Dennis Butler

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Dennis Butler
Personal information
Full name Dennis Anthony Butler [1]
Date of birth (1944-06-24) 24 June 1944 (age 79) [1]
Place of birth Atherton, England [1]
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1959–1968 Bolton Wanderers 65 (11)
1968–1973 Rochdale 156 (36)
Total221(47)
Managerial career
1978–1979 Port Vale
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former professional football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968 before ending his playing career following five years at Rochdale. Later, when he worked as a coach and assistant manager, he spent an unsuccessful time as Port Vale manager between 1978 and 1979.

Contents

Playing career

Dennis played for Leigh Grammar School and Atherton Schoolboys before joining Bolton Wanderers at 15 in 1959. He spent nine years with the club, racking up 65 appearances. Dennis made his debut under Bill Ridding in December 1963 at Aston Villa. The following week, he made a winning Burnden Park debut against the great Tottenham Hotspur side before scoring his first league goal at Arsenal in January 1964. At the end of the 1963–64 season, the "Trotters" were relegated out of the First Division. He was an ever-present until a bad cartilage injury in October 1964 kept him out of football for nearly a year. Butler made occasional appearances for Bolton before moving on to Rochdale in 1968, who won promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1968–69. He was signed by Bob Stokoe and spent over six years with Rochdale, playing 156 league games and scoring 36 goals before his early retirement as a player in 1973.

Managerial career

Following his retirement as a player, he coached at Rochdale and Bury. [2] He was made assistant manager at Port Vale under Bobby Smith in November 1977. [2] After Smith's departure to Swindon Town, he became manager for the 1978–79 season. [2] The "Valiants" finished 16th in the Fourth Division, and later, he left by mutual consent in August 1979. [2] He had signed popular player Bernie Wright from Bradford City for £9,000, However, most of his big money signings had torrid times at Vale Park. [2] He signed right-back Neil Wilkinson (free), Ken Todd (a club-record £37,000 signing despite only having made a handful of appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers), Gerry Keenan (£15,000), Felix Healy (£8,000), Kevin Tully (£3,000 plus Neil Wilkinson), Andy Proudlove (£1,000), Peter Farrell (breaking the club-record again at £40,000), and Bob Delgado (£30,000). [2] To finance these signings, he sold John Froggatt (£8,000), Mick Moore (£2,000), Terry Bailey (£2,000), Ken Beamish (£35,000), and John Ridley (£55,000). [2] After his team were booed he called the fans 'a bunch of yobs'. [2] Vale recorded a £52,000 loss despite a remarkable £225,000 income from the club's commercial department. [2] Butler's transfer dealings had lost the club £36,000, whilst wages more than doubled from £113,000 to £259,000. [2] After leaving Burslem, Butler then reunited with Bobby Smith at Swindon, becoming the first-team coach before retiring from football in 1980. [2]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [3]
ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupOther [lower-alpha 1] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bolton Wanderers 1962–63 First Division 1641000174
1963–64 First Division1430010153
1964–65 Second Division 921100102
1965–66 Second Division2120011223
1966–67 Second Division40000040
1967–68 Second Division10000010
Total651121216913
Rochdale 1967–68 Fourth Division 1520000152
1968–69 Fourth Division461620104916
1969–70 Third Division 441010124612
1970–71 Third Division3083110349
1971–72 Third Division1800030210
1972–73 Third Division30001040
Total15636617216939
Career total22147829323852

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamFromToRecord
PWDLWin %
Port Vale [4] 17 May 197830 August 197949141421028.6
Total49141421028.6

Honours

Rochdale

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The 1978–79 season was Port Vale's 67th season of football in the Football League, and their first season back in the Fourth Division following their relegation from the Third Division. Bernie Wright was highly impressive with his fifteen goals, though the rest of the team limped to a sixteenth-place finish, and exited both cup competitions at the first stage. This occurred with unrest in the boardroom behind the scenes, unrest amongst fans on the terraces, and annoyance from Butler towards the fans for abusing his players. Butler broke club transfer-records in both signing players and selling them.

The 1979–80 season was Port Vale's 68th season of football in the Football League, and their second-successive season in the Fourth Division. One of the club's worst ever seasons, Vale finished twentieth in the league and exited both cup competitions at the first stage. They also lost a tremendous amount of money. There was also a managerial merry-go-round, with Dennis Butler replaced by Alan Bloor, who was in turn replaced by John McGrath, with Bill Bentley also spending a short period as caretaker manager.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 49. ISBN   0952915200.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Kent, Jeff (1990). "Surviving on a Shoestring (1969–1979)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 227–257. ISBN   0-9508981-4-7.
  3. ↑ Dennis Butler at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  4. ↑ Dennis Butler management career statistics at Soccerbase
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