Hans-Jorg Butt

Hans-Jorg Butt is a professional footballer from Germany who plays as a goalkeeper. A fantastic free-kick specialist along with being a commendable goalkeeper, Butt has always been someone who’s stayed in the headlines. With almost 30 goals in German top flight football, Butt has been an extremely solid player for the teams he’s been a part of.

Butt’s career, at the youth level, began at TSV Grossenkneten, in 1980. He played along the various levels, never really getting out of the spotlight completely and never really grabbing it either. It was all moving quietly for Butt when he signed up for VfB Oldenburg in 1990. After four years in the youth squad, Butt made his way into the senior team.

After starting off slowly, Butt immediately helped his team gain promotion to the second division. Between 1994 and 1997, Butt made almost 90 appearances for the team and even scored 5 goals – the beginning of his scoring escapades.

As a young keeper, Butt was extremely talented and that meant he would move up the ladder quite quickly. He moved to Hamburger SV, in 1997, and quickly became the first team goalkeeper. Between 1997 and 2001, Butt was part of the Hamburger outfit for 133 games, scoring 19 goals for them – more goals than most defenders in the same period.

Almost all of Butt’s goals came from the penalty spot. In 2001, after refusing to renew his contract, Butt moved to Bayer Leverkusen on a free transfer. Leverkusen were on the rise with the likes of Michael Ballack, Ze Roberto, Lucio and Butt in the side. He helped the team reach the finals of the 2002 UEFA Champions League, where two mistakes by the German goalkeeper led to two goals, and a Real Madrid win.

In 2003-04, Butt gained infamy for scoring from a penalty, and conceding a goal before he managed to make his way back to his own goal, after celebrating his goal. Against Schalke, Butt scored from a penalty and was celebrating with his teammates on the way back, when Schalke quickly got the ball to the centre and restarted the game. Mike Hanke chipped it in from the centre spot, while Butt was still celebrating.

In 2006-07, a fast rising Rene Adler began taking over the reins at Leverkusen. Butt was increasingly out of the lineup and decided against renewing his contract. In 2007, he signed a two year deal with Benfica after playing over 190 games for Leverkusen and scoring 17 goals.

Butt only stayed at the Portuguese side for a single season. He played just one game and that too was as a substitute. In 2008, he decided to return to Germany and signed up a two-year deal with Bayern Munich, a side that was struggling to replace Oliver Kahn.

Following a 1-5 loss to Vfl Wolfsburg, Butt came into the reckoning as Michael Rensing was pushed back onto the bench. He helped his team win the 2009-10 Bundesliga title as well as the German Cup, while losing out 0-2 to Internazionale Milan in the finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Butt continues to remain the first choice goalkeeper at Bayern Munich. Although he hasn’t scored any goals for the reigning German champions, Butt has been quite solid between the posts.

At the international level, although Butt has been a part of the German national team since 2000, he’s been a perpetual bench warmer. The third-choice keeper behind Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann, Butt would have thought his opportunities would improve once both retired.

However, just 4 caps later, Butt is again the third-choice keeper behind Manuel Neuer and Rene Adler. He has, however, got a 2002 FIFA World Cup runners’-up medal as well as a 2010 FIFA World Cup third-place medal to his name.