Pride of Anglia - Ipswich Town Football Club
since 1878
Do You Remember...
...when Butcher Bled for the Blues?
Terry butcher's heroic exploits for England in 1989, when he famously played on with a bloodied shirt against Sweden, was not the first time he had shed blood for his team. Back in January 1982, with Ipswich flying high at the top of the First Division, Ipswich went to Second Division Luton for an FA Cup tie. Little did Butcher known when he took to the field that afternoon, that he would be putting not just his playing career, but his whole life on the line.
Having finished runners-up in the First Division in 1981, Ipswich were keen to prove that they had what it took to win the title, and the following season they came racing out of the blocks. Starting the new season with the same XI that had brought the UEFA Cup back to Portman Road, by the end of September Blues were unbeaten and topping the table.
The good form continued into the Autumn but a severe winter began to take its toll and Blues were particularly hard hit and were able to play only one League game in December. Despite this shortage of fixtures, victory over Birmingham City in early January propelled Blues back to the top, with three games in hand over their nearest rivals. Bobby Robson, however, was furious that all attempts to reschedule games were falling on deaf ears. Six teams refused to play Town as Robson tried desperately to avoid a late-season backlog, even appealing to the Football League to compel teams to play the League leaders. The League lamely replied that they were powerless.
Despite the numerous League postponements, Blues were making fine progress in both domestic knockout competitions and two Cup games in January created Club History. On a cold Monday evening at Portman Road Blues overcame Graham Taylor's promotion-bound Watford to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup for the very first time in the Club's history. This game was also the team's eighth win in a row, and Blues were looking unstoppable.
That game marked Mick Mills' 699th in a Town shirt and his record-breaking 700th appearance came the following Saturday - 23rd January - in an FA Cup game at Kenilworth Road, Luton. Mills joined a very select group of players who had played that many times for one Club, one that included Portsmouth's Jimmy Dickinson, Terry Paine of Southampton, Jack Charlton at Leeds, and Chelsea's Ron "Chopper" Harris and Peter Bonetti. The game also marked the first time the team wore their change strip of scarlet shirts, black shorts and scarlet socks. Luton were racing away with the Second Division title but proved unable to stop Blues from recording a Club record ninth successive victory.
It was a memorable day for all the reasons above, and unsurprisingly there was a jubilant mood amongst the fans after the match, but for centre-half Terry Butcher the game was memorable for another reason. Late in the first half, with the game still scoreless, the Luton forward Brian Stein miscontrolled a ball and as it popped up Butcher bent forward to head the ball away just as Stein tried an overhead kick. Stein's boot caught Butcher on the side of his face and there was blood everywhere. Butcher's nose was obviously broken but he carried on until half-time with a sponge to mop up the blood which continued to spill from his nose. With the game still in the balance there was no way Butcher was going to quit. At half-time physio Tommy Eggleston packed his nose with cotton wool to stem the flow. In the second half the quality of Blues' play began to tell and goals from Alan Brazil and Eric Gates gave the visitors breathing space. At this point the cotton wool plugs gave way and blood poured out, covering Butcher's already scarlet shirt! Every time he headed the ball he lost more blood, and was swallowing blood with every breath. Late in the game Gates scored a third and with the result safe Butcher finally allowed himself to be substituted.
It took two hours for the bleeding to subside after the game and with the rest of the team heading back to Ipswich Butcher visited the local hospital where an X-ray confirmed the break. Returning home, Terry spent a relaxing Sunday with his family but during Sunday night the bleeding started again and he was rushed to hospital where doctors informed him that an artery had been damaged, and that he was to be confined for the next few days as he underwent an operation. This failed to check the bleeding and Butcher was transferred to the London Hospital in Whitechapel where, in the ensuing days, he lost around sixteen pints of blood and two stone in weight. He felt as though he was withering away. It transpired that a piece of bone had severed an artery, which had to be repaired. Another operation followed, and although nosebleeds continued, they soon subsided and the nightmare was coming to an end.
Only now could the road to recovery begin and it started with walks down the hospital corridor and back, so weakened had Butcher become after a month in a hospital bed. To regain the lost weight the doctors gave him iron tablets and told him to drink Guinness, which he did with gusto! Back at Portman Road, training began lightly at first but soon built up to the extent he could rejoin his team-mates. Four weeks after leaving hospital he came on as a substitute for the reserves, and other reserve games soon followed. At this time Butcher became a father, and a week later he was called into the first team, and never looked back.
While Butcher was out of the Ipswich team their form faltered and they were knocked out of both Cups and won only seven of 15 League games, hardly Championship-winning form. His place at centre-half was gamely taken by Kevin Steggles, Irvin Gernon and the 35-year-old Allan Hunter, making his last two appearances in an Ipswich shirt, but none of these could fill the void left by Butcher absence.
Butcher returned to the side on 13th April, nearly three months after the fateful Luton game, and two weeks later he gained his third England cap in a Home Championship game against Wales, and would feature in the World Cup that summer. In the nine League games following his return, Blues won seven and only lost one on the penultimate weekend of the season, when a Liverpool win secured them the title regardless of Blues' result. Blues finished runners-up for the second successive season.
As surely as anyone can say about such things, had Butcher not been injured, Blues would have won the First Division that season.
Ian Hunneybell