Rangers FC Player Profile - Jack Butland

Jack Butland was born on 10th March 1993 in Bristol, England. He began his youth career at Clevedon United, and joined the youth setup at Birmingham City in 2007.

In March 2010, at the earliest opportunity following his 17th birthday, Butland signed his first professional contract with the club, and was named their Young Player of the Year for the 2009-10 season.

League Two with Cheltenham Town

Butland joined Cheltenham Town on loan in September, 2011 and made his senior debut immediately against Macclesfield Town in a League Two match on 10th September, keeping a clean sheet in a comfortable 2-0 win. The initial one-month loan was soon extended for another two months, during which he kept seven clean sheets for the club across 12 appearances.

Another loan spell at Cheltenham Town would follow, beginning in February 2012, where he played in 12 more games—keeping four clean sheets—before being recalled to Birmingham City in the wake of Boaz Myhill’s injury.

Breakthrough in Birmingham

By 2011, Butland had represented England at five different age groups: U16, U17, U19, U20, and U21. In 2012, he made his senior England debut on 15th August against Italy in Bern, and became the youngest goalkeeper to represent England at the international stage in the process—aged 19 years 158 days old.

Once Ben Foster departed Birmingham City permanently for West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2012, young Butland was given the number 1 jersey. He went on to play all 46 matches for the club in 2012-13 season, helping them finish 12th in the Championship by keeping 10 clean sheets, and was named the club’s Young Player of the Year.

Midway through the season, on 31st January 2013, Butland signed for Premier League club Stoke City but remained at Birmingham on loan for the rest of the season. He signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for a fee reported to be around £3.5 million.

On Loan from Stoke

Butland’s career at Stoke City did not perhaps get off to the kind of start he might have imagined. Initially behind Asmir Begović and Thomas Sørensen in the pecking order, he returned to the Championship on loan at Barnsley, where he made 13 appearances and kept two clean sheets before being recalled.

Butland came on for the injured Sørensen at half-time on 1st January 2014 to finally make his Premier League debut, in a 1-1 draw against Everton. 11 days later, on 12th January, he made his first top flight start—against Liverpool in a match which Stoke would go on to lose 5-3.

An injury to Leeds United’s first-choice goalkeeper Paddy Kenny opened the doors for Butland to once more return to the Championship. He joined them for the rest of 2013-14 season on loan, keeping three clean sheets across 16 total appearances.

In the 2014-15 season, Butland went on a one-month loan to Derby County, during which he made six appearances and kept two clean sheets. Thereafter, he served as Begović’s backup at Stoke, playing mostly in cup games. He made seven total appearances for the Potters that season, three in the league, and kept three clean sheets.

Starting for Stoke

Mark Hughes handed Butland the number 1 shirt at the beginning of the 2015-16 season, once Begović had been sold to Chelsea. The 22-year-old impressed all season, keeping 12 clean sheets across 35 total appearances, but an injury [fractured ankle] while playing for England against Germany brought an early end to his campaign. However, his performances did earn him Stoke’s Player of the Year award.

Butland struggled with the injury all through next season [2016-17], requiring two further surgeries—in September and December 2016. Consequently, he played in just five games during the campaign, keeping two clean sheets.

In the 2017-18 season, Butland was ever-present for Stoke City, keeping six clean sheets in 35 Premier League appearances, but failed to save the club from relegation back to the Championship.

Next season, he missed only one league match—for his son’s birth—and kept 18 clean sheets in 45 matches. He was named player of the season by the club’s fans as Stoke finished 16th in the Championship. In 2019-20, Butland played in 35 league matches, keeping nine clean sheets as the Potters finished in 15th place, but fell out of favor during the season having made several mistakes.

Pastures New at Palace  

On 16th October 2020, Butland returned to the Premier League, signing for Crystal Palace on a three-year contract. However, his time there was largely a disaster—he made just two senior appearances his first season, and 15 across all competitions in 2021-22, managing to keep three clean sheets.

The 2022-23 season was another complete fiasco. Butland did not make one single senior appearance. Not for the Eagles, and not for Manchester United, whom he joined on loan in January 2023.

Rejuvenation at Rangers

The summer of 2023 brought for Butland opportunity to reassess and restore his career following his nightmare spell at Crystal Palace. On 1st July, after his contract for the Eagles had expired, he joined Rangers FC for free on a four-year contract.

Butland made his debut for the Light Blues in the 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock on 5th August 2023 but has established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper in Philippe Clement’s squad. To date, he has kept 27 clean sheets for the Gers in 63 total appearances across all competitions.

He was named Rangers Players' Player of the Year for 2023-24, having helped them win the Scottish League Cup.

Jack Butland made nine senior appearances for England between 2012 and 2018, played four times for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and was part of England’s 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.