Ex coach Butler gets his final send-off

somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.”

At Chiefs, Butler is still there. His legacy lives on in the passion and integrity with which the club attacks its challenges. It lives on in the Soweto club demanding that its players feel the urgency of duty and discipline.

It lives on in his revolutionary coaching techniques, his motivational ability and above all his belief in offering talented young players at the club an opportunity to exhibit their ability on the big stage.

It lives on in former Chiefs greats like Donald “Ace” Khuse, Fani Madida, Doctor Khumalo, Lucas Radebe, Scara Thindwa, Shane McGregor, Neil Tovey, Wellington Manyathi, Howard Freese and many more, who can take everything they’ve learnt from Butler and pass it on to the generations that follow. More importantly, it lives on in the respect and regard that Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung had for Butler: “We kept in touch with his family through his ill health, but it is still a big shock to learn that he is gone. Jeff loved and lived football. I am deeply hurt.

“It is hard to accept, but what do you do when someone has earned his innings?

“On behalf of my family and the Kaizer Chiefs family, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. The football legend and friend is gone, but his legacy at Chiefs is cast in stone. Rest in peace, the champ Jeff.”

Often, when it comes to title-winning coaches, the only names spoken of are Gordon Igesund and Ted Dumitru (both have won four). Yet, what many don’t realise is that Butler, too, was able to boast four title triumphs – three with Chiefs and one with Mamelodi Sundowns.

He was coaching in Cyprus when first approached by Motaung for the Chiefs job.

He arrived in 1988 and he immediately set about stamping his inimitable coaching style upon the Soweto club.

In his first season, Chiefs won the JPS Knockout Cup and, the very next season, the league championship was in the bag. Throughout his successful years at Amakhosi, further trophy glory was to follow, including two more titles and a few Cup competitions to boot.

As a former Santos player, and having played in the Federation Professional League (FPL), during the years of segregated football, I didn’t know all that much about Butler.

But, after the onset of football unity, and the formation of one top league for the entire country in 1991, Santos had the opportunity to finally come up against Chiefs.

I vividly remember that first occasion, at a packed Athlone Stadium, when Chiefs came out to warm up, the buzz, excitement and adoration for their players were simply mesmerising. It was an eye-opener for us in our first meeting with Amakhosi. The charismatic Butler was there, on the bench, urging, cajoling and inspiring. We led 1-0 at half-time – and I had the privilege of scoring the goal – and the mood in our dressing-room, needless to say, was positive and hopeful.

But I guess we hadn’t reckoned with Butler’s tactical genius… Chiefs came out a different side in the second half, they changed a few things, shut out our strengths and completely dominated the rest of the encounter. We lost 3-1… That was an example of what Butler was capable of, in how he could get his team to change-up when they were struggling.

In fact, so highly was he regarded in South African football that he was appointed Bafana Bafana coach in 1992, only for him to lose the job soon after because of issues around his CV. Nevertheless, there can be no doubting his coaching nous and ability.

Sergio dos Santos, a former Chiefs player and coach, and now the head of the scouting department at Ajax Cape Town, remembers his interaction with Butler well.

“I had occasion to have discussions with him during his stint as national coach when he came down to have a look at goalkeeper André Arendse,” said Dos Santos. “We also sat down and had lengthy football discussions when he came to do coaching clinics in the Cape.

“He was a really pleasant man with a great approach towards the game of football. Because of his professionalism, he was very demanding of the people he worked with. But in general I found him to be a humble soul with a very accommodating attitude.”