Lee Anthony Butcher (born 11 October 1988) is an English former 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 lea ...

who last played for

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He started his career as a youth player at

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, before moving to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

following his release in 2007. After loan spells with a number of

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

clubs, he joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

club

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

on loan on 14 October 2009, and signed for Orient on a permanent basis in May 2010.

Career

Early career

Born in

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford. The borough's administrative headquarters are at Waltham Forest Town Hall, wh ...

, Butcher grew up in

Chingford Chingford is a suburban town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre of Chingford is north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walt ...

. He started his youth career with

as a schoolboy before joining

at the age of 10, and aged 15 he was voted the Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the Cannes Football Festival of 2004. He was released from Arsenal in May 2007 and had trials with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

. After playing a number of

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

friendlies for Tottenham Hotspur reserves and under-18s he eventually signed for the club.

Club career

During the 2007–08 season, Butcher made 11 appearances for the Tottenham Hotspur reserve team. In January 2008, he was loaned out to

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 88 teams in fo ...

club

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

, making his debut against Maidstone United in their 2–1 win on 5 January. He went on to make a total of seven appearances in all competitions. In September 2008, Butcher joined

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

on loan where he made four appearances during September and October. He then joined

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

in late December 2008, but did not make an appearance for the first team. St Albans City signed Butcher on loan in March 2009, where he made six appearances in the

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

. Butcher rejoined Grays toward the end of the 2008–09 season, and made his debut in the

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

for Grays on 18 April in the 2–0 defeat at

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

. Butcher made three appearances for Grays before returning to Tottenham at the end of the season. In July 2009, Butcher signed another one-year contract with Tottenham. He then re-joined Grays Athletic, during the following 2009–10 season, on a one-month loan deal on 1 September, where he made a further five appearances in the Conference National. On 14 October, he signed on loan for

club

as cover for

Glenn Morris Glenn Edgar Morris (June 18, 1912 – January 31, 1974) was a United States of America, U.S. track and field Athletics (sport), athlete. He won a gold medal in the Olympic decathlon in Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon, ...

after Jamie Jones suffered an injury. Butcher returned to Tottenham on 17 November, having not made a first-team appearance for Leyton Orient. After the end of the 2009–10 season, he signed for Leyton Orient on a one-year contract following his release from Tottenham in May 2010. He made his League debut as a substitute in the 1–1 draw at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

on 2 October, after Jones again suffered an injury. After making ten appearances in all competitions, he lost his place when Jason Brown was brought in on loan in late November. He remained on the bench until 25 April 2011, when a further Jones injury brought him back into the first team for the trip to

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

. Butcher saved a penalty in the eighth minute, and Orient won 1–0. He returned to the first team at the beginning of the 2011–12 season due to another Jones injury, and saved two penalties in Orient's 4–3 penalty shoot-out victory over

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

on 9 August. After establishing himself in the first team in Jones' absence, Butcher suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

in an awkward fall in the 3–1 defeat at home to

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

on 18 February 2012, missing the remainder of the season. He never returned to the first team through further injury, and after 38 appearances in all competitions, he was released by Orient on 30 April 2013. Butcher joined

side

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

in August 2013 to provide cover for the injured Sam Mott. He later joined

, making 43 appearances in all competitions, but left in order to concentrate on his main job, working on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Lee 1988 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest People from Chingford Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Margate F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Tilbury F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Men's association football goalkeepers 21st-century English sportsmen