Benjamin Paul Futcher (born 20 February 1981) is an English football coach and 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 ...

, he works for the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

as a youth coach developer. He is the interim head coach of the England U20s. As a player, he was a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

from 1999 to 2013 notably playing for Lincoln City between 2002 and 2005 where he played in two play-off finals. He has also played for

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 ...

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921, Stalybridge Celti ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, Bury,

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United F.C., founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. They are currently members of the and play at ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

and F.C. Halifax Town. He is the son of former professional footballer, defender

Paul Futcher Paul Futcher (25 September 1956 – 23 November 2016) was an English professional footballer who had a distinguished career as a defender in the English Football League, for England under 21s and as manager of several non-league clubs. He is ...

. He was assistant manager of

, following his then-manager at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

David Flitcroft David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry Flitcroft. A midfielder, Flitcroft began his career a ...

, who was appointed to Mansfield Town on 1 March 2018, until the contracts of both were terminated 14 May 2019.David Flitcroft joins Mansfield Town as new manager
''This is Wiltshire'', 1 March 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018

Club career

Oldham Athletic

Futcher started off playing for

, signing professional terms in July 1999. Futcher struggled to grasp first team opportunities at

Boundary Park Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Bound ...

and in August 2001 was made available for a loan transfer to gain experience. He linked up with

, the club being managed by his father

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, where he spent three months on loan, making 17 appearances and scoring once. On 3 January 2002 his contract with the Latics was cancelled by mutual consent.

Stalybridge Celtic and Doncaster Rovers

It was to be Stalybridge who Ben would sign for permanently in the January transfer window of 2002. Futcher went on to play in ten games for the Celtic, before joining fellow Conference side

Lincoln City

After playing in only two games for Rovers, manager

Dave Penney David Mark Penney (born 17 August 1964) is an English football manager and former player. Born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, Penney entered professional football at the relatively late age of 21. He had been working as a bricklayer an ...

released Futcher two months later at the end of the season. On 10 May 2002, he along with Dene Cropper became Lincoln City manager Keith Alexander's first signings of his second spell in charge at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England, which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since t ...

. With The Imps struggling in the previous season, it was to be a different string of events in the new season, despite a rocky start, Lincoln climbed the league, and with the help of Futcher, for his goals more than anything, The Imps qualified for the play-offs. As well as this, Ben finished the season as the club's top goal scorer, scoring eleven goals, the majority of them being close range headers, from set pieces. In honour of this he was voted "Young Player of the Season" by the club's management team. A

Simon Yeo Simon John Yeo (born 10 October 1973 ) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1997 to 2011 and is currently player-coach at Mossley. Yeo a former member of the British Army is most well known for his time at ...

inspired Lincoln dumped

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 ...

out of the Play-off semi-final and thus giving them the task of overcoming

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

in the final at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

. Lincoln lost the match 5–2, with Ben amongst the City scorers. For the next two years, Futcher was at the heart of the Lincoln defence and faced two more Play-off defeats: losing out in the semi-finals to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in 2003/2004 and going down 2–0 after extra time against

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 ...

the following season in yet another final at the

Boston United

In a shock move in the summer of 2005, Futcher announced he would be leaving Lincoln, to sign for county rivals

. With United boasting such ex-Premiership stars as

Julian Joachim Julian Kevin Joachim (born 20 September 1974) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is an advisor at Europa Point in the Gibraltar National League. During his professional career he initially played from 1992 ...

and

Noel Whelan Noel David Whelan (; born 30 December 1974) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and radio co-commentator. As a player, he was a striker (association football), striker who notably played in the Premier League for Leeds ...

Bostons squad was arguably equipped to combat the league, but the club struggled to live up to its expectancies, and performances saw them hover around the relegation zone. On 12 January 2006, Futcher called time on his Boston career, and moved onto yet another

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

club.

Grimsby Town

This time he signed with promotion challenging

, who bolstered their squad as well with the signing of

Curtis Woodhouse Curtis Woodhouse (born 17 April 1980) is an English former professional footballer turned professional boxer and football manager, most recently in charge of Marske United. Woodhouse played football as a central midfielder, and competed as ...

for the final promotion push. Futcher found it rather hard to break into the Grimsby side and often had to play second fiddle to

Justin Whittle Justin Philip Whittle (born 18 March 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1994 until 2011. As a player, he notably captained Humber derby clubs Hull City and Grimsby Town. He also appeared for Celti ...

and Rob Jones. The Mariners, missed out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season, and this set them up with a Play-off semi final tie against Ben's former team, Lincoln City, who were now in the play-off's for the fourth season running. After a 1–0 Grimsby victory at

, Futcher scored in a 2–1 win in the leg at

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9,05 ...

to send Grimsby into the final at

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. The Mariners however failed to earn promotion, losing to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

in the final, thus meaning Futcher had now been on the losing team in a League Two play-off final, 3 times in the past 4 seasons.

Peterborough United

Ben then went and signed a contract with

. Futcher linked up with Keith Alexander, once again but United achieved nothing that season, and with the installation of

Darren Ferguson Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of League One club Peterborough United, in his fourth stint as manager of the club. In between his stints with Peterborou ...

as manager, following Alexander's departure, Futcher left at the end of that season.

Bury

His next port of call was to sign for Bury where Alexander had just been appointed as the club's Director of Football. In Ben's first season, he helped the club to a mid table finish, and scored Bury's first goal in a 2–1 victory over

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 ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

. In the next season he became an integral part of the Bury team and at the end of the season the club activated a clause in his contract for Ben to stay for another year. On 11 November 2010 Ben signed for fellow

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

side

on loan. He returned to Bury on 4 January 2011 having played six games during his eight-week loan period. After his return he played more regularly for the team, and in May 2011 he signed a new one-year contract extension. In August 2011 he joined

on loan for an initial month. In January 2012 he joined

on loan, making his club debut on 21 January against Cambridge United. In May 2012 he was offered a new contract by Bury as a player/development coach. On 2 July 2012 he signed with

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side F.C. Halifax Town on a season long loan deal. However a few weeks after signing for Halifax he was recalled to Bury without making a first team appearance as he was appointed joint-caretaker manager at the club.

Coaching career

Futcher was appointed Player/Development coach in the summer of 2012, however he reverted to his coaching priorities after not being handed a squad number for the 2012–13 season. Futcher assisted

Peter Shirtliff Peter Andrew Shirtliff (born 6 April 1961) is an English football coach and former player. As a player, he made more than 500 appearances in the Football League playing as a central defender for Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic, Wolverhamp ...

as joint-caretaker manager before the appointment of

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English professional football manager, executive and former player who is currently the technical director of Ekstraklasa club Lechia Gdańsk. Playing career Blackwell was born in Luton an ...

. In June 2015 Futcher was made Assistant Manager to

after

Chris Brass Christopher Paul Brass (born 24 July 1975) is an English football Manager (association football), manager and former professional Association football, player who works in a senior recruitment role at Premier League club Nottingham Forest F.C., ...

was made Head of Football Operations. In June 2017 he was appointed assistant manager of

, and followed Flitcroft to

on 1 March 2018 until 14 May 2019. Futcher now works for

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

as a youth coach developer. On 9 August 2024, Futcher stepped up to take interim charge of the

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is the national under-21 association football team of England, under the control of the Football Association. It is considered to be the feeder team ...

squad following

Lee Carsley Lee Kevin Carsley (born 28 February 1974) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of the England national under-21 football team. In a playing career lasting 17 years, Carsley played as a midfielder in t ...

's own interim appointment with the senior side.

Personal life

Ben is the son of ex-

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

and

defender

. Other footballing members of Ben's family include his uncles Ron Futcher and Graham Futcher (both ex-Chester), cousins Danny Murphy (England international) and Stephen Futcher (ex-

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

). Futcher is studying part-time for a bachelor's degree in Sports Performance at the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

. In January 2011 Futcher was rocked by the death of close friend and former Lincoln and Macclesfield teammate Richard Butcher, in September 2012 he still claimed he is still affected by the passing of Butcher.

Career statistics

References and notes

External links

Grimsby Town player profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Futcher, Ben Living people 1981 births English men's footballers Footballers from Bradford Men's association football central defenders National League (English football) players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players AFC Telford United players Macclesfield Town F.C. players FC Halifax Town players Bury F.C. managers Bury F.C. non-playing staff Swindon Town F.C. non-playing staff Mansfield Town F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Alumni of the University of Salford English football managers

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

England national football team non-playing staff 21st-century English sportsmen