Futcher struggled to grasp first team opportunities at Boundary Park and in August 2001 was made available for a loan transfer to gain experience.

[5] He linked up with Stalybridge Celtic, the club being managed by his father Paul,[6] where he spent three months on loan, making 17 appearances and scoring once.

On 10 May 2002, he along with Dene Cropper became Lincoln City manager Keith Alexander's first signings of his second spell in charge at Sincil Bank.

[9] A Simon Yeo inspired Lincoln dumped Scunthorpe United out of the Play-off semi-final and thus giving them the task of overcoming AFC Bournemouth in the final at the Millennium Stadium.

For the next two years, Futcher was at the heart of the Lincoln defence and faced two more Play-off defeats: losing out in the semi-finals to Huddersfield Town in 2003/2004 and going down 2–0 after extra time against Southend United the following season in yet another final at the Millennium Stadium.

In a shock move in the summer of 2005, Futcher announced he would be leaving Lincoln, to sign for county rivals Boston United.

With United boasting such ex-Premiership stars as Julian Joachim and Noel Whelan Bostons squad was arguably equipped to combat the league, but the club struggled to live up to its expectancies, and performances saw them hover around the relegation zone.

Futcher found it rather hard to break into the Grimsby side and often had to play second fiddle to Justin Whittle and Rob Jones.

In Ben's first season, he helped the club to a mid table finish, and scored Bury's first goal in a 2–1 victory over Leeds United in the Football League Trophy.

[16] However a few weeks after signing for Halifax he was recalled to Bury without making a first team appearance as he was appointed joint-caretaker manager at the club.