‘Gareth Southgate couldn’t do my job’ - says ex Halifax and Hudderfield Town player Peter Butler, now managing in Africa

When the 53-year-old West Yorkshireman tells you “Gareth Southgate couldn’t do my job,” you suspect England’s modest manager would agree. Coaching Liberia, ranked 92 in the world, is a tough gig even for a self-styled footballing missionary, “the Phileas Fogg of coaching”.

Never mind 80 days, Butler has spent 20 years travelling footballing outposts. He started in Australia, where a playing career until then confined to England wound down, and moved to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Botswana and South Africa before Liberia in 2019.

His contract is coming to an end and he has been linked with former club Southend United but Butler is not hankering for home.

“It’s a bit of a love affair with Africa,” he explains. “You go to places like Guinea-Bissau and Ouagadougou and see the passion, it’s breathtaking. I’ve had opportunities to work in the UK but I prefer to row my own boat. They want me to stay on here and I’m really enjoying it. Never say never. People tell me I should be looking to get back but maybe I was destined to do this kind of work.”

He never saw his fate coming.

“You normally travel when you go to university, don’t you?” he laughs. “I’ve done it with a wife, three kids, two dogs. My family live between Halifax and Huddersfield. They came back from Asia in probably 2012 so it’s a bit of a lonely existence but the people are great.

“I love travelling and doing what I do. I never thought I’d be in some of the situations I’ve put myself into and who would have thought I’d be living in Liberia?

“When I finished playing with Halifax, I was already coaching and I moved abroad and did quite a few Super League teams in Malaysia and Indonesia. I left because I’d had enough of Asian football and the shenanigans there. I’ve been back a couple of times to do more coach education stuff but I got an opportunity to coach Botswana. I never really knew where it was but I went for an interview and didn’t come back for six months!”

His job is not just difficult but downright dangerous at times, even if he is safer from Covid-19.

“There’s been about 1,000 cases and 70-plus deaths,” he points out. “They came off the back of Ebola so since December/January we’ve been sanitising buckets of water and things like that. We’ve had semi-lockdowns, but nothing too severe.

“I remember playing in Mali with Botswana in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers. We won the first leg 2-1 and got beaten 2-0 in Bamako – we hit the crossbar in the last minute. It was a really eerie atmosphere in the hotel afterwards and I didn’t feel comfortable. I spoke to the British Consulate in Botswana and they said really I shouldn’t be there. The day we checked out, 23 people were shot dead there. Islamic jihadists were in the hotel all the time we were there. I operate in some volatile places.

“I think my wife’s got used to it, she’s a strong woman, and my kids have all grown up. I’ve got a lad (Chester) who plays for Huddersfield Giants. Everybody thought my kids would follow in my footsteps but my wife’s father was Colin Dixon, a Great Britain and Wales international rugby league player. I have missed out on my kids growing up and you can never get that back.”

He can, though, genuinely change the lives of families.

“We’ve got lads playing in Sparta Prague, Grasshoppers Zurich, Australia and the MLS,” he says. “There’s a conveyor-belt of talent and if I can help them, that means a lot to me. I took a lad from Ghana called Gilbert Koomson who’s now with Brann in Thailand as a 17-year-old (when Butler was with BEC Tero Sasana), Chanathip (Songkrasin)’s in Japan, Oscar Dorley plays for Sparta Prague.

“I’ve had some lads move to bigger clubs and the first thing they’ve done is built their parents a house. It’s life-changing.”

Southgate and Butler have the same title but completely different jobs.

“You’ve got to get your hands dirty,” Butler points out. “I do quite a bit with the clubs, helping, advising and coaching. I’m working with the women’s team. A friend said to me the other day it’s like a humanitarian job. You do question things because getting stuff done can be a very slow process.

“Gareth Southgate couldn’t do my job. We don’t have a St George’s Park and that support staff. Just getting lads out on the training ground is a feat in itself. A lot of people wouldn’t be strong enough. They’d find it very difficult being away from your family, you’ve got to improvise and be a little bit more creative.

“I was on the Liberian-Guinea border recently looking for talent – dirt pitches, no grass, stones everywhere, really rough. These kids are playing for their lives to impress. When I see players whingeing I just think come and see what I have this weekend. It’s mind-blowing, very humbling.

“I suppose you’ve got to be a special kind of person. Maybe I’m cut out for it. It’s challenging but it’s very rewarding.”

African football is notorious for political interference, and Liberia’s president is former AC Milan forward George Weah.

“It’s quite pressurising,” admits Butler. “I live in his compound (in Monrovia). He’s got a pitch and plays with his friends. He’ll invite me over after a game for a chat and a bite to eat.

“I had three-and-a-half years in Botswana and took them to 86th in the Fifa rankings but success in Africa is about developing the game, qualification for tournaments and giving players a leg up. The president of the association was a fantastic guy but he got ousted and since I left their ranking’s gone to 148. It tells you the story of the political interference – not from the government, more political infighting within the association.

“I’ve not had any interference off (Weah) and I’ve got a really good president of the association, Mustapha Raji, who’s very innovative. I get on very well with him, which is reassuring. He cares really deeply.”

In 1977, Pele predicted an African team would win the World Cup by 2000, yet still none has reached the semi-finals.

“An African team will get to the World Cup final,” argues Butler. “Whether they have the quality to win it remains to be seen.

“The discipline is where a lot of coaches fail because you can’t instil a European mentality overnight. You have to be a bit more flexible. The match-fixing in Malaysia and Indonesia was just rife but I learnt not to fight it. It’s the same here in Africa in terms of discipline. You learn but you’ve got to learn quite quickly.”