Butler, Peter
‘Butler the Boot’ was one of the most prolific goal kickers to have represented Gloucester, his almost mechanical boot scoring an incredible 2,961 points for the club. A local lad who used to catch the bus to King’s Square and walk to Kingsholm, he was educated at the local Crypt Grammar School, to which he has remained loyal.
He was a member of the Gloucester team that defeated Leicester 6 points to 3 in the 1978 RFU National Knock-Out Competition.
For the Gloucestershire County team Peter scored 367 points in 31 matches, scoring all 24 points (including a converted try) in a County Championship final against Middlesex at Richmond.
On his international debut versus Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on 24 May 1975, he kicked a penalty goal and landed a conversion in a 16 points to 9 defeat. In his second international appearance for England, at Parc des Princes in Paris, he kicked a penalty that momentarily put England into the lead 3 points to nil, and he also converted a try scored by Peter Dixon (of Gosforth) late in the game. Despite his efforts, the final score was 33 to 9 to France.
It was a mystery that he never represented England on more than these two occasions.
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Pete was one of the best, and we spent time together during the county season; the ‘Super Glos’ as they were known in the 70’s, often argued that they were mistaken for paint rather than a brilliant rugby team that gave years of pleasure to their supporters.
Peter developed the “tactic” of place-kicking penalties to touch, since outlawed as, I suppose, it takes a long time. I think it enabled him to be more accurate.
Our thanks to Peter for correcting this entry, and providing some additional detail.
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