Ninian Stand in July 2014 ...
.
After helping Blackpool reach the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, Butler returned to the Galpharm, but had the remainder of his contract paid up on 23 June 2010. In October 2010 Butler joined
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
on a trial basis but failed to agree a contract.
Walsall
On 12 November 2010, Butler joined
Football League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
side
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
on a contract until the end of the season. Butler was signed by
Chris Hutchings
Christopher Hutchings (born 5 July 1957) is an English former footballer and manager. He played for a number of clubs including Chelsea and played more than 100 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town. He has managed in the Premie ...
, who was sacked on 4 January 2011—the day after a 4–1 defeat to Peterborough United—following a run of poor League form since the beginning of the season, which had seen Walsall sink to the bottom of League One. He was appointed captain after
Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...
, the club's Head of Youth, took charge of the first team, and scored his first goal for Walsall in a 3–3 draw against fellow strugglers Tranmere Rovers on 8 January 2011. An impressive second half of the season earned Butler Walsall's Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season awards. On 13 May 2011, Butler signed a new two-year contract, keeping him at the club until June 2013. In early May 2014, Butler was offered a new contract with Walsall, however, he rejected new terms with Walsall on 22 May; he made 176 appearances in total for the West Midlands club.
Sheffield United
On 5 June 2014, Butler signed a two-year deal with
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
on a free transfer after rejecting the offer of a new deal with Walsall.
On 13 August 2014, Butler scored on his début against
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...
in the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
. On 11 September 2014, Butler was loaned to former club
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
on a one-month loan deal after finding first team football hard to come by at United. Butler returned to Sheffield United on 20 October 2014.
Doncaster Rovers
On 23 October 2014, Butler went out on loan to home-town club
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
until January 2015.
On 6 January 2015, Butler signed permanently for Doncaster Rovers for an undisclosed fee on a two-and-a-half-year deal, having made 13 appearances during his loan spell.
He went on to play in 222 games and scoring 17 goals for the club. Manager
Darren Ferguson
Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Championship club Peterborough United. In between his stints with Peterborough, he also managed Preston N ...
made Butler the
Club Captain
The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...
at the beginning of the 2016–17 season, a position he retained until leaving Doncaster.
Butler was one of the four nominees for
EFL League One Player of the Month
The EFL League One Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League One, the third tier of English football. Originally named the Football League One Pla ...
in both January 2015 and December 2017, "Led the defence by example with a superb goal-line clearance against Oldham and then headed Rovers in front in the same game – one of two goals he scored in December".
He was named as PFA Player in the Community for the 2016–17 season in recognition of his community work in and around his hometown of Doncaster.
In 2017, Butler became a member of the
management committee of the PFA.
He was offered a new contract, a one-year deal including coaching, by Doncaster at the end of the 2018–19 season however this was on greatly reduced terms by then manager Grant McCann.
Later career
He decided to make a return to Scunthorpe United.
On 11 September 2020 he was signed by Rovers on a contract until January 2021. On 1 March 2021, Butler was placed in charge of Doncaster following the departure of
Darren Moore
Darren Mark Moore (born 22 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current manager of Sheffield Wednesday.
Born in England, he earned two international caps for Jamaica. Moore is a ...
until the end of the season. Butler returned to the Belles dugout after his short managerial tenure with Doncaster Rovers concluded.
In July 2021, Butler dropped into non-league for the first time when he signed a contract for
National League North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
side
Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...
before leaving the club after just two months.
In July 2022, Butler joined National League North club
Farsley Celtic.
Coaching career
On 16 January 2020, Butler was appointed manager of women's team
Doncaster Rovers Belles
Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...
. This was a role held by Butler until September 2022 when he resigned in order for a full-time role at another club.
Several months after signing for Boston, Butler was appointed as a first team coach at
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
with Boston claiming this move was a breach of contract.
Peterborough announced on 29 December 2021 that Butler had left his coaching role and was back with Doncaster Rovers assisting their first team.
On 5 October 2022, Butler was appointed as Youh Development Phase Coach at former club Scunthorpe United.
[ ]
Career statistics
Managerial statistics
Honours
;Scunthorpe United:
*
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
champion:
2006–07
References
External links
Andy Butler player profileat htafc.com
at scunthorpe-united.co.uk
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Andy
1983 births
Living people
Footballers from Doncaster
English footballers
Association football central defenders
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Grimsby Town F.C. players
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players
Blackpool F.C. players
Walsall F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Doncaster Rovers F.C. players
Boston United F.C. players
Farsley Celtic F.C. players
English Football League players
English football managers
Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. managers
Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers
Doncaster Rovers F.C. non-playing staff
Peterborough United F.C. non-playing staff
Scunthorpe United F.C. non-playing staff