Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player.
During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that featured three FIFA World Cups. He is acknowledged as one of the players Diego Maradona dribbled in the Goal of the Century. Butcher also enjoyed success in his club career, particularly with Ipswich Town and Rangers. He has subsequently managed clubs in England, Scotland, Australia and Wales and also had a brief spell in charge of the Philippines national team.
Early life Born in Singapore, where his father was commissioned with the Royal Navy, Butcher spent most of his childhood in Lowestoft, Suffolk, where he attended Lowestoft Grammar School. He turned down the chance to join the Norwich City youth team, as he was a fan of East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town. He joined the Portman Road club in August 1976 after a three-week trial.
Club career Ipswich Town Butcher made his debut for Ipswich Town against Everton 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 manager Ron Greenwood who gave him his debut in a friendly against Australia in 1980.
In 1981, Butcher was part of the Ipswich side that won the UEFA Cup under Bobby Robson and came close to their first League title since 1962, though they were pipped at the post by Aston Villa.
Butcher was named Player of the Year in 1985 and 1986, the latter season seeing Ipswich relegated to the Second Division.
Rangers In 1986, Butcher left Ipswich when they were relegated, and became one of the first 'English invasion' players to join Scottish club Rangers following the appointment of Graeme Souness as manager. Souness, the former Liverpool player, paid Ipswich £725,000 for him in July 1986. As captain, he led them to three League titles in four seasons, plus two Scottish League Cups.
In November 1987 he broke his leg during a Scottish Premier Division fixture against Aberdeen, which ruled him out for the rest of the season. In April 1988 Butcher was convicted of disorderly conduct and breach of the peace due to his behaviour in an Old Firm match in October 1987.Old Firm old boys prove popular BBC News, 16 January 2001 He was fined £250. 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 at Pittodrie. No criminal charges were brought, but the SFA fined Butcher £1500.Crimes of unsporting passion The Herald, 11 May 1995 Butcher was the subject of a £1million bid from Manchester United in July 1988, but this was rejected by Rangers.
Butcher's final game for Rangers came in September 1990, in a 2–1 league defeat against Dundee 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 by Leeds United, and came close to signing for the Elland Road club, but was then offered job as player-manager of Coventry City.
Coventry City Leeds United manager Howard 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 of Coventry City on 15 November 1990. 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 at Highfield Road on 24 November. Other promising early results included a thrilling 5–4 home win over cup holders Nottingham Forest in the Football 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 winners Sheffield Wednesday. Six days later their FA Cup was ended in a fourth round replay defeat by Southampton
Butcher made six league appearances for the Sky Blues as they finished 16th in the 1990–91 First Division and then retired as a player. In the 1991–92 season, Coventry defeated Luton Town 5–0 in their second league game and achieved a surprise 2–1 away win over defending league champions Arsenal, as well as a 1–0 home win over local rivals Aston Villa- to occupy sixth place in the league by the end of September, putting them ahead of more fancied teams including Liverpool and Everton. However, their form dropped over the next two months, and by the end of November they had fallen to 13th place. A 2–1 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on New Year's Day 1992 saw them enter the new year in 15th place, six points clear of the relegation zone.
Butcher was dismissed on 6 January 1992 after just over a year as Coventry City manager, being replaced by his recently appointed assistant Don Howe.
Later career Butcher re-registered himself as a player in August 1992, when he signed for Sunderland – founder members of the new Division One, which was the second tier of English football following the creation of the new FA Premier League. He played 38 times for the Wearside club in 1992–93, becoming player-manager following the dismissal of manager Malcolm 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 the 1993–94 season saw them battling relegation once again – with the battle being won under Butcher's successor Mick Buxton.
Butcher then played three games for Clydebank before retiring as a player.
International career
Butcher's performances for Ipswich were noticed by England manager Ron Greenwood, who gave him his debut in a friendly against Australia on 31 May 1980, when he was 21 years old. He won his second cap 10 months later in a 2–1 defeat against Spain (also a friendly).
Butcher was the youngest member of the back four that featured at the 1982 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 the 1986 World Cup. In that tournament he played in the quarter final against Argentina in which Diego Maradona passed five English players before scoring, a goal sometimes described as the 'goal of the century'.
A broken leg meant that Butcher was not in the England side that exited at the group stage of the 1988 European Championship while manager Robson was forced to rely on an inexperienced defensive partnership of Tony Adams and Mark Wright.
While playing for England in a vital World Cup qualifier against Sweden in Stockholm on 6 September 1989, Butcher suffered a deep cut to his forehead early in the game. Butcher had some impromptu stitches inserted by the physiotherapist and, swathed in bandages, continued playing. 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. The image is regarded as iconic.
England made the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup with Butcher at the helm of a more-cautious back five (Butcher with Wright and Des Walker in the centre, plus full-backs Stuart Pearce and – initially – Gary Stevens, later Paul Parker); he also took over the captaincy after an injury ended Bryan 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.
Managerial career Coventry City Butcher left Rangers on 15 November 1990 to become player-manager of Coventry City (as successor to John 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.
Sunderland 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.
Motherwell In October 2001, Butcher became assistant to Eric Black at Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League, taking over from Black a year later as the club was forced to deal with severe financial difficulties. Motherwell reached the 2005 Scottish League Cup Final, where his old team Rangers defeated them 5–1.
Sydney After being linked for several weeks with a possible move to Sydney FC, Butcher was announced as their new head coach on 17 May 2006, 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 the Newcastle Jets.
Brentford On 30 March 2007, Butcher was appointed as assistant coach at Partick Thistle."Butcher takes Partick coach role" BBC Sport, 30 March 2007 However, this was a short lived appointment as he became the manager of Brentford on 24 April 2007 (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 boss Martin Allen, he left Brentford on 11 December 2007."Boss Butcher leaves Brentford job" BBC Sport, 11 December 2007
Scotland national team Butcher was named as George Burley's assistant in 2008 during Scotland's World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign. Butcher still harboured resentment for Maradona's Hand 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?"
In November 2009 George Burley was sacked as Scotland manager and at the same time Butcher left by mutual consent.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
On 27 January 2009, Butcher was appointed manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, signing an 18-month contract while also continuing his role as assistant manager to George Burley for the Scotland national team. Butcher was joined in Inverness by Maurice Malpas as his assistant manager. In May 2009, Inverness were relegated from the Scottish Premier League. After a bad start to the 2009–10 First 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. Inverness won the Irn Bru First Division on 21 April 2020, after Dundee were beaten 1–0 by Raith Rovers clinching Inverness's return to the Scottish Premier League. He was the last manager to be promoted with Inverness until 2026 where Scott Kellacher helped his club to promotion from Scottish League One to the Scottish Championship.