John Butler - Player Profile
| Full Name: | John Edward Butler |
| Born: | 07/02/1962 (age 63) |
| Place of Birth: | Liverpool |
| Nationality: | England |
| Position: | Defence |
| First Team Debut: | 24/04/1982 v Rochdale (H) - Football League Division Four |
| Signed: | 15/01/1982 |
| Re Signed: | 17/06/1995 |
John was spotted by Harry McNally playing for Prescot Cables and Latics signed him on 15th January 1982. He made his Latics League debut on 24th April 1982 against Rochdale at Springfield Park, a game that resulted in a 1-1 draw. This was to be his only appearance that season, in which incidentally, Latics won their first ever Football league promotion under Larry Lloyd.
From the following season onwards he was a virtual ever present in the team during which time he made 238+7 League appearances during which he netted 15 League goals He left Springfield Park on 23rd December 1988 and signed for Stoke City for a fee of £75,000 at a time when Latics were selling all their outstanding talent in a bid to pay off crippling debts. After seven years at the Victoria Ground he returned to Latics on 17th June 1995 and he played a further 51+3 League games for the Blues, scoring once.
John was voted the club’s Player of the Year at the end of season 1983/84. He was the sixth player to ever win the award.
A bit of John Butler trivia – did you know that ‘Spider’ played in every single position (including goalkeeper) whilst at Springfield Park? He had a seven minute stint between the sticks against Bury in a Freight Rover Trophy encounter on 2nd April 1985 following an injury picked up by Roy Tunks.
Wigan Athletic Career
| League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 1996-1997 | 20 (4) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 22 (4) | 0 | |
| 1995-1996 | 32 (0) | 1 | 3 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 39 (0) | 1 | |
| 1988-1989 | 20 (0) | 3 | 1 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 24 (0) | 3 | |
| 1987-1988 | 23 (3) | 1 | 2 (0) | 1 | 4 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 31 (3) | 2 | |
| 1986-1987 | 35 (1) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 40 (1) | 0 | |
| 1985-1986 | 37 (0) | 1 | 5 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 48 (0) | 1 | |
| 1984-1985 | 45 (0) | 3 | 4 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 6 (0) | 0 | 59 (0) | 3 | |
| 1983-1984 | 41 (0) | 3 | 4 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 48 (0) | 3 | |
| 1982-1983 | 37 (3) | 4 | 2 (0) | 1 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 40 (4) | 5 | |
| 1981-1982 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 291 (11) | 16 | 24 (0) | 2 | 18 (1) | 0 | 19 (0) | 0 | 352 (12) | 18 | |
