Lee Butcher

Lee Anthony Butcher (born 11 October 1988) is an English former professional footballer who last played for Tilbury as a goalkeeper. He started his career as a youth player at Norwich City and Arsenal, before moving to Tottenham Hotspur following his release in 2007. After loan spells with a number of non-League clubs, he joined League One club Leyton Orient on loan on 14 October 2009, and signed for Orient on a permanent basis in May 2010.

Lee Butcher
Personal information
Full name Lee Anthony Butcher
Date of birth (1988-10-11) 11 October 1988
Place of birth Waltham Forest, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
199?–199? Norwich City
199?–2007 Arsenal
2007–2008 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0)
2008 → AFC Wimbledon (loan) 5 (0)
2008 → Margate (loan) 4 (0)
2008–2009 → Grays Athletic (loan) 0 (0)
2009 → St Albans City (loan) 6 (0)
2009 → Grays Athletic (loan) 3 (0)
2009 → Grays Athletic (loan) 5 (0)
2009 → Leyton Orient (loan) 0 (0)
2010–2013 Leyton Orient 32 (0)
2013–2016 Welling United 42 (0)
2016–2017 Tilbury 34 (0)
Total 131 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Early career

Born in Waltham Forest, Butcher grew up in Chingford.[2] He started his youth career with Norwich City as a schoolboy before joining Arsenal at the age of 10, and aged 15 he was voted the Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the Cannes Football Festival of 2004.[3] He was released from Arsenal in May 2007 and had trials with Leeds United and Wycombe Wanderers.[3] After playing a number of pre-season friendlies for Tottenham Hotspur reserves and under-18s he eventually signed for the club.[3]

Club career

During the 2007–08 season, Butcher made 11 appearances for the Tottenham Hotspur reserve team.[2] In January 2008, he was loaned out to Isthmian League Premier Division club AFC Wimbledon,[4] making his debut against Maidstone United in their 2–1 win on 5 January.[5] He went on to make a total of seven appearances in all competitions.[6] In September 2008, Butcher joined Margate on loan where he made four appearances during September and October.[7] He then joined Grays Athletic in late December 2008,[8] but did not make an appearance for the first team. St Albans City signed Butcher on loan in March 2009,[9] where he made six appearances in the Conference South.[10] Butcher rejoined Grays toward the end of the 2008–09 season,[11] and made his debut in the Conference National for Grays on 18 April in the 2–0 defeat at Altrincham.[12] Butcher made three appearances for Grays before returning to Tottenham at the end of the season.[13]

In July 2009, Butcher signed another one-year contract with Tottenham.[14] He then re-joined Grays Athletic, during the following 2009–10 season, on a one-month loan deal on 1 September,[15] where he made a further five appearances in the Conference National.[13] On 14 October, he signed on loan for League One club Leyton Orient as cover for Glenn Morris after Jamie Jones suffered an injury.[16] Butcher returned to Tottenham on 17 November, having not made a first-team appearance for Leyton Orient.[17]

After the end of the 2009–10 season, he signed for Leyton Orient on a one-year contract following his release from Tottenham in May 2010.[18] He made his League debut as a substitute in the 1–1 draw at Oldham Athletic on 2 October, after Jones again suffered an injury.[19] After making ten appearances in all competitions, he lost his place when Jason Brown was brought in on loan in late November.[20] He remained on the bench until 25 April 2011, when a further Jones injury brought him back into the first team for the trip to Carlisle United. Butcher saved a penalty in the eighth minute, and Orient won 1–0.[21] He returned to the first team at the beginning of the 2011–12 season due to another Jones injury, and saved two penalties in Orient's 4–3 penalty shoot-out victory over Southend United on 9 August.[22] After establishing himself in the first team in Jones' absence, Butcher suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in an awkward fall in the 3–1 defeat at home to Scunthorpe United on 18 February 2012, missing the remainder of the season.[23] He never returned to the first team through further injury, and after 38 appearances in all competitions, he was released by Orient on 30 April 2013.[24]

Butcher joined Conference National side Welling United in August 2013 to provide cover for the injured Sam Mott. He later joined Tilbury, making 43 appearances in all competitions,[25] but left in order to concentrate on his main job, working on the London Underground.[26]

References
  1. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline. p. 485. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
  2. "Biography: Lee Butcher". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  3. "Lee Butcher". Flown From the Nest. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  4. "Butcher on loan". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  5. "Brown borrows Spurs keeper". Non-League Daily. 7 January 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  6. "Player profile: Lee Butcher". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  7. "Loan deals for young keepers". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  8. "Grays strengthen goalkeeper department". Non-League Daily. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  9. "Saints borrow young Spurs keeper". Non-League Daily. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  10. "Lee Butcher profile". St Albans City F.C. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  11. "Grays take Butcher on loan". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  12. "Fixtures/Results: Altrincham 2 – 0 Grays". Soccerbase. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  13. "Players: Lee Butcher". Soccerbase. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  14. Ley, John (10 July 2009). "Spurs sign former Arsenal youngster Anton Blackwood". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 July 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  15. "Butcher loaned to Grays". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  16. "Orient land Spurs keeper". Sky Sports. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  17. "Butcher heads back". Sky Sports. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  18. "Leyton Orient to sign Tottenham goalkeeper Lee Butcher". BBC Sport. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  19. "Oldham 1–1 Leyton Orient". BBC Sport. 2 October 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  20. Davies, Trevor (20 November 2010). "Brown makes debut for Orient". Newham Recorder. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  21. "Carlisle United 0 Leyton Orient 1". BBC Sport. 25 April 2011.
  22. "Southend United 1–1 (3–4) Leyton Orient". BBC Sport. 9 August 2011.
  23. "Butcher facing long spell out". Leyton Orient F.C. 20 February 2012.
  24. "Six players released". Vital Football. 30 April 2013.
  25. "Lee Butcher – First Team – Tilbury". Tilbury FC. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  26. "Lee Butcher – Going Underground". PFA. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
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