No surprise I guess and best wishes to him.
Hopefully he will continue to progress as a coach and as we seem to now have close links to Havant we may get him back one day? There seems little doubt that he could make a great contribution to bringing youngsters through
Butters to bring experience to Westleigh Park
Thu May 29, 2008 : 16:58
Shaun Gale today sealed a deal that will see local football legend Guy Butters come to Westleigh Park next season. The vastly experienced defender played 26 games for League One side Brighton and Hove Albion last season, and has been enticed to the Hawks to begin his non-league career ahead of interest from other local sides including Eastleigh.
“He’ll bring a wealth of experience to our defence,” Gale said this afternoon,
“We’ve got a reasonably young side at the back now so adding Guy to that mix will give us someone with know how and leadership qualities. He’s 38 but fit, and keeps himself fit. Last season he played 26 games for a successful Brighton side and his pedigree speaks for itself.”
Butters started out as a trainee at Tottenham Hotspur in 1988, making 38 appearances before moving to Portsmouth in 1990 after a loan spell at Southend. Pompey paid £375,000 for his services, and the defender went on to make 186 appearances for the side over six seasons before moving on to Gillingham in another six figure transfer deal in October 1996.
With the Gills he stayed another six seasons, making 193 appearances and scoring 17 goals before transferring to Brighton in August 2002 to start a third six season stint with a league club. At Brighton he broke the 200 game mark, playing 212 games in all competitions until retiring from the professional game in May, with a total of 659 matches under his belt.
At 6’ 3” Butters is yet another towering summer signing, something Gale is enthusiastic about in his new look Hawks squad;
“He’s a big strong lad and he’ll add to what we’ve got. Not having a physical presence at the back is where we came unstuck last season, but I’ve now got six out and out defenders in the side and every one is over six feet tall. Alongside Butters, Ian Simpemba and Jay Gasson are both 6’ 4”. Not only that but they’re proven footballers and they’ve played at a higher level.
“We’ve assembled an exciting squad, with possibly one more name to come, and I’m looking forward to working with them when we start training.”
Excellent signing. He could have easily done another year at the top end of league two and as a squad member for us. Good luck to him, became my favourite player as his time with us went on.