Billy Butler (footballer)

Billy Butler
Personal information
Full name	William Butler
Date of birth	17 March 1900
Place of birth	Atherton, England
Date of death	11 July 1966 (aged 66)
Place of death	Durban, South Africa
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1920–1933	Bolton Wanderers
1933–1935	Reading
International career
1924	England
Managerial career
1935–1939	Reading
1939–?	Guildford City
1945–1946	Torquay United
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Butler (17 March 1900 – 11 July 1966) was an English professional footballer who was most famously a winger for Bolton Wanderers in the 1920s.

Billy Butler was born in Atherton, Lancashire. He had never played for any form of organised football team prior to joining the army. He played as a centre-forward for his regiment and on leaving the army he joined his hometown club Atherton at the age of 19. He moved to Bolton Wanderers in April 1920 and, on moving to the right wing, soon established himself. He played in the 1923 FA Cup Final victory over West Ham United, the famous first Wembley final, and the following year, on 12 April 1924, made his England debut against Scotland.^[1]

It was to be his only appearance for the England national team, but he was back at Wembley again for the

1926 FA Cup Final win over Manchester City, and picked up his third winners medal in 1929, scoring the opening goal in the 2–0 defeat of Portsmouth

.

On Bolton's relegation in 1933, Butler asked for a transfer and left to join his former Bolton teammate

Joe Smith, who by now was manager of Reading

. He had played 449 games for Bolton, scoring 74 goals.

In August 1935, Smith left to manage

Division Three (South)

during Butler's tenure and were heading for another top five finish when he resigned in February 1939.

He became manager of

league football

had resumed.

He subsequently moved to South Africa to manage

Wolves defender Eddie Stuart and future Blackpool and England left winger Bill Perry

. He was later a coach for the Pietermaritzburg & District Football Association and then a coach for the Rhodesian Football Association

Butler died in Durban in July 1966, aged 66.

References

^ "The Cup winners - the fifties Bill Perry, Blackpool, 1953". theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

External links

Billy Butler at Englandstats.com

Preceded by ?	Guildford City Manager 1939–?	Succeeded by ?

[1] "The Cup winners - the fifties Bill Perry, Blackpool, 1953". theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

[1]