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 ...

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 16th century fort and an anc ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting ...

. He started his career as a youth player at

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

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 Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

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 s ...

clubs, he joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profes ...

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

Career

Early career

Born in Waltham Forest, Butcher grew up in

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

. 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 in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

. 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 Se ...

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 men's 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 82 team ...

club

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional football club, based in Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is Plough Lane. The cl ...

, making his debut against

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the o ...

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 town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significant m ...

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 Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former So ...

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, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the ...

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

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

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 city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. 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 U.S. track and field athlete. He won a gold medal in the Olympic decathlon in 1936, setting new world and Olympic records. He attended Colorado A&M — now known as Colorado State ...

after

Jamie Jones Jamie Jones may refer to: * Jamie Jones (DJ), Welsh DJ, producer and two-time DJ Awards winner * Jamie Jones (footballer) (born 1989), English professional footballer for Wigan Athletic * Jamie Jones (snooker player) (born 1988), Welsh professional ...

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 football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

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 compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

. 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. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

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 inj ...

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 the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

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 professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foo ...

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 by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The U ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Lee 1988 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers 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