Guy Butters (born 30 October 1969, in

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

) is a former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

professional footballer and manager.

Playing career

Butters made his Tottenham debut in November 1988 in a League Cup tie versus

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 ...

in which he scored an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

. He made his League debut as a goalscoring substitute that weekend in a 3–2 win against

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, and then started 34 of the next 35 games before making what would be his final appearance away to

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 ...

in October 1989. He spent the remainder of the season on loan at

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

and he was eventually sold to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

for a fee of £375,000. He won his first of 3 South East Counties Football League Championships whilst still at school with Spurs. After leaving school he joined them as an apprentice winning Best Defender of the Tournament at the prestigious Düsseldorf Football Tournament 2 years on the trot, firstly beating the Russian National Youth Team in the first year and getting knocked out the semi finals in the following. After his apprenticeship he got into the first team within 4 months of being made a pro in 1988, and scored on his league debut versus Wimbledon. During this time he represented England U21's in the Toulon Tournament in France. He won Young Player of the Year for season 89/90. He became the only ever U21 'Rest of the World Team' Captain at the Tournament when he skippered the side against Senegal after the Dutch team went home due to a Sourinam plane crash (some of the players were of Sourinam origin). After leaving Spurs he joined Portsmouth in 1990 and went on to be a part of 1992 FA Cup semi final squad, and also the squad that narrowly missed out in the play-off semi finals the following season. He spent six years at Gillingham, signing for them in October 1996. He played in the Play Off Final at Wembley against Manchester City missing the deciding penalty, but helped the next season by gaining Promotion to second-tier football beating Wigan. He was part of team that played in the FA Cup quarter finals against Chelsea. In 2002 he joined Brighton & Hove Albion. He was part of the team that gained promotion to the Championship beating Bristol City at the Millennium Stadium in 2004 under manager Mark McGee. He also won Player of the Year in this season as well as the BBC South East Sports Award for Player of the Year. Butters played his 600th professional game during 2006 having been runner-up in the club's official player of the season awards for the two previous years. On 6 May 2008, it was confirmed that Butters, along with experienced trio

Kerry Mayo Kerry Mayo (born 21 September 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left back. Career Born in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, Mayo was a trainee with Brighton & Hove Albion F. ...

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...

and Paul Reid were to be released from the club. He ended his professional career but carried on playing non league for a few years beyond this. Butters initially joined Winchester on loan as a player from

Havant & Waterlooville Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is a professional football club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club participates in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, after relegation from the National League in the 20 ...

in the

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

following his release from

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. Butters agreed to join

team

on 30 May 2008, signing a one-year contract. He signed for

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

on loan in January 2009. In May 2008 BHA offered him a full-time role working for BHAFC's Albion in the Community as a mentor and fundraiser where he still currently works now. He is also a Lounge Host on home match days.

Managerial career

Butters took over at Winchester City in the

Wessex League The Wessex Football League is an English association football league formed in 1986, with its premier division currently at the fifth step of the National League System, or the ninth tier of the overall English football league system. The par ...

, having been appointed to replace

Glenn Cockerill Glenn Cockerill (born 25 August 1959) is an English retired footballer who played more than 700 games in The Football League in a 22-year career. He was a skilled central midfielder renowned for his passing and shooting skills. Playing career Co ...

in September 2010. He gained them promotion from the Wessex League before leaving the club on 1 October 2012, to go back to

, where he was to work for their charity arm, 'Albion in the Community'. Soon after this move however he joined

club

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

as assistant manager to newly appointed manager Richard Hill.
''Guy Butters'', 5 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012

References

External links

* *Playfair Football Annuals 1990–91 to 2008–09 {{DEFAULTSORT:Butters, Guy 1969 births Living people English footballers England under-21 international footballers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Havant & Waterlooville F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Association football defenders