Paul Butler (footballer)

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Paul Butler
Personal information
Full name	Paul John Butler
Date of birth	2 November 1972
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Nickname	Captain Speedy, The Bulldog
Position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Milton Keynes Dons (on loan from Leeds United)
Number	26
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1991-1996 1996-1998 1998-2000 2000-2004 2004-present 2006-present	Rochdale Bury Sunderland Wolverhampton Wanderers Leeds United → Milton Keynes Dons (loan)	158 (10) 84 (4) 79 (3) 124 (3) 99 (4) 0 (0)
National team**
2000	Republic of Ireland	1 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22/11/2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 22/11/2006.

Paul Butler (born 2 November 1972, in Moston, Manchester, England) is a professional footballer who has one cap for the Republic of Ireland national team and currently plays for Milton Keynes Dons on loan from Leeds United.

Paul 'the bulldog' Butler was first choice centreback at Elland Road during manager Kevin Blackwell's reign and is well known by opposition strikers for his crunching well-timed tackles. He was made captain at Leeds shortly after signing. He has also played for Rochdale, Bury, Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers and joined Leeds United in July 2004. He received a Division One championship medal with Sunderland in 1999.

Butler has been a regular for Leeds over the last few seasons and has played alongisde many other central defenders such as Clarke Carlisle, Sean Gregan and Matthew Kilgallon. On 26th October, it was revealed that new Leeds United manager, Dennis Wise had stripped Butler as captain, replacing him with midfielder Kevin Nicholls. Wise also revealed that Butler still wants to stay at the club. However on the 9th November 2006 Coventry City full back Matt Heath joined Leeds and the following day Leeds Manager Dennis Wise told Paul he was not in his plans and he was free to leave Elland Road on loan until January then on a free transfer ^[1]. On the 22 November 2006 he moved to MK Dons on loan until 2 January^[2].

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Leeds tell Butler he can move on. BBC Sport. BBC (10 November 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
2. ^ Butler moves to MK Dons on loan. BBC Sport. BBC (22 November 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-22.

Milton Keynes Dons F.C. - Current Squad
1 Bankole | 2 J. Smith | 3 Lewington | 4 Diallo | 6 O'Hanlon | 7 McGovern | 8 Mitchell | 9 Platt | 10 McLeod | 11 Rizzo | 12 Crooks | 13 Andrews | 14 G. Smith | 15 Edds | 19 Taylor | 20 Wilbraham | 21 Baker | 22 Hastings | 23 Dyer | 25 Harper | 26 Butler | 31 Baines | 40 Thorne | 42 Nash | -- Baldock | -- Flood | Manager: Allen