Matthew David Butcher (born 14 May 1997) 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 Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Club career

AFC Bournemouth

Since joining

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

in 2010 at the age of thirteen, Butcher has continued to surge through the under-18 and under-21 sides. On 1 April 2015, he and three other Bournemouth youth prospects (including

Joe Quigley Joseph Richard Quigley (born 10 December 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chesterfield. He was previously at AFC Bournemouth, and has played in the English Football League on loan at Gillingham and Newport County. ...

, Jordan Lee and Jack Simpson) were offered a one-year professional contract. On 27 August 2015, Butcher made his Bournemouth debut featuring in a 4–0 victory over

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

in the League Cup, replacing

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

in the 77th minute. On 9 January 2016, he went on to make his first Bournemouth start in a 2–1 victory over

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 ...

in the

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 ...

, playing the full 90 minutes.

Non-league loan spells

On 5 February 2015, Butcher joined

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 ...

side

Gosport Borough Gosport Borough Football Club is a professional football club based in Gosport, Hampshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Hampshire Football Association and is an FA Charter Standard Community Club. They are currently members of the an ...

on a one-month loan on a work experience basis. 2 days later, he made his Gosport Borough debut in a 2–1 defeat against Hemel Hempstead Town, playing the full 90 minutes. On 7 March 2015, after only making one appearance for Gosport Borough, Butcher returned to Bournemouth. On 26 March 2015, he joined non-league side Poole Town on loan for the remainder of the season. On 4 April 2015, Butcher made his Poole Town debut in a 1–0 defeat to

Chippenham Town Chippenham Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club club based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. They are currently members of and play their games at Hardenhuish Park. History The club states it was established in 1873,

, playing the full 90 minutes. He went on to make seven more appearances before returning to Bournemouth. On 26 February 2016, Butcher joined

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 ...

side

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

on a one-month loan deal. On 27 February 2016, he made his Woking debut in a 2–0 defeat to Grimsby Town in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. On 26 March 2016, after impressing on loan at Woking, Butcher's loan spell was extended until the end of the season. On 2 April 2016, Butcher scored his first professional goal in a 2–2 draw with Southport, in which he got both goals.

Yeovil Town (loan)

On 5 August 2016, Butcher 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

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 a six-month loan deal. The following day, Butcher made his Yeovil Town debut in a 2–0 home victory against Notts County, replacing Kevin Dawson with six minutes remaining. On 9 August 2016, Butcher was given his full Yeovil Town debut by manager

Darren Way Darren Way (born 21 November 1979) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the assistant manager at Fleetwood Town. A hard tackling centre-midfielder as a player, Way started his career at Norwich City as ...

in a 2–0 away victory against

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 ...

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 ...

first round. On 5 January 2017, Butcher and his fellow Bournemouth loanee Ben Whitfield's loans were extended until the end of the season.

St Johnstone (loan)

Butcher signed on for

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 ...

club

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 ...

on a six-month loan on 31 January 2020.

Accrington Stanley

On 24 August 2020, Butcher signed for Accrington Stanley on a two-year deal. On 5 May 2022, Accrington Stanley announced Butcher would be leaving the club upon the expiration of his contract on 30 June 2022, with Stanley unable to agree improved terms with the player.

Plymouth Argyle

On 20 June 2022,

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

announced on their website that Butcher would join on a two-year contract.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Matt 1997 births Living people sportspeople from Reading, Berkshire English footballers Association football midfielders AFC Bournemouth players Gosport Borough F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Woking F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players