Ben Butler

Albert Victor Butler (died 13 May 1916), known as Ben Butler, was an English professional footballer who played in the Southern League for Reading as a centre half.[3]

For other people known by the same name, see Benjamin Butler (disambiguation).

Ben Butler
Personal information
Full name Albert Victor Butler[1]
Place of birth Reading, England
Date of death (1916-05-13)13 May 1916 (aged 29)[2]
Place of death Bruay-la-Buissière, France
Position(s) Centre half
Youth career
0000–1908 Woolwich Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1908–1912 Reading
1912–1913 Hartlepools United 25 (1)
1913–1916 Queens Park Rangers 0 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Personal life

Butler supplemented his football income by working as an engine cleaner for the South East Railway Company.[3] During the First World War, he served as a corporal in the 1st Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.[4] On 3 May 1916, Butler was wounded in the right leg by a shell during urban combat in Liévin, France.[5] The leg was subsequently amputated and he died as a result 10 days later at No.22 Casualty Clearing Station in Bruay-la-Buissière.[3] Butler left a widow, Kate and two sons and was buried in Bruay Communal Cemetery Extension.[1][2][4] Butler's will, in which he left everything to Kate, survives and is in the archives of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service.[4]

Honours

Reading

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hartlepools United 1912–13[6] North Eastern League 25 1 1 0 — 26 1
Queens Park Rangers 1913–14[7] Southern League First Division 0 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 1 0
1914–15[8] 0 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 1 0
Total 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0
Career total 25 1 1 0 2 0 28 1
  1. Appearance in London Challenge Cup

References
  1. "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  2. "Corporal Ben Butler – 17th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment – Royals Remembered | Reading FC". www.readingfc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  3. Riddoch, Andrew; Kemp, John; Holmes, Richard (20 November 2008). When the Whistle Blows: The Story of the Footballers' Battalion in the Great War (1st ed.). Sparkford: Haynes Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 9781844256563.
  4. Lee, Matt (29 August 2013). "World War I soldier wills digitised for online archive". BBC Online. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  5. "Visiting the Western Front: 2" (PDF). pp. 4–5. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  6. "In The Mad Crowd". www.inthemadcrowd.co.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  7. "QPRnet – Seasonal Stats – Files – 1913–14". Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  8. "QPRnet – Seasonal Stats – Files – 1914–15". Retrieved 27 November 2017.


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