Patrick Butler was an early twentieth-century Irish

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who appears to have spent his entire career in the U.S. leagues. He was a member of the Bethlehem Steel teams which won the

1916 National Challenge Cup Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored ...

and the

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

and

1919 American Cup The 1919 American Cup was the annual open cup held by the American Football Association. American Cup Bracket (*)protested, replayed at Pawtucket Final See also *1919 National Challenge Cup References {{American Cup Amer Amer may refer ...

Butler began his career on the front line, playing both inside and outside forward on both sides of the field. He ended his career at the right half back position. In the fall of 1913,

Brooklyn Celtic Brooklyn Celtic was a name used by at least two U.S. soccer teams. The first was an early twentieth century amateur team which was formed in August 1910 and dominated the New York Amateur Association Football League from 1912 to 1917. The second ...

of the New York Amateur Association Football League signed Butler and several other top players. This produced a team which won both the league title and the Southern New York State Foot Ball Association Cup. In May 1914, Butler and his teammates fell to Brooklyn Field Club in the final of the

1914 National Challenge Cup This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

. He then moved to Brooklyn Field Club for the 1914–15 National Association Foot Ball League season. In 1915, he signed the Bethlehem Steel, then competing in the American Soccer League of Philadelphia. On October 25, 1915, the ''Bethlehem Globe'' mentioned “Butler, a new man being given a try-out at inside right as a partner to Dean.” That season, Butler and his teammates won the

. On May 13, 1917, Butler scored a goal in Bethlehem's 7–0 defeat of

West Hudson A.A. The West Hudson Athletic Association (A.A.) (also known as the West Hudson Athletic Club (A.C.) or West Hudson Athletic Club Football (A.C.F.)) was one of the dominant U.S. soccer teams of the early twentieth century. Founded in 1905, the team w ...

in the

1917 American Cup The 1917 American Cup was the annual open cup held by the American Football Association. Thirty-six teams entered the competition however none of the major Massachusetts teams entered. A new rule that season made by the Southern New England FA fo ...

. It was considered “the best goal of the game.” That fall, Bethlehem entered the National Association Football League, winning the league title in 1919. Bethlehem took the double that season when they defeated Paterson F.C. to win the

title. In that game, a 2–0 victory, Butler scored the first goal in the eleventh minute. In the summer of 1919, he moved to the

Philadelphia Merchant Ship Philadelphia Merchant Ship F.C. was a short-lived U.S. soccer team of the early twentieth century. It spent two seasons in the National Association Football League and went to the semifinals of the 1919 American Cup. History Philadelphia Merchant ...

team. Merchant Ship folded at the end of the season and he played for Goodrich in Akron, Ohio from 1920 to 1921. In 1921, the American Soccer League replaced the NAFBL as the top U.S.league. Butler spent one season in the new league playing for Fall River United."Cream Of Soccer Talent Signed". (September 10, 1921). ''The Evening Herald'', p.7 col.4-5

References

American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1907–1930) players Brooklyn Celtic (NAFBL) players Brooklyn Field Club players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players National Association Football League players Philadelphia Merchant Ship players Year of death missing Men's association football forwards Year of birth missing Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland {{Ireland-footy-bio-stub