Peter Butler (footballer, born 1966)

Peter James Butler (born 27 August 1966) is an English professional football player and coach. As a player, he made more than 450 appearances in the Football League and the Premier League.[2] He then took up coaching, first in England and then in Australia and South-East Asia. He was in charge of the Botswana national team from 2014 until 2017. He is currently the manager of Liberia.

For other people named Peter Butler, see Peter Butler (disambiguation).

Peter Butler
Personal information
Full name Peter James Butler[1]
Date of birth (1966-08-27) 27 August 1966
Place of birth Halifax, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Liberia (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1986 Huddersfield Town 5 (0)
1986 → Cambridge United (loan) 14 (1)
1986 Bury 11 (0)
1986–1988 Cambridge United 55 (9)
1988–1992 Southend United 142 (9)
1992 → Huddersfield Town (loan) 7 (0)
1992–1994 West Ham United 70 (3)
1994–1996 Notts County 20 (0)
1996 → Grimsby Town (loan) 3 (0)
1996 → West Bromwich Albion (loan) 15 (0)
1996–1998 West Bromwich Albion 50 (0)
1998–2000 Halifax Town 63 (1)
2001–2002 Sorrento FC
Teams managed
2000 Halifax Town (caretaker manager)
2001–2002 Sorrento FC
2002–2004 Sabah FA
2004–2005 Singapore Armed Forces FC
2006–2008 Persiba Balikpapan
2008–2009 Kelantan FA
2009–2010 Yangon United FC (technical director)
2010–2011 BEC Tero Sasana
2011–2012 Kelantan FA
2012 Persiba Balikpapan
2012 Terengganu FA
2012–2013 PBDKT T-Team FC
2014–2017 Botswana
2017 Platinum Stars
2018 Persipura
2018 PSMS
2019– Liberia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Butler played as a midfielder for Huddersfield Town, Cambridge United, Bury, Southend United, West Ham United, Notts County, Grimsby Town, West Bromwich Albion and Halifax Town.[2]

Coaching career

After a spell as caretaker manager of Halifax Town, Butler moved to Australia where he became player-manager of Sorrento FC 2000–2002, where he set up their academy. He then coached in Singapore with the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC), in Malaysia with Sabah FA, in Indonesia with Persiba Balikpapan, and then back to Malaysia as coach of Kelantan FA.[3][4] In September 2009, Butler signed a one-year contract as Technical Director and Head Coach of Yangon United FC of Myanmar.[5] In September 2010 Butler became head coach of Thai Premier League team BEC Tero Sasana F.C.. He is the holder of a UEFA Pro Licence Qualification. Butler returned to Kelantan to become head coach for the second time in November 2011. He guided the team to the top of the League. However, Butler left stating he could no longer work for Annuar Musa as he was unhappy with the signing of players above his head.[6] Butler was immediately hired by Indonesian Super league side Persiba Balikpapan whom he coached in 2006-08 and led them into the newly formed ISL. He reportedly resigned from Persiba in May 2012, but his resignation is challenged by the club.[7][8]

Terengganu and T-Team

He officially took over the head coach role at Terengganu FA, from Mat Zan Mat Aris on 1 June 2012, although he had already performed his duties as Terengganu head coach before the date.[9][10] As head coach Butler reprimanded two players for returning from a night out at 3am on a morning before a match. He actions were mainly backed by the Malaysian public. However the club's management did not support his stance leading to a six-month ban, RM4,000 fine, 15 per cent cut on monthly salary and the termination of his contract.[11]

The penalties received by Butler were considered by the public to be unjust and a means of simply removing him from the club. He was left with 15 months payment on his contract outstanding.[12] The Football Association of Malaysia declared their intent to investigate the situation.[13]

On 18 October, Football Association of Malaysia's disciplinary board completely exonerated Butler of any charges, quashed the suspension imposed on him and publicly condemned the Terengganu FA of bringing shame to the FAM, the TFA were ordered to pay Butler the remaining months on his contract.[14][15]

Botswana

In February 2014, Butler was appointed manager of the Botswana national team.[16] His first International game was against South Sudan. He won the game three nil with a relatively new young inexperienced squad. He was mostly praised for giving a nineteen years old Ditsile his full debut against Burundi in the AFCON 2015 preliminaries. Botswana went on to knock out Burundi & Guinea Bisau to reach the group stages of the AFCON, with a new team giving debuts to many young players. They lost to a last minute penalty in Tunisia and gave a very strong Senegal team a fright, only losing to a late deflected goal. They have since earn credible results beating Tanzania, Lesotho and drawing against a strong Angolan team in Luanda. Butler has revitalised the Botswana team playing an exciting brand of footballconsequently coming under the radar of some of the bigger teams in African football.

When asked about Botswana in an interview, Butler said that "It's a beautiful country, and the raw passion that Botswanans have for the game is unbelievable. In fact, most of Africa has such an incredibly deep love and enthusiasm for football. You can really feel it when you spend time here."

In February 2017 he was one of a number of managers on the shortlist for the vacant Rwanda national team manager role.[17]

Butler resigned from the Botswana job in June 2017, and within days was appointed as the new head coach of Platinum Stars in South Africa's Premier Soccer League.[18] He departed the position in September 2017.[19]

Liberia

On 21 August 2019, he was appointed as manager of the Liberia national football team.[20]

References
  1. "Kelantan, Negeri pursue Malaysia Cup history". New Sabah Times. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  2. "Peter Butler". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  3. Dasey, Jason (2 July 2009). "No ifs or Butts for Pete about Asia". Soccernet. ESPN. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  4. Samuel, Eric (19 September 2009). "Butler serves a bombshell, quits as Kelantan coach". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  5. "Bitter Butler wishes Kelantan all the best". The Malay Mail. 4 November 2009. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  6. "Peter Butler claims that import players selection is out of his hands". Goal.com. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  7. "ANTARA News - Kaltim: Portal Berita Kalimantan Timur". Kaltim.antaranews.com. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  8. "Butler Bakal Dilaporkan Ke FIFA Oleh Persiba - Sports News Portal". Bolanews.com. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  9. Muhammad, Zainuddin (15 May 2012). "Terengganu put faith in much-travelled Butler - Soccer - New Straits Times". Nst.com.my. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  10. "Football Every Day » Coach Butler aims to turn Terengganu into an offensive force". Football.thestar.com.my. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  11. "Butler's suspension could mean termination of his contract". The Star. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  12. "Butler waiting for FAM's call". NST. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  13. "Butler and Terengganu FA settle long-running saga amicably". The Star. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  14. "Butler's ban null and void". The Star. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  15. "Butler and TFA to settle sacking issue by Sunday". The Star. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  16. "Butler appointed as Botswana coach". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  17. Oluwashina Okeleji (14 February 2017). "Samson Siasia and Winfried Schafer on Rwanda coach shortlist". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  18. "Butler brought in at Platinum Stars". ESPN. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  19. "Platinum Stars sack Butler, confirm Roger De Sa as new head coach". Times (South Africa). 8 September 2017.
  20. "Liberia: Peter James Butler Unveiled as Lone Star's New Coach". FrontPageAfrica. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
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