Geoffrey Butler (born 26 September 1946) is a 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 played as a defender in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

between the 1960s and 1980s. He started out with his hometown club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and made 55 league appearances for them before a transfer to Chelsea in September 1967.Geoffrey Butler League Stats and 1973 photo at football-heroes
Sporting Heroes Photographic Encyclopedia. Retrieved on: 23 November 2010. He only made a total of nine appearances for Chelsea. He later played for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and

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 whilst at Norwich he played for the

Baltimore Comets The Baltimore Comets were a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1974, the Comets were an expansion team that played two seasons in the North American Soccer League. The team originally played its home matches at ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

in the 1974 and 1975 NASL summer seasons, making a total of 40 appearances. He also played for

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. ...

. While at Norwich, he was a member of the team that reached the final of the League Cup in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. In 1983, Butler was appointed as player/manager of Salisbury City F.C., Salisbury in the Southern Football League, Southern League, later also becoming commercial manager. In 1992, it was revealed that South Africa national football team, South Africa national team manager Jeff Butler (football manager), Jeff Butler had been sacked from his post for passing off Geoffrey Butler's playing career as his own.

Honours

Norwich City * Football League Second Division, Second Division Championship 1971-72 in English football, 1971-72

References

* Living people 1946 births Footballers from Middlesbrough Men's association football defenders AFC Bournemouth players Chelsea F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Baltimore Comets players Norwich City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. managers Sunderland A.F.C. players Weymouth F.C. managers English men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers English football managers English Football League players {{england-footy-defender-1940s-stub