Butler lays new foundations
English coach is rebuilding national team
Peter Butler did not expect to be training Africa’s greatest-ever player or the country’s national president when he took the Liberia job – and most certainly not at the same time.
George Weah led his country to two Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) appearances, in 1996 and 2002, before a bitter civil war engulfed Liberia. The only African player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or awards, Weah has been Liberia’s president since January 2018 but he retains a keen interest in the game and sometimes trains with Butler’s team.
The sessions are mainly to boost Weah’s profile, but Butler says the former Monaco, Paris SaintGermain and Milan striker is “very supportive”.
At the end of his own playing career as a midfielder in England, with Southend United and West Ham United among others, the Yorkshireman moved into coaching nearly two decades ago, mainly in Asia, before taking charge of Botswana in 2014.
He revitalised Botswana before resigning in 2017 and returning to club work in Asia, but the lure of working at international level remained. He had talks with the Sierra Leone FA before opting to take charge of Liberia in August this year and was thrown in at the deep end with a two-legged World Cup qualifier – against Sierra Leone.
A 3-1 win at home gave Liberia a defendable advantage in the return, so despite losing 1-0 in Freetown they progressed to the group stage which begins in March. Butler’s side were, however, eliminated from the 2021 AFCON preliminaries by Gambia on penalties, but he hopes that his decision to remain in Liberia throughout his stay will endear him to his new employers. “I’m here for a year with an option for another year but you can’t do any planning with a year’s contract,” says the 53-year-old. “I’ve hit the ground running and been coaching constantly since I’ve been here.
“I want to bring the average age down, get rid of the dead wood and bring on the up-and-coming players. So even if I’m only here a year then I’ve laid some foundations.”
Among the players that Butler can call on are Newcastle United midfielder Mohammed Sangare and striker Sam Johnson of MLS side Real Salt Lake, and he wants to tap further into a diaspora which was scattered by a civil war that killed a quarter of a million Liberians.
“The country was ravaged; it’s tragic what these people have been through. To get over that takes a long time,” says Butler. “You don’t just lose a few players, you lose a generation and it will take many years to get back to where they were in the 1990s.”
Butler’s number one target is Athletic Bilbao striker Inaki Williams, who was born in Spain after his mother fled the civil war. His one cap for La Roja, in 2015, was in a friendly so he’s still eligible to play for Liberia.
“We are still trying but he’s got aspirations of playing for Spain,” says Butler. “If he hasn’t played for Spain at 25, is he going to now?”
Williams committing to Liberia would be a huge bonus for Butler in a country that is trying to rebuild both itself and its football team.