| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 8 January 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Camborne, Cornwall, England | ||
| Date of death | 22 April 2017 (aged 83) | ||
| Place of death | England | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| ? – ? | Nkana Red Devils | ||
| 1984 | Zambia | ||
| 1987 | Al Ahly | ||
| 1988–1989 | Kaizer Chiefs | ||
| 1991 | Kaizer Chiefs | ||
| 1992 | South Africa | ||
| 1992 | Kaizer Chiefs | ||
| 199?–199? | Mamelodi Sundowns | ||
| 1995–1996 | Kaizer Chiefs | ||
| 1999 | Botswana | ||
Jeff Butler (8 January 1934 – 22 April 2017) was an English football manager who coached in Africa during the 1980s and 1990s, winning four Zambian and four South African league titles.
Jeff Butler was born on 8 January 1934.[1] He married Valerie c. 1965.[2] During his coaching career he claimed to have had a long professional playing career in the English Football League, but this was later proved to be false.[3]
He coached the Nkana Red Devils to their first four Zambia Super League titles in 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1986.[4] He also coached the Zambia national team in 1984.[5] He then coached Egyptian club Al Ahly.[6]
Butler went on to coach South African club Kaizer Chiefs on four separate occasions between 1988 and 1996.[7] Chairman Kaizer Motaung later recalled that Butler was in Cyprus at the time he recruited him.[7] The club were struggling at the time of his arrival, and Butler instigated "a massive shake-up" by letting go of the club's ageing stars in favour of young talent.[1] In the 1988 they won the JPS Knockout Cup.[8] Chiefs went on to win the NSL First Division title in 1989, 1991 and 1992; the BP Top Eight Cup in 1989, 1991 and 1992; the Ohlsson's Challenge in 1989; and the Telkom Charity Cup in 1988 and 1989.[7][1] He won domestic trebles in 1991 and 1992.[1] He narrowly missed out on winning quadruple in 1992 after losing the Coca-Cola Cup (Telkom Knockout) final to AmaZulu.[1] After one treble he told his players "Don’t think you won the World Cup. You must come back next year and win all those trophies again.”[9] Striker Fani Madida won the 1991 National Soccer League Golden Boot award after scoring 34 goals in all competitions, and said that "if I'm not mistaken, we went [17 successive games] unbeaten [in 1991/92] and that was never heard of before and no coach in South Africa has ever matched that record".[10] Butler later won a league title with Mamelodi Sundowns in 1993.[11][12] Phil Masinga and Daniel Mudau had a highly successful strike partnership and Masinga won a transfer to English Premier League club Leeds United.[13]
Butler briefly coached the South Africa national football team in 1992, the nation's first coach following their readmission to FIFA after the ending of apartheid, but never took charge of a game.[1] He was quickly removed from the position after it was revealed that he had lied about his history, passing off the similarly named Geoff Butler's playing career as his own.[14][3] He returned to the Kaizer Chiefs and after leaving in 1996 he was persuaded to return to coach at the club's academy.[1] Defender Johannes Mudau described him as "a very strict coach, while on the other hand he allowed players to display their skills and talent... a very friendly person, he was a motivator and confident builder".[15] However rival coach Cavin Johnson said that "he was an average Englishman. He was fake to me, he was completely fake".[14]
Butler retired to Spain, and then returned to England before he died after a long illness on 22 April 2017.[1][2] He was survived by Valerie, his wife of 52 years, and four children.[1]
A minute's silence was observed at the Kaizer Chiefs next match, against SuperSport United at the FNB Stadium.[16] His three sons – John, Mike and Tim – went on to attend a Soweto Derby match against the Orlando Pirates, and went on to say that "we felt closer to our father as a result".[12] FIFA president Gianni Infantino wrote a letter of condolences to South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan.[17]
Nkana Red Devils[4]
Kaizer Chiefs[1]
Mamelodi Sundowns[18]