Jeffrey Butterfield (9 August 1929,

Heckmondwike Heckmondwike is a town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, south west of Leeds. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge. It is mostly in the Batley and Spen pa ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

– 30 April 2004, Wicken, Northamptonshire) was an

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

, Cleckheaton RUFC, Northampton and

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player and businessman.

Education and teaching career

Butterfield was educated at Whitcliffe Mount Grammar School,

Cleckheaton Cleckheaton is a town in the Metropolitan borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Bradford, east of Brighouse, west of Batley and south-west of Leeds. It ...

and

Loughborough College Loughborough College is a general further education college located in Leicestershire, England which offers a range of courses including further education, higher education, apprenticeships and professional qualifications. List of princip ...

, where he took a BSc. in Physical Education in 1951. He later took up a teaching post at Wellingborough Grammar School in Northamptonshire, after which he became a science master at

Worksop College Worksop College (formerly St Cuthbert's College) is a British co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils aged 13 to 18, in Worksop. It sits at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, England. Founded ...

Rugby career

Butterfield began his senior rugby career with Northampton Saints and played for them 227 times.Northampton Saints Hall of Fame
/ref> In addition to his duties at Northampton he also played 54 times for Yorkshire and captained them in two County Championship finals, in 1953 and 1957. He is considered to have been one of the most gifted

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

s to have played Rugby for England and was capped 28 times and captained the team four times. He was first capped by England in 1953 against France; here he played with a fellow Northampton player Lew Cannell. Butterfield played for England for 6 years, including 28 successive matches – in his final season he was captain. Butterfield became England's most capped back, and on his watch, England won the Five Nations' Championship four times, the Triple Crown twice and a Grand Slam. As well as playing for Northampton and England, Butterfield is celebrated for his play on the

1955 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1955 the British Lions rugby union team toured Southern and Eastern Africa. The Lions drew the test series against , each team winning two of the four matches. They won the first test by a single point and the third by three points and lost ...

where he scored tries in three of the four test matches. He later toured with the Lions in New Zealand in 1959 but here he was plagued by an injury and was unable to play in any of the matches. Butterfield was influenced as a player by the Bradford Northern Rugby League club whom he used to watch as a child. He used to watch the pre-war international outside half, Willie Davies. Of him, Butterfield said, "Willie always carried the ball in front of him with both hands. Though he always continued to run straight when he passed. I modelled my technique on his." One of the most memorable features of Butterfield's game was his near-perfect timing of a pass.

Later life

After retiring from full-time rugby, Butterfield briefly worked the paint industry and later opened the Rugby Club in

Hallam Street Hallam Street is a road situated in the Parish of St Marylebone and London's West End. In administrative terms it lies within the City of Westminster's Marylebone High Street Ward as well as the Harley Street Conservation Area. Formerly nam ...

, London, which he and his wife, Barbara, ran for 25 years.The Daily Telegraph obituary
/ref> Butterfield and his family also enjoyed skiing. His later years were dogged by ill health. Butterfield was President of Milton Keynes Rugby Club from 1972 until his death in 2004 and also had a unique role in developing

rugby union in the Cayman Islands Rugby union is a growing sport in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands national rugby union team is ranked 62nd in the world, with 2,256 registered players.IRB.com retrieved 24 August 2009 Governing body The governing body is Cayman Rugby, wh ...

.Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) ''The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records''. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. Butterfield married Barbara Kirton in 1956 and they had one son (Giles).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfield, Jeff 1929 births 2004 deaths Northampton Saints players English rugby union players Caymanian rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players Barbarian F.C. players Alumni of Loughborough University Yorkshire County RFU players People from Heckmondwike Rugby union in the Cayman Islands Loughborough Students RUFC players Schoolteachers from Northamptonshire Rugby union players from Yorkshire Schoolteachers from Nottinghamshire Rugby union centres