Ian Butler (born 1 February 1944 in

Darton Darton is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley (part of South Yorkshire), on the border with West Yorkshire, England. At the time of the 2001 UK census, it had a population of 14,927, increasing to 21,345 for both Darton Ward ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

) is an English former 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 played in

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 ...

as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

and

. His son, Martin Butler, also played for York City.

Club career

Butler began his career at Rotherham United where he established himself down the left wing and played alongside players such as

Ken Houghton Ken Houghton (born 18 October 1939, Rotherham) is a former football player and manager. A striker, he played for Rotherham United, Hull City and Scunthorpe United, where he scored a combined total of 140 goals in 434 league appearances. He was l ...

in a highly promising team with a significant number of locally developed players. Together with Houghton, he moved to Hull City during the 1964–65 season, much to the displeasure of Rotherham's fans. He became part of a formidable attacking line including

Ray Henderson Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Buffalo, New York, United States, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was o ...

Ken Wagstaff Kenneth Wagstaff (born 24 November 1942) is an English former footballer noted for his playing career at Mansfield Town and Hull City football clubs. In 2000, club fans of both Mansfield Town and Hull City voted Wagstaff their club's player of t ...

and

Chris Chilton Christopher Roy Chilton (25 June 1943 – 20 May 2021) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Hull City and Coventry City. Chilton was born in Sproatley, East Riding of Yorkshire. Chilton played as an insi ...

, whose performances took Hull City to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

title in 1966 and established the side as a

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

force in the 1960s and 1970s. He finished his League career with York City and a loan spell at Barnsley.

International career

He was capped by the England national youth team in 1962.

References

External links

* 1944 births Living people English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football wingers Rotherham United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players York City F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Bridlington Town A.F.C. players English Football League players People from Darton Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley Footballers from South Yorkshire {{England-footy-forward-1940s-stub