Malcolm Butler (Irish footballer)

{{Short description|Northern Irish footballer (1913–1987)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Malcolm Butler

| fullname = Malcolm Partridge Butler

| birth_date = {{birth date|1913|08|06|df=y}}

| birth_place = Belfast, Northern Ireland

| death_date = December 1987 (age 74)

| position = Full Back

| height = 5 ft 8 in{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-dispatch-football-guide-1936-vi-d/134505593/ |title=Blackpool. Brightest chances for three years: seasoned recruits |newspaper=Sunday Dispatch Football Guide |location=London |date=23 August 1936 |page=vi |via=Newspapers.com}}

| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Elmgrove

| years1 = –1935 |clubs1 = Belfast Celtic | caps1 = | goals1 =

| years2 = 1935–1939 | clubs2 = Blackpool | caps2 = 25 | goals2 = 0

| years3 = 1947–1948 | clubs3 = Accrington Stanley| caps3 = 32 | goals3 = 0

| totalcaps = 57| totalgoals = 0

| nationalyears1 = 1939| nationalteam1 = Ireland| nationalcaps1 = 1| nationalgoals1 = 0

}}

Malcolm Partridge Butler (6 August 1913 – December 1987) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a full-back in The Football League for Blackpool and Accrington Stanley. He also won one cap for Ireland.

Club career

Belfast-born Butler left Belfast Celtic to sign for Blackpool in January 1935.{{cite book|first=Barry|last=Hugman|title=The PFA Premier and Football League Players' Records 1946-2005|year=2005|publisher=Queen Anne Press}} His four-year career with the club was ended by the outbreak of the Second World War.

During the war he guested for both Chelsea and Brighton, playing around his time as a Flight-Lieutenant navigator in the Royal Air Force.

In July 1947 he signed with Accrington Stanley, and captained the club to a sixth-place finish in the Football League Third Division North before retiring in May 1948.

International career

On 15 March 1939, he played for Ireland in their 3–1 defeat to Wales.{{cite web|url=http://nifootball.blogspot.com/2006/07/malcolm-butler.html|title=Malcolm Butler|date=31 July 2006|work=nifootball.blogspot.com|accessdate=28 September 2010}} It was the country's last match before World War II.

Post-retirement

After leaving the game he became a licensee in Blackpool.

References