Patrick Butler was an Irish

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who appears to have spent his entire career in the U.S. leagues. He was a member of the

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

teams which won the 1916 National Challenge Cup and the

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

and 1919 American Cup Butler began his career on the front line, playing both inside and outside forward on both sides of the field. He ended his career at the right half back position. In the fall of 1913,

Brooklyn Celtic Brooklyn Celtic was a name used by at least two U.S. association football, soccer teams. The first was an early twentieth century amateur team which was formed in August 1910 and dominated the New York Amateur Association Football League from 1912 ...

of the New York Amateur Association Football League signed Butler and several other top players. This produced a team which won both the league title and the Southern New York State Foot Ball Association Cup. In May 1914, Butler and his teammates fell to

Brooklyn Field Club Brooklyn Field Club was a soccer team based in Brooklyn, New York, that existed from 1898 to 1924. It is one of the few to predate the United States Soccer Federation, which was founded in 1913. Between 1909 and 1916 they played in the second ...

in the final of the

1914 National Challenge Cup This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

. He then moved to Brooklyn Field Club for the 1914–15 National Association Foot Ball League season. In 1915, he signed the Bethlehem Steel, then competing in the American Soccer League of Philadelphia. On October 25, 1915, the ''Bethlehem Globe'' mentioned "Butler, a new man being given a try-out at inside right as a partner to Dean." That season, Butler and his teammates won the 1916 National Challenge Cup. On May 13, 1917, Butler scored a goal in Bethlehem's 7–0 defeat of West Hudson A.A. in the 1917 American Cup. It was considered "the best goal of the game." That fall, Bethlehem entered the

National Association Football League The National Association Football League (also spelled ''National Association Foot Ball League'') (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to oper ...

, winning the league title in 1919. Bethlehem took the double that season when they defeated Paterson F.C. to win the 1919 American Cup title. In that game, a 2–0 victory, Butler scored the first goal in the eleventh minute. In the summer of 1919, he moved to the

Philadelphia Merchant Ship Philadelphia Merchant Ship F.C. was a short-lived U.S. soccer team of the early twentieth century. It spent two seasons in the National Association Football League and went to the semifinals of the 1919 American Cup. History Philadelphia Merchant ...

team. Merchant Ship folded at the end of the season and he played for Goodrich in Akron, Ohio from 1920 to 1921. In 1921, the American Soccer League replaced the NAFBL as the top U.S.league. Butler spent one season in the new league playing for Fall River United."Cream Of Soccer Talent Signed". (September 10, 1921). ''The Evening Herald'', p.7 col.4-5

References

American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1907–1930) players Brooklyn Celtic (NAFBL) players Brooklyn Field Club players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players National Association Football League players Philadelphia Merchant Ship players Year of death missing Men's association football forwards Year of birth missing Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland {{Ireland-footy-bio-stub