William Butler (17 March 1900 – 11 July 1966) was an English 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 was most famously a winger for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

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

in April 1920 and, on moving to the right wing, soon established himself. He played in the 1923

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

victory over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, the famous first

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

final, and the following year, on 12 April 1924, made his

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

debut against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. 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 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 ...

, and picked up his third winners medal in 1929, scoring the opening goal in the 2–0 defeat of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. 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 Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. He had played 449 games for Bolton, scoring 74 goals. In August 1935, Smith left to manage

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and Butler took over the reins at Reading and carried on with the good work Smith had started. Reading never finished below 6th place in 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 Guildford City, but then

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

intervened and Butler joined the RAF as a PT instructor. With the war over, Butler was appointed manager of

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

in August 1945, but left

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National Leagu ...

in May 1946 before league football had resumed. He subsequently moved to South Africa to manage Johannesburg Rangers, where he discovered the future

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

defender

Eddie Stuart Edward Albert Stuart (12 May 1931 – 4 November 2014) was a South African professional footballer who played as a defender. He played 322 times in England for Wolverhampton Wanderers between 1951 and 1962, winning three league titles and the ...

and future

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 Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

in July 1966, aged 66.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Billy 1900 births Sportspeople from Atherton, Greater Manchester Footballers from Greater Manchester 1966 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Military personnel from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Reading F.C. players Reading F.C. managers Torquay United F.C. managers English Football League players Royal Air Force Physical Training instructors Atherton F.C. players Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II English football managers 20th-century English sportsmen