Jacob Luke Butterfield (born 10 June 1990) 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

midfielder 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

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

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 ...

. Butterfield came through the youth academy at

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 ...

and went on to establish himself as a first team player over a five-year spell between 2007 and 2012. He moved to

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 ...

side

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

but failed to make a league appearance and spent time on loan with

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 ...

and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

before signing permanently for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. He has since played for

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 ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. Between 2020 and 2022 he played outside of English football firstly with

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

side

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

before a stint in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Butterfield spent a brief spell with the youth team of hometown club

at the age of 7 or 8, before joining the

Manchester United Academy Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effectiv ...

Barnsley

Butterfield was described as a star of the future by manager at the time,

Simon Davey Simon Davey (born 1 October 1970 in Swansea) is a Welsh former professional footballer and football manager. He is now Head Director of a youth club in America called Southern Soccer Academy. He played for Swansea City, Carlisle United and Pr ...

. He had worked with Butterfield in the

academy before being appointed as manager in 2006. He made his debut for Barnsley in a

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 ...

tie against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in August 2007 coming on as a substitute for

Martin Devaney Martin Thomas Devaney (born 1 June 1980) is a football coach and former professional midfielder who was most recently caretaker manager of EFL Championship club Barnsley. Born of Irish parents, Devaney has played for the Ireland under-16s. Caree ...

during a 2–0 loss. Butterfield also made a substitute appearance in Barnsley's 2008

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

semi-final against

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 ...

. Butterfield scored his first senior goal on 8 August 2009 with a 59th-minute goal at Hillsborough against local rivals

. This goal proved to be vital as it spurred Barnsley on to claw back to 2–2 as Barnsley were 2–0 down at half time. He also made an appearance coming on as a substitute versus former club Manchester United in a League Cup tie in which Barnsley suffered a 2–0 defeat. On 17 September 2011, he captained Barnsley for the first time. It was in their 1–1 draw at home to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. Many believed at the time that Butterfield, at just 21 years of age, had become Barnsley's youngest ever captain. But, in fact,

Eric Winstanley Eric Winstanley (15 November 1944 – 20 May 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-back in the Football League for Barnsley and Chesterfield. Early life Eric Winstanley was born on 15 November 1944 in Barnsley, Wes ...

had captained the Reds at aged 19 in the 1960s. Butterfield was having an exceptional season and Premier League scouts were regularly in attendance at Oakwell. He was soon rewarded for his efforts with a call up to the England under 21 squad. Butterfield missed the rest of the 2011–12 season through injury following a shocking 'tackle' in the New Year's Eve derby encounter 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 ...

bringing his "amazing" form to an end. Scans taken after the match showed it to be torn anterior cruciate ligaments. He finished the season – albeit prematurely – with five goals to his name and a growing reputation in The Championship, described by his manager Keith Hill as the best midfielder in the league.

Norwich City

On 3 July 2012, Butterfield signed for

on a four-year contract. Butterfield was out of contract, but Barnsley were entitled to compensation, due to his age. He made his debut for the club on 26 September in a 1–0 win over

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 ...

in the

Football League 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 ...

. However, he failed to gain a first team place at the club, with his only other first team appearance being another League Cup game against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, and spent most of his time with Norwich out on loan. On 8 November, Butterfield joined

on loan for a month, this becoming

Dougie Freedman Douglas Alan Freedman (born 25 May 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Crystal Palace. Freedman played as a striker, primarily for Crystal Palace and also had spells as ...

's first signing since taking over at the

Reebok Stadium The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...

. He made his debut on 17 November, in a 1–1 draw at home against his former club

. The loan was extended outside the Window by another month on 1 December. Butterfield left Bolton and went back to Norwich City on 3 January 2013. On 16 January 2013, it was announced that Butterfield had signed on loan for

, where he was given the squad number six. He made his début on 19 January, where he was part of the starting eleven, in a goalless draw with Bolton Wanderers. His last appearance for Crystal Palace was on 5 March, when he started in the 4–2 victory over

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 ...

. He returned to Norwich before the end of that month.

Middlesbrough

On 2 September 2013, Butterfield signed a three-year contract, with a one-year option to extend, at

for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut in a 3–1 defeat at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on 14 September 2013. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 win over

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

on 5 October 2013. He would go on to score a goal that was controversially disallowed at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday. He scored one of the goals of the season for the Boro against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

and followed that up with the winning goal at eventual runners up,

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 ...

a week later to end the campaign in good form. He was also part of the Boro side whose victory on the 26 April 2014 relegated his former club, Barnsley to the third tier of English football.

Huddersfield Town

On 13 August 2014, Butterfield joined

and signed a four-year deal, which was part of a swap deal that saw

Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Cla ...

join Middlesbrough. He made his début for the Terriers in their 3–1 defeat to

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 ...

on 16 August 2014. His first goal for Huddersfield Town came in a 2–1 win against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Rea ...

in the 10th minute on 19 August 2014. His first home goal for the Terriers came in the 4–2 win over

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 18 October 2014. He repeated that trick just a few days later on 21 October 2014, scoring from close range in the 1–1 draw with

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 ...

, prompting new manager

Chris Powell Christopher George Robin Powell (born 8 September 1969) is an English football coach and former player, who is currently head of coaching at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur's Academy and a coach for the England national team. As a left b ...

to set Butterfield a target of reaching double figures for the season. He scored his fourth for the club in a 2–1 home victory over former club,

, a cracking strike from the angle of the box and started 2015 in good form when playing a key role in the club's 3–1 win over high flying Watford, setting up the opening goal for

Nahki Wells Nahki Michael Wells (born 1 June 1990) is a Bermudian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Bristol City and the Bermuda national team. Wells began his career in his native Bermuda, playing for Dandy Town Hornets and Bermu ...

. He went on to score another two goals, created many more and was voted the club's Player of the Season for the 2014–15 season.

Derby County

On 1 September 2015, Butterfield joined

for around £5 million on a four-year deal. He scored his first goal for ''The Rams'' in a 3–0 win over

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 ...

on 31 October 2015. He scored twice for Derby County away at Hull on his 200th appearance of his Football League career . Butterfield joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan on 31 August 2017, in a loan swap-deal involving

Sam Winnall Sam Thomas Winnall (born 19 January 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for League One club Burton Albion Career Wolverhampton Wanderers Winnall joined the youth ranks of Wolverhampton Wanderers as a teenager, be ...

moving in the other direction from Wednesday to Derby for the duration of the 2017–18 season. In January 2019 he moved on loan to

. At Bradford he scored once in a 3–1 win over

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 ...

on 9 March 2019.

Luton Town

On 30 July 2019, Butterfield joined

after Derby agreed to mutually terminate his deal. The length of his contract at Luton was not disclosed. He made his debut on 2 August in a 3–3 draw with his former club Middlesbrough, coming on as a 60th minute substitute. He scored his first goal for Luton against Barnsley on 24 August 2019, another former club of his. Butterfield was released at the end of the 2019–20 season.

Melbourne Victory

On 26 October 2020, Butterfield signed for

side

, joining his former

teammate

Callum McManaman Callum Henry McManaman (born 25 April 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger, most recently for Tranmere Rovers. Born in Whiston, Merseyside, lived and brought up in Rainhill, Merseyside, McManaman began his youth c ...

St Johnstone

On 13 December 2021, Butterfield joined

side

until the end of the season. On 22 December 2021, Butterfield scored his first goal for

in a 2–1 defeat against Ross County in the

Scunthorpe United

On 18 July 2022, Butterfield joined

club

, reuniniting with Keith Hill whom Butterfield played under previously at Barnsley.

International career

Butterfield was called up to represent England at under-21 level, though he never made an appearance.

Career statistics

References

External links

Jacob Butterfield profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfield, Jacob 1990 births Living people Footballers from Bradford English footballers Association football midfielders Barnsley F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Melbourne Victory FC players St Johnstone F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players English Football League players A-League Men players Scottish Professional Football League players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate soccer players in Australia