Nicholas Butt (born 21 January 1975) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently the head of first-team development at Manchester United. He is also a co-owner and chief executive officer of Salford City.
He played professional football as a midfielder from 1992 to 2011. He began his career with Manchester United and spent 12 years in their first-team, winning six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, four FA Community Shields, the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup, before moving to Newcastle United in 2004. He spent one season on loan to Birmingham City in 2005–06. He finished his career abroad, playing for South China where he won the Hong Kong League Cup.
Butt earned 39 caps for England between 1997 and 2004. He was chosen for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2004.
Club career
Manchester United
Born in Gorton, Manchester, Butt began his career at Manchester United as an important part of their youth team before turning professional in 1993.
He made his first-team debut in the 1992–93 season as a substitute against Oldham Athletic in a 3–0 Premier League win on 21 November 1992, but did not get his big break in the team until the 1994–95 season, often covering for Roy Keane in the event of injuries and suspension. One of his first appearances for the first team came in the FA Cup semi-final on 10 April 1994, also against Oldham as a substitute, this time in a 1–1 draw at Wembley Stadium. United won the replay 4–1 at Maine Road but he was not included in the squad. 1994–95 saw Butt play 35 games in all competitions, scoring one goal and featuring in the starting eleven for the FA Cup final, which United lost to Everton.
With the departure of Paul Ince to Internazionale in the 1995 close season, manager Alex Ferguson chose to draft in Butt as Ince's successor in midfield alongside Roy Keane. Butt was part of a notable batch of talented, young Manchester United players dubbed Fergie's Fledglings, who had mostly been involved in United's FA Youth Cup-winning triumph of 1992 and gradually been introduced into the first team over the next few seasons. Others included David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes – who all spent a decade or more in the Old Trafford team's first team and helped the club win numerous major trophies as the dominant force in English football.
Butt performed remarkably in his early seasons as a regular first team player at United, and often started in the lineup, scoring crucial goals, such as against Liverpool in Eric Cantona's comeback match in October 1995, and forcing Nigel Winterburn to concede an own goal for the winner against Arsenal in November 1996 – a game which saw the end of a three-match losing run in the league. Butt also functioned as a steady replacement for Roy Keane as the midfield ball winner, while Keane was injured for much of the 1997–98 season, earning a PFA Team of the Year award that year. However, Keane returned and after forward Paul Scholes was re-deployed as a midfielder around the end of the 1990s. Butt's first-team chances started to become increasingly limited, with many of his appearances coming from the bench from this stage onwards.
Butt still went on to collect many honours at United, as the club capped their domination of the 1990s with a remarkable and unique treble win in 1999 (with Butt playing the whole of the Champions League Final due to Roy Keane being suspended), and several more titles in the years up till 2001. By the time of his departure from Old Trafford, Butt had gained six Premier League title winner's medals, three FA Cup winner's medals and a Champions League winner's medal. He had also collected an FA Cup runners-up medal in 1995.
Newcastle United
Butt handed in a transfer request in January 2004, but turned down a proposed move to Birmingham City during the January transfer window. He was signed by Bobby Robson for Newcastle United in July 2004 for a fee of £2.5 million on a four-year deal, where he was seen as a replacement for the veteran Gary Speed, who had moved to Bolton Wanderers.
Butt had a disappointing and injury-marred 2004–05 season, prompting the then Newcastle manager Graeme Souness to sign Senegalese midfielder Amdy Faye in January 2005. Despite a promising start, the fans turned on Butt after the 4–1 defeat against Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final. The acquisition of Scott Parker and Emre in the summer of 2005 pushed Butt further down the pecking order, and his move to Birmingham City (managed by former Manchester United teammate Steve Bruce) on a season-long loan was announced on 3 August 2005.