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.

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

Career statistics


Honours
Reading
 * Southern League Second Division: 1910–11