[1] Butler undertook trials for Gillingham in 1982 and 1983 but the club could not afford to buy him out of the army, where he was working as a vehicle mechanic.
[3] After failing to hold down a first-team place at Brentford, Butler joined non-league Maidstone United, with whom he won the Conference title and promotion to the Fourth Division in 1989.
[8][9] Butler returned to Gillingham as a coach under Peter Taylor in 1999, having been offered the managerial role himself alongside Andy Hessenthaler.
[10] In 2000, at the age of 38, Butler scored a 114th minute equaliser in the Second Division play-off final against Wigan Athletic at Wembley, as the Kent club secured its first ever promotion to the second tier of English football.
[15] In October 2010 he returned again to Maidstone United, serving as assistant to Andy Ford in his five month spell as manager.