Peter Butler (footballer, born 1966)

Playing career

Butler played as a midfielder for Huddersfield Town, Cambridge United, Bury, Southend United, West Ham United, Notts County, Grimsby Town, West Bromwich Albion and Halifax Town.

Coaching career

After a spell as caretaker manager of Halifax Town, Butler moved to Australia where he became player-manager of Sorrento FC 2000–2002, where he set up their academy. He then coached in Singapore with the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC), in Malaysia with Sabah FA, in Indonesia with Persiba Balikpapan, and then back to Malaysia as coach of Kelantan FA. In September 2009, Butler signed a one-year contract as Technical Director and Head Coach of Yangon United FC of Myanmar. In September 2010 Butler became head coach of Thai Premier League team BEC Tero Sasana F.C. He is the holder of a UEFA Pro Licence Qualification. Butler returned to Kelantan to become head coach for the second time in November 2011. He guided the team to the top of the League. However, Butler left stating he could no longer work for Annuar Musa as he was unhappy with the signing of players above his head. Butler was immediately hired by Indonesian Super league side Persiba Balikpapan whom he coached in 2006-08 and led them into the newly formed ISL. He reportedly resigned from Persiba in May 2012, but his resignation is challenged by the club.

Terengganu and T-Team

He officially took over the head coach role at Terengganu FA, from Mat Zan Mat Aris on 1 June 2012, although he had already performed his duties as Terengganu head coach before the date. As head coach Butler reprimanded two players for returning from a night out at 3am on a morning before a match. He actions were mainly backed by the Malaysian public. However the club's management did not support his stance leading to a six-month ban, RM4,000 fine, 15 per cent cut on monthly salary and the termination of his contract.

The penalties received by Butler were considered by the public to be unjust and a means of simply removing him from the club. He was left with 15 months payment on his contract outstanding. The Football Association of Malaysia declared their intent to investigate the situation.

On 18 October, Football Association of Malaysia's disciplinary board completely exonerated Butler of any charges, quashed the suspension imposed on him and publicly condemned the Terengganu FA of bringing shame to the FAM, the TFA were ordered to pay Butler the remaining months on his contract.

Botswana

In February 2014, Butler was appointed manager of the Botswana national team. His first International game was against South Sudan. He won the game three nil with a relatively new young inexperienced squad. He was mostly praised for giving a nineteen years old Ditsile his full debut against Burundi in the AFCON 2015 preliminaries. Botswana went on to knock out Burundi & Guinea Bisau to reach the group stages of the AFCON, with a new team giving debuts to many young players. They lost to a last minute penalty in Tunisia and gave a very strong Senegal team a fright, only losing to a late deflected goal. They have since earn credible results beating Tanzania, Lesotho and drawing against a strong Angolan team in Luanda. Butler has revitalised the Botswana team playing an exciting brand of footballconsequently coming under the radar of some of the bigger teams in African football.

When asked about Botswana in an interview, Butler said that "It's a beautiful country, and the raw passion that Botswanans have for the game is unbelievable. In fact, most of Africa has such an incredibly deep love and enthusiasm for football. You can really feel it when you spend time here."

In February 2017 he was one of a number of managers on the shortlist for the vacant Rwanda national team manager role.

Butler resigned from the Botswana job in June 2017, and within days was appointed as the new head coach of Platinum Stars in South Africa's Premier Soccer League. He departed the position in September 2017.

Liberia

On 21 August 2019, he was appointed as manager of the Liberia national football team.

BFF Elite Football Academy

On 23 November 2023, he was appointed as coach of the BFF Elite Football Academy which is directly operated by Bangladesh Football Federation. When asked about the job, he said that he needed a new challenge and a change. He was scheduled to take charge of the academy from 1 January 2024. However, he officially took control of the academy from 18 January 2024.

Bangladesh women's national team

In March 2024, Butler was made the temporary head coach of the Bangladesh women's national football team while also coaching at the BFF Elite Football Academy. Eventually, following the conclusion of the 2023–24 Bangladesh Championship League, he was made the permanent head coach and departed from his role at the Academy.

On 31 May 2024, Bangladesh lost 0–4 to Chinese Taipei in his first game incharge.

On 30 October 2024, under the guidance of head coach Peter Butler, Bangladesh won their second-ever SAFF Women's Championship title, defeating Nepal 2–1 in the final of the 2024 edition.

On 2 July 2025, Bangladesh, still under Butler’s management, qualified for the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup for the first time in their history. They secured qualification with a match to spare, following a dominant 7–0 victory over Pot 2 side Bahrain and a 2–1 win against Pot 1 side and Group C hosts Myanmar. At the time of qualification, Bangladesh were ranked 128th in the world, making them the lowest-ranked team ever to qualify for the AFC Women's Asian Cup.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Managerial

Bangladesh women

• SAFF Women's Championship: 2024
• Qualified for 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup Bangladesh women U-20
• SAFF U-20 Women's Championship: 2025
• Qualified for 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup

References

References

1. (6 November 2009). "Kelantan, Negeri pursue Malaysia Cup history". New Sabah Times.
2. "BFF ropes in Englishman Butler as academy coach".
3. "Women's team head Butler praises young guns ahead of Chinese Taipei ties".
4. "Peter Butler". Centurycomm.
5. Dasey, Jason. (2 July 2009). "No ifs or Butts for Pete about Asia". ESPN.
6. Samuel, Eric. (19 September 2009). "Butler serves a bombshell, quits as Kelantan coach". The Star (Malaysia).
7. (4 November 2009). "Bitter Butler wishes Kelantan all the best". The Malay Mail.
8. "Peter Butler claims that import players selection is out of his hands". Goal.com.
9. "ANTARA News - Kaltim: Portal Berita Kalimantan Timur". Kaltim.antaranews.com.
10. "Butler Bakal Dilaporkan Ke FIFA Oleh Persiba - Sports News Portal". Bolanews.com.
11. Muhammad, Zainuddin. (2012-05-15). "Terengganu put faith in much-travelled Butler - Soccer - New Straits Times". Nst.com.my.
12. (2012-05-15). "Football Every Day » Coach Butler aims to turn Terengganu into an offensive force". Football.thestar.com.my.
13. "Butler and Terengganu FA settle long-running saga amicably". The Star.
14. "Butler and TFA to settle sacking issue by Sunday". The Star.
15. "Butler appointed as Botswana coach". BBC.
16. Oluwashina Okeleji. (14 February 2017). "Samson Siasia and Winfried Schafer on Rwanda coach shortlist". BBC Sport.
17. (13 June 2017). "Butler brought in at Platinum Stars". ESPN.
18. (8 September 2017). "Platinum Stars sack Butler, confirm Roger De Sa as new head coach".
19. (22 August 2019). "Liberia: Peter James Butler Unveiled as Lone Star's New Coach".
20. (23 November 2023). "BFF could hire former West Ham midfielder as development coach". www.dailystar.net.
21. "Who is BFF Elite Academy coach Butler with experience of managing two national teams?".
22. (24 November 2023). "এলিট একাডেমির দায়িত্বে বৃটিশ কোচ!". offsidebangladesh.
23. (18 January 2024). "New BFF academy coach Butler: I'm here to help Bangladesh football". Dhaka Tribune.
24. (30 May 2024). "Women's team head Butler praises young guns ahead of Chinese Taipei ties". Dhaka Tibune.
25. (31 May 2024). "Bangladesh go down 4-0 against Chinese Taipei". The Daily Star.
26. https://www.sofascore.com/team/football/bangladesh/214194