Walter Garth Butler (7 February 1923 – 13 July 1995) was an English

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 ...

. He was nicknamed "the assassin" for his habit of taking several different coloured pills before a match.

Career

Butler joined Port Vale from

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in June 1946. He played 12 Third Division South games in the 1946–47 season and featured in 39 league and one

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

game in the 1947–48 campaign. He continued to be a key part of

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Gordon Hodgson's first-team plans, and played 34 games in the 1948–49 season and made 43 appearances in the 1949–50 campaign. He featured just five times for the "Valiants" in the 1950–51 season, and was forced to retire from professional football in October 1951 after proving unable to recover from a knee injury. He had played 134 league and cup games during his five years at

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditio ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Garth 1923 births 1995 deaths Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Derby County F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players English Football League players