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Hans-Jörg Butt
Jörg Butt – Tag der Legenden 2016 04.jpg
Butt in 2016
Personal information
Full name Hans-Jörg Butt
Date of birth (1974-05-28) 28 May 1974 (age 51)
Place of birth Oldenburg, West Germany
Height 1.91 m
Playing position Goalkeeper
Youth career
1980–1991 TSV Großenkneten
1991–1994 VfB Oldenburg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1997 VfB Oldenburg 87 (5)
1997–2001 Hamburger SV 133 (19)
2001–2007 Bayer Leverkusen 191 (7)
2007–2008 Benfica 1 (0)
2008–2012 Bayern Munich 63 (0)
2009 Bayern Munich II 4 (1)
Total 479 (32)
National team
2000–2010 Germany 4 (0)
Honours
Representing  Germany
Men's football
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 2002 Korea–Japan
Third 2010 South Africa
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Hans-Jörg Butt, often called Jörg Butt, is a German former football player. He was a goalkeeper. He was born on 28 May 1974.

Jörg Butt was famous for taking penalty kicks. He would often run to the other team's goal area to try and score if his team was losing. He scored 26 goals in the Bundesliga, which is Germany's top football league. He played for big German clubs like Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen, and Bayern Munich. He joined Bayern Munich when he was 34 years old.

Butt also played for the German national team. He was part of the squad for two World Cups and one European Championship.

Early Life and Football Beginnings

Jörg Butt was born in Oldenburg, Germany. He grew up in a nearby town called Großenkneten. His father owned a company that made industrial doors and loading ramps.

When Jörg was young, he played football for his local club, TSV Großenkneten. Interestingly, he started out as a striker, not a goalkeeper!

Jörg Butt is married to Katja. They have three children: a daughter and two sons.

Playing for Clubs

Hamburg and Leverkusen Years

Jörg Butt began his professional football journey with a smaller club, VfB Oldenburg. They managed to get promoted to Germany's second division in 1996.

In 1997, he moved to Hamburg. In his second season there (1998–99), he scored seven goals for the team. All of these goals came from penalty kicks. The next season, he scored nine more penalties!

In 2001, Butt joined Bayer Leverkusen for free. He became the main goalkeeper for the team. He hardly missed any games in his first five seasons. He also scored seven goals for them. In the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, he played in every game. His team reached the final but lost to Real Madrid. He even scored a penalty in a 3–1 win against Juventus during that tournament.

In one famous game in 2004, Butt scored a penalty against Schalke 04. He was celebrating with his teammates and didn't notice the game had restarted. A Schalke player, Mike Hanke, quickly shot the ball from the middle of the field and scored while Butt was still running back to his goal!

A Quick Stop in Portugal

After losing his starting spot at Leverkusen to a younger goalkeeper, Jörg Butt decided to leave the club in 2007. He signed a two-year contract with the Portuguese club Benfica.

Butt played his first game for Benfica in a summer tournament. He even saved a penalty in that game. However, at Benfica, he was mostly a backup goalkeeper. He only played in one league game. In that game, the main goalkeeper was sent off, and Butt came on as a substitute. With his very first touch, he saved a penalty! His team still won the game 2–1.

Success with Bayern Munich

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Butt with Bayern in 2009

In June 2008, Butt signed with Bayern Munich, who were the champions at the time. He was expected to be a backup goalkeeper. He played his first official game for Bayern in a big 7–1 win in the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League. Later that season, he became the main goalkeeper after the first-choice player was dropped.

At the start of the 2009–10 season, Butt became Bayern's main goalkeeper again. On 8 December 2009, he scored his first goal for Bayern. It was a very important penalty in a Champions League group stage match against Juventus. Bayern came back from being behind to win 4–1. This meant he had scored a Champions League goal against Juventus for all three major German clubs he played for!

In 2010, Butt signed a contract extension until 2011. He also played in the Champions League final that year. Bayern lost 0–2 to Inter Milan, missing out on winning three major trophies in one season.

During the 2010–11 season, Butt, who was 36, lost his starting spot for a while. But after some shaky performances by the younger goalkeeper, Butt returned to the starting lineup. He played in 30 official games that season.

On 3 May 2011, Butt signed another one-year contract extension with Bayern. He retired at the end of the 2011–12 season when he was 38 years old. His last game was a friendly match against the Netherlands, where he was the team captain.

Playing for Germany

Hans-Jörg Butt 2010 (cropped)
Butt with Germany at the 2010 World Cup

Jörg Butt was the third-choice goalkeeper for Germany at the UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He didn't play in any games during those tournaments.

He played in three friendly matches for Germany. His first game was against Liechtenstein on 7 June 2000. He played the second half of an 8–2 win.

Butt was chosen as one of Germany's goalkeepers for the 2010 World Cup. He got this chance because another goalkeeper had to pull out due to an injury. He played his only competitive international game on 10 July 2010. It was in the match for third place against Uruguay, which Germany won 3–2.

After Football

On 1 July 2012, Jörg Butt became the head of the Bayern Munich Junior Team. However, he left the job on 7 August of the same year. He said that he had "misjudged this field of activity" and that the job didn't give him the "satisfaction and passion" he was looking for. He thanked FC Bayern for understanding his decision.

Career Numbers

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hamburger SV 1997–98 Bundesliga 33 0 2 0 0 0 35 0
1998–99 Bundesliga 34 7 3 0 0 0 37 7
1999–00 Bundesliga 34 9 1 0 0 0 35 9
2000–01 Bundesliga 32 3 2 0 6 1 40 4
Total 133 19 8 0 6 1 147 20
Bayer Leverkusen 2001–02 Bundesliga 34 2 6 0 17 1 57 3
2002–03 Bundesliga 33 1 4 0 10 0 47 1
2003–04 Bundesliga 34 1 3 0 0 0 37 1
2004–05 Bundesliga 34 2 2 0 8 0 44 2
2005–06 Bundesliga 34 1 2 0 2 0 38 1
2006–07 Bundesliga 22 0 2 0 8 0 32 0
Total 191 7 19 0 45 1 255 8
Benfica 2007–08 Primeira Liga 1 0 4 0 0 0 5 0
Bayern Munich 2008–09 Bundesliga 8 0 0 0 3 0 11 0
2009–10 Bundesliga 31 0 3 0 12 1 46 1
2010–11 Bundesliga 23 0 2 0 4 0 29 0
2011–12 Bundesliga 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 0
Total 63 0 6 0 20 1 89 1
Career total 388 26 37 0 71 3 496 29

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Germany 2000 1 0
2001 0 0
2002 1 0
2003 1 0
2004 0 0
2005 0 0
2006 0 0
2007 0 0
2008 0 0
2009 0 0
2010 1 0
Total 4 0

Awards and Achievements

VfB Oldenburg

  • Regionalliga Nord: 1995–96 (won the league)

Bayer Leverkusen

Bayern Munich

Germany

Individual

See also

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