Daniel James Butterworth (born 14 September 1999) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

. A former

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

trainee, Butterworth joined

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and went on to make his senior debut for the club in August 2018. He spent the second half of the 2021–22 season on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

and joined

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

on loan for the 2022–23 campaign. He joined Carlisle United on a free transfer in July 2023.

Career

Blackburn Rovers

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Butterworth began his career with the club he supported,

, before he joined

on a scholarship midway through the 2015–16 season. He turned professional upon signing a two-year

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

in October 2017 after he scored 16 goals in 36 appearances for

Damien Johnson Damien Michael Johnson (born 18 November 1978) is a Northern Irish football coach and former international player. Sincce 2019 he has been first team technical coach & head of player development at Blackburn Rovers. He began his career with P ...

's development squad. He made his senior debut at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

on 28 August 2018, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for

Danny Graham Daniel Graham (born 1978) is an American football player. Daniel Graham may also refer to: * Bob Graham (born 1936), Daniel Robert Graham, American politician *Daniel O. Graham (1926–1995), American general and political activist *Danny Graham ( ...

in a 4–1 victory over Lincoln City in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. He signed a new long-term deal in March the following year, keeping him at the club until June 2022. He made his

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 ...

debut on 22 April, playing the last 14 minutes of a 1–0 home win over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. He featured just once in the next two seasons, playing as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 19 December 2020.

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...

said that Butterworth "will burst onto the scene in the next year and everyone is going to think ‘wow, who’s that?'" He made his first start in the

English 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 Engl ...

on 19 October 2021, in a 1–0 defeat at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. On 31 January 2022, he 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 ...

side

for the remainder of the 2021–22 season. He scored his first goal in senior football in a 3–2 defeat at

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

on 12 March, scoring with his first touch after entering the game as a substitute. He made five starts and seven substitute appearances for

Stephen Crainey Stephen Daniel Crainey (born 22 June 1981) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He is currently U21 manager for Wigan Athletic. A left back, he made 319 appearances in the Premier League and Football League, including 214 for Blackpool. ...

's "Cod Army", helping Fleetwood to retain their third tier status with a 20th-place finish. On 1 September 2022, Butterworth joined League One side

on loan for the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season. Manager

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player who played in the English Football League. He is the manager of club Port Vale. A box-to-box midfielder, Clarke began his career with ...

compared him to the club's number nine,

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

, for his link up play. On 29 October, he scored his first goal for the club to secure a 1–0 victory over Lincoln City at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

. He scored his second league goal of the campaign on 19 November, the club website describing how he "produced a beautiful second half solo goal" to beat

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

1–0. Butterworth said after the game that "this is the best I have felt in a long time". He was released by Blackburn Rovers at the end of his contract after seven years with the club.

Carlisle United

On 14 July 2023, Butterworth joined newly-

promoted Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

League One side

on a free transfer, signing a two-year deal.

Style of play

Butterworth has stated that he likes playing as a number 10, playing alongside a

target man Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

and getting into pockets of space. He is able to shoot with both feet. Speaking in November 2022, Port Vale assistant manager

Andy Crosby Andrew Keith Crosby (born 3 March 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who is interim manager at club Port Vale. A defender during his playing days, he began his career at Leeds United, but made his debut in th ...

said that "Dan has incredible talent in possession; he can create chances, he can score, he can play the final

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mountai ...

", though added that he needed to improve other aspects of his game.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterworth, Daniel 1999 births Living people Footballers from Manchester English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players English Football League players