Jacob Butterfield was let go by Luton Town at the end of July; the Hatters being his 12th club in English football after starting out at Barnsley after a 2005 switch from Manchester United’s youth side. However, the much-travelled midfielder has been snapped up by A-League side Melbourne Victory – as confirmed by the club’s website.
Butterfield came up through the youth ranks at hometown club Bradford City before a 1998 move to Manchester United where he spent seven years before moving to Barnsley’s youth sides, earning his first big transfer to Norwich City in 2012. He was at the Canaries for just a year before moving to Middlesbrough for around £560,000.
He left Middlesbrough a year later for Huddersfield Town, staying just a year there before a near-£5m move to Derby County in 2015. In total, aside from two loan deals out to Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford City, Butterfield was at the Rams until the end of July last year – making 90 appearances with 9 goals and 5 assists.
Luton signed Butterfield at the end of July 2019 on a free transfer from the Rams. In the Hatters 2019/20 Sky Bet Championship campaign, Butterfield featured in 17 games and scored once for the Bedfordshire outfit. However, Luton decided to let him go at the end of this July.
That decision has led to the much-travelled 30-year-old central midfielder taking up the opportunity to head to Australia with Melbourne Victory. On taking up the opportunity in Australia, Butterfield said:
“I’m really pleased to have signed with Melbourne Victory, it is a club with a proud history and such a big following,” Butterfield said. Grant Brebner outlined his vision for the team and the role he wants me to play, and I’m really excited to have the opportunity to play for the Victory members and fans.“
His new head coach, Brebner, said of his latest recruit:
“We are extremely pleased to have Jacob join us at Melbourne Victory. Jacob is another strong addition to our playing group. He is a good age and brings a wealth of experience having played in the Championship for a number of big clubs. He is known for working extremely hard box-to-box, he has a presence on the ball and is also a proven goal scorer.“
Butterfield will go straight into pre-season training with Melbourne ahead of their season start which is scheduled for Sunday, December 27.
