 Butcher asInverness Caledonian Thistle manager in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Terry Ian Butcher[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1958-12-28)28 December 1958 (age 66)[1][2] | ||
| Place of birth | Singapore[1][2] | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back,sweeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1986 | Ipswich Town | 271 | (16) |
| 1986–1990 | Rangers | 127 | (8) |
| 1990–1992 | Coventry City | 6 | (0) |
| 1992–1993 | Sunderland | 38 | (0) |
| 1994 | Clydebank | 3 | (0) |
| Total | 445 | (24) | |
| International career | |||
| 1979–1980 | England U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 1979 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| 1980–1990 | England | 77 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1990–1992 | Coventry City | ||
| 1993 | Sunderland | ||
| 2002–2006 | Motherwell | ||
| 2006–2007 | Sydney FC | ||
| 2007 | Partick Thistle (caretaker) | ||
| 2007 | Brentford | ||
| 2009–2013 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | ||
| 2013–2014 | Hibernian | ||
| 2015 | Newport County | ||
| 2018 | Philippines | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an Englishfootball manager and former player.
During his playing career as adefender, Butchercaptained theEngland national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that featured threeFIFA World Cups. Butcher also enjoyed success in his club career, particularly withIpswich Town andRangers. He has subsequently managed clubs in England, Scotland, Australia and Wales and also had a brief spell in charge of thePhilippines national team.
Born inSingapore, where his father was commissioned with theRoyal Navy, Butcher spent most of his childhood inLowestoft,Suffolk, where he attendedLowestoft Grammar School.[4] He turned down the chance to join theNorwich City youth team, as he was a fan ofEast Anglian rivals Ipswich Town. He joined thePortman Road club in August 1976 after a three-week trial.[5][6]
Butcher made his debut forIpswich Town againstEverton in the First Division on 15 April 1978 and over the next eight seasons would establish himself as the club's top central defender, combining leadership with great aerial ability and courage. This was soon noticed by England managerRon Greenwood who gave him his debut in a friendly againstAustralia in 1980.[7]
In 1981, Butcher was part of the Ipswich side that won theUEFA Cup underBobby Robson and came close to their firstLeague title since 1962, though they were pipped at the post byAston Villa.
Butcher was namedPlayer of the Year in 1985 and 1986, the latter season seeing Ipswich relegated to the Second Division.[8]
In 1986, Butcher left Ipswich when they were relegated, and became one of the first 'English invasion' players to join Scottish clubRangers following the appointment ofGraeme Souness as manager. Souness, the former Liverpool player, paid Ipswich £725,000 for him in July 1986.[9] As captain, he led them to three League titles in four seasons, plus twoScottish League Cups.[10]
In November 1987 he broke his leg during a Scottish Premier Division fixture againstAberdeen, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.[10] In April 1988 Butcher was convicted of disorderly conduct andbreach of the peace due to his behaviour inan Old Firm match in October 1987.[11] He was fined£250.[12] In October 1988 Butcher was the subject of a police investigation when he kicked the referee's room door off its hinges after a match atPittodrie. No criminal charges were brought, but theSFA fined Butcher £1500.[12] Butcher was the subject of a £1million bid fromManchester United in July 1988, but this was rejected by Rangers.[13]
His last Rangers game came in September 1990, in a 2–1 league defeat againstDundee United. He was partly responsible for both of the opposition's goals, leading to him being dropped from the side. In November 1990, he was approached byLeeds United, and came close to signing for theElland Road club, but was then offered job as player-manager ofCoventry City.[14]
Leeds United managerHoward Wilkinson was soon in talks with Graeme Souness about bringing Butcher back south of the border, but when Butcher did depart from Ibrox it was in a £400,000 deal to become player-manager ofCoventry City on 15 November 1990.[10] One of his first games as Coventry manager was against the Leeds side he had come close to signing for, holding them to a 1–1 league draw atHighfield Road on 24 November.[15] Other promising early results included a thrilling 5–4 home win over cup holdersNottingham Forest in theFootball League Cup fourth round on 28 November. However, their quest for the League Cup ended in the quarter-finals on 23 January 1991 when they were beaten 1–0 at home by eventual winnersSheffield Wednesday. Six days later theirFA Cup was ended in a fourth round replay defeat bySouthampton[16]
Butcher made six league appearances for the Sky Blues as they finished 16th in the1990–91 First Division and then retired as a player. In the1991–92 season, Coventry defeatedLuton Town 5–0 in their second league game and achieved a surprise 2–1 away win over defending league championsArsenal, as well as a 1–0 home win over local rivals Aston Villa-[17] to occupy sixth place in the league by the end of September, putting them ahead of more fancied teams includingLiverpool and Everton.[18] However, their form dropped over the next two months, and by the end of November they had fallen to 13th place.[19] A 2–1 home defeat byTottenham Hotspur on New Year's Day 1992 saw them enter the new year in 15th place, six points clear of the relegation zone.[20]
Butcher was dismissed on 6 January 1992 after just over a year as Coventry City manager, being replaced by his recently appointed assistantDon Howe.
Butcher re-registered himself as a player in August 1992, when he signed forSunderland – founder members of the new Division One, which was the second tier of English football following the creation of the newFAPremier League. He played 38 times for theWearside club in1992–93, becoming player-manager following the dismissal of managerMalcolm Crosby in January 1993 and securing their Division One survival by a single place. He never played again for the club and was sacked on 26 November 1993 after a disappointing start to the1993–94 season saw them battling relegation once again – with the battle being won under Butcher's successorMick Buxton.[21]
Butcher then played three games forClydebank before retiring as a player.
Butcher's performances for Ipswich were noticed byEngland managerRon Greenwood, who gave him his debut in a friendly againstAustralia on 31 May 1980, when he was 21 years old. He won his second cap 10 months later in a 2–1 defeat againstSpain (also a friendly).
Butcher was the youngest member of the back four that featured at the1982 World Cup in Spain. He became a regular member of the national side at this stage and remained England's first choice centre-back for the rest of the decade, playing in the1986 World Cup. In that tournament he played in thequarter final against Argentina in whichDiego Maradona passed five English players before scoring, a goal sometimes described as the'goal of the century'.[22]
A broken leg meant that Butcher was not in the England side that exited at the group stage of the1988 European Championship while manager Robson was forced to rely on an inexperienced defensive partnership ofTony Adams andMark Wright.
While playing for England in a vital World Cup qualifier againstSweden in Stockholm on 6 September 1989, Butcher suffered a deep cut to his forehead early in the game. Butcher had some impromptustitches inserted by thephysiotherapist and, swathed inbandages, continued playing.[23] His constant heading of the ball – unavoidable when playing in the centre of defence – disintegrated the bandages and reopened the cut to the extent that his white England shirt was red with blood by the end of the game.[24] The image is regarded as iconic.[25][26]
England made the semi-finals of the1990 World Cup with Butcher at the helm of a more-cautious back five (Butcher with Wright andDes Walker in the centre, plus full-backsStuart Pearce and – initially –Gary Stevens, laterPaul Parker); he also took over the captaincy after an injury endedBryan Robson's tournament prematurely. After the World Cup, Butcher retired from international football with 77 caps and three goals to his name over a period of 10 years.[27]
Butcher left Rangers on 15 November 1990 to become player-manager ofCoventry City (as successor toJohn Sillett). At one month short of 32 he was the youngest manager in the Football League on his appointment.
Under Sillett, Coventry had won the FA Cup in 1987 and finished as high as seventh in the First Division in 1989, but a dismal start to the 1990–91 season had seen Coventry fall back into the relegation battle that had been all too familiar occurrence at Highfield Road since Coventry first reached the top flight in 1967. With Butcher's appointment as manager, Coventry were intent on returning to their winning ways. Butcher steered Coventry to 16th place and safety in 1990–91, and they entered 1992 in 13th place, but he was sacked as manager on 6 January 1992.
Butcher had played six league games for Coventry in the 1990–91 season before announcing his retirement as a player.
In February 1993, Butcher was named manager of Sunderland, re-registering himself as a player two years after his last game. He achieved survival at the end of the 1992–93 season, but was sacked the following December.
In October 2001, Butcher became assistant to Eric Black atMotherwell in theScottish Premier League, taking over from Black a year later as the club was forced to deal with severe financial difficulties.[citation needed] Motherwell reached the2005 Scottish League Cup Final, where his old team Rangers defeated them 5–1.
After being linked for several weeks with a possible move toSydney FC, Butcher was announced as their new head coach on 17 May 2006,[28] signing a two-year contract. On 7 February 2007, he was sacked after the club were knocked out of the finals series with a 3–2 aggregate loss to theNewcastle Jets.[29]
On 30 March 2007, Butcher was appointed as assistant coach atPartick Thistle.[30] However, this was a short lived appointment as he became the manager ofBrentford on 24 April 2007[31] (he officially took up the role on 7 May 2007).
After a poor run of results, including only 5 wins in 23 matches, and under increasing pressure from the fans who had been chanting the name of former bossMartin Allen, he left Brentford on 11 December 2007.[32]
Butcher was named asGeorge Burley's assistant in 2008 during Scotland'sWorld Cup 2010 qualifying campaign. Butcher still harboured resentment for Maradona'sHand of God goal against England 22 years earlier. So in the days leading up to a friendly against Argentina, managed by Diego Maradona, Butcher's views on Maradona were a talking point in the media. Butcher said in interviews that Maradona was a cheat and a liar, and he would be happy to see him lose. Scotland lost the game 1–0. When Maradona was asked about what Butcher had said about him, he replied "Who is Butcher?"[33]
In November 2009 George Burley was sacked as Scotland manager and at the same time Butcher left by mutual consent.
On 27 January 2009, Butcher was appointed manager ofInverness Caledonian Thistle, signing an 18-month contract while also continuing his role as assistant manager toGeorge Burley for the Scotland national team.[34] Butcher was joined in Inverness byMaurice Malpas as his assistant manager. In May 2009, Inverness were relegated from the Scottish Premier League. After a bad start to the 2009–10First Division league campaign, Butcher managed to turn things around for Inverness. By the end of March, Butcher had guided his club from 16 points behind league leaders Dundee, to four points ahead and top of the Scottish First Division. He was awarded the "Irn Bru Phenomenal" manager of the month award for March.[35] Inverness won the Irn Bru First Division on 21 April after Dundee were beaten 1–0 by Raith Rovers clinching Inverness's return to the Scottish Premier League. As of 2025, Butcher was the last manager in the club to lead the team to promotion.
As part of the push for promotion in 2009–10, ICT went on an unbeaten away run in the league that continued through the entire 2010 calendar year, culminating in a 1–1 draw against Hearts atTynecastle on 18 December.[36] In April 2010 his contract was extended to the end of the 2011–12 season.[37] In the SPL 2010–11 season, the club finished seventh, only narrowly missing out on a top six finish. Butcher was inducted to theScottish Football Hall of Fame in November 2011.[38]
In the 2012–13 season Butcher received amanager of the month award for a second time in November, along with two Inverness playersAaron Doran andBilly McKay,[39] having receiving it for October in the 2010–11 season.[40] This was explained due to winning three matches (including away toCeltic)[41] and drawing another, despite the other fixture in the month being a 5–1 defeat to Motherwell[42] and he led the club into second place by the end of 2012. Butcher expressed his delight with the club staying in second place and also his pleasure with the defenders, who were becoming more prominent than his free-scoring forward line.[43]
In January 2013, Butcher rejected an offer to manageBarnsley,[44] having been linked to succeedKeith Hill.[45] After rejecting Barnsley, Butcher explained that one of his reasons for staying was his belief that the club could make history[46] and that he was happy to continue his stay in Scotland.[47] His decision to stay was greeted with relief by defenderDaniel Devine, who had signed for the club earlier that month.[48]
Butcher's efforts in guiding Inverness to their top six finish were recognised when he was nominated in the four-man shortlist forPFA Scotland Manager of the Year.[49]
On 5 November 2013, Inverness confirmed that they had received an official approach from fellowPremiership sideHibernian to replace former managerPat Fenlon with Butcher.[50] On 11 November, Hibernian reached a compensation deal with Inverness for Terry Butcher to move to the club, alongside assistant manager Maurice Malpas.[51] Butcher agreed to a three-year contract, and his appointment was confirmed by the club on 12 November.[52]
A week after Butcher's departure, Inverness supporters responded to his departure with "Terry who?" in the match against St Johnstone.[53] On 2 January 2014, Butcher won the firstEdinburgh derby of his managerial career, as they won 2–1.[54] Butcher failed to sign any players in mid-January until signingDaniel Boateng,Danny Haynes andDuncan Watmore on the last day of the transfer window.[55][56]
As the months progressed, Hibernian's results went badly. His predecessor, Pat Fenlon, had left the team in a mid-table position, but a series of bad performances led to Butcher apologising and supporters describing his tactics as "gutless", "passionless" and "clueless".[57][58] Hibernian dropped to the bottom half in the league, putting them at risk of relegation.[59] Defeats in the bottom half for Hibernian led Butcher to cancel players' day-off.[60] Further defeats to Ross County and Kilmarnock placed Hibernian eleventh place and facing the play-offs to keep their Premiership place.[61]
On 25 May 2014 Hibernian were relegated to the Scottish Championship, losing a two-leg playoff againstHamilton Academical.[62] After the match, Butcher described Hibernian relegation as his "darkest day in football".[63] Butcher was criticised byJames McPake, who Butcher replaced as captain withLiam Craig, for not selecting him to play despite being fit.[64][65] After a meeting with new chief executiveLeeann Dempster to discuss Hibs' future plans, Butcher was sacked by the club on 10 June 2014.[66] There were also rumours of Butcher losing the dressing room and then asking players to leave the club in the January transfer window, only to use them to help the club survive relegation.[67]
Butcher interviewed for the vacant managerial position at Motherwell in December 2014, but then asked not to be considered for the position.[68]
On 30 April 2015 Butcher was appointed manager of Welsh clubNewport County inLeague Two on a two-year contract.[69] He took up the role at the end of the 2014–15 season in preparation for the following season, but was sacked on 1 October 2015 with Newport bottom of League Two after gaining just five points from the first ten matches of the season.[70]
On 14 June 2018, Butcher was announced as the new head coach of thePhilippines.[71] In 2016, he almost got appointed as head coach ofGlobal Cebu which was set to play in the inaugural edition of thePhilippines Football League, but the club favoured Japanese coachToshiaki Imai instead.[72] He was due to lead the Philippines national team in the2019 AFC Asian Cup,[73] but on 2 August 2018, he announced that he will not take the role as head coach of the national team because he did not believe the system is in place for his time in charge of the Philippines to be successful.[74] His assistant coach,Scott Cooper took over his post and take charge of the team's 2019 Asian Cup preparations.[75]
On 26 July 2019 it was confirmed, that Butcher had joined the coaching staff of Chinese clubGuangzhou R&F to help fix the teams leaky defence. He was hired as a defensive coach.[76]
In February 2020 it was announced that Butcher would be taking up a new role with Ipswich Town, primarily working with the club's academy whilst also having some involvement with the first-team,[77] but he left the club again in July 2021.[78]
 | This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Terry Butcher" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
While living in Suffolk Butcher had a chain of insurance brokers which were later acquired by theNorwich and Peterborough Building Society. Butcher has appeared as a pundit for England matches onBBC Radio 5 Live,Europa League matches onFive and onSetanta Sports' SPL coverage. Butcher also worked forBBC Sport during the2006 World Cup.
Butcher consistently raised concerns over the sum impact ofDavid Beckham's performances for and involvement with the England national football team, most notably during discussions concerning team and squad selection questions for the 2006 World Cup andEuro 2008 qualification campaign.[79][80]
Butcher has worked as an English co-commentator forPro Evolution Soccer andISS Pro Evolution video games[81]
Butcher was married in 1980 and has a house inBawdsey. His parents, as well as wife Rita's, still live in Suffolk.[82][6] Of his three sons, Christopher who achieved the rank ofCaptain in theRoyal Artillery served in both Iraq and in Afghanistan.[83] Christopher died in October 2017, aged 35, while suffering fromPTSD.[83][84] Butcher is the Patron of Combat2Coffee (appointed in June 2024) a not for profit company, that supports veterans and their families.[84] Butcher is a cousin of the Scottish retired footballerPat Nevin.[85]
He is a fan of heavy metal bandIron Maiden[86] and is friends with bassist and founding memberSteve Harris. He is a supporter of theConservative Party.[82]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ipswich Town | 1977–78 | First Division | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 1978–79 | First Division | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 2 | |||
| 1979–80 | First Division | 36 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 2 | |
| 1980–81 | First Division | 40 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 64 | 6 | |
| 1981–82 | First Division | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 1 | |
| 1982–83 | First Division | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 1 | |
| 1983–84 | First Division | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 1 | |||
| 1984–85 | First Division | 42 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 56 | 2 | |||
| 1985–86 | First Division | 27 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 34 | 6 | |||
| Total | 272 | 16 | 28 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 20 | 3 | 352 | 21 | ||
| Rangers | 1986–87 | Scottish Premier Division | 43 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 55 | 2 |
| 1987–88 | Scottish Premier Division | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 1 | |
| 1988–89 | Scottish Premier Division | 34 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 51 | 3 | |
| 1989–90 | Scottish Premier Division | 34 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 3 | |
| 1990–91 | Scottish Premier Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | |
| Total | 127 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 176 | 10 | ||
| Coventry City | 1990–91 | First Division | 6 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1991–92 | First Division | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| Total | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Sunderland | 1992–93 | First Division | 38 | 0 | ||||||||
| Clydebank | 1994-95 | Scottish First Division | 3 | 0 | ||||||||
| Career total | 446 | 24 | ||||||||||
| Team | League (s) | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||||
| Coventry City | English Division One | 14 November 1990 | 6 January 1992 | 60 | 20 | 14 | 26 | 033.33 | |
| Sunderland | Championship | 5 February 1993 | 26 November 1993 | 43 | 13 | 8 | 22 | 030.23 | |
| Motherwell | Scottish Premier League | 24 April 2002 | 17 May 2006 | 175 | 60 | 37 | 78 | 034.29 | |
| Sydney | Australian A-League | 17 May 2006 | 8 February 2007 | 23 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 039.13 | |
| Brentford | English League Two | 7 May 2007 | 11 December 2007 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 021.74 | |
| Inverness CT | Scottish First Division Scottish Premiership | 27 January 2009 | 11 November 2013 | 208 | 86 | 57 | 65 | 041.35 | |
| Hibernian | Scottish Premiership | 12 November 2013 | 10 June 2014 | 29 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 020.69 | |
| Newport County | English League Two | 2 May 2015 | 1 October 2015 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 008.33 | |
| Total | 571 | 200 | 140 | 231 | 035.03 | ||||
Ipswich Town
Rangers[10]
Individual
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Individual
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)England squads | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Terry Butcher managerial positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
