Ben Butler (footballer)

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

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
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
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)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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]

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[a]	0	1	0
	1914–15[8]	Southern League First Division	0	0	0	0	1[a]	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

Honours

Reading

• Southern League Second Division: 1910–11^[3]

References

1. "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
2. "Royals Remember Ben". Reading FC | Home of the Royals!. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
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. "Albert Butler". In The Mad Crowd. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
7. "Seasonal Stats – Files – 1913–14". QPRnet. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
8. "Seasonal Stats – Files – 1914–15". QPRnet. Retrieved 27 November 2017.