Terry Butcher talks administration: ‘Motherwell went from spaghetti hoop lunches and jumpers for goalposts to European football - and Inverness Caley Thistle can rise again’
Terry Butcher helped administration-hit Motherwell go from “jumpers for goalposts” levels of poverty to European football within six years.
For all his sadness and disbelief at Caley Thistle’s slide into insolvency, the England World Cup hero refuses to believe Scotland’s Premiership has seen the last of them.
Butcher served as Caley Jags’ manager from January 2009 to November 2013, living the dream as an adopted Highlander.
With a team packed with club greats like Jonny Hayes, Richie Foran, Adam Rooney and Graeme Shinnie he steered ICT back from relegation to top six SPL football.
But it was while serving as coach under Eric Black at Motherwell that Butcher experienced the cruellest side of football.
The Ipswich and Rangers legend was left to pick up the pieces at Fir Park in April 2002 when manager Black and CEO Pat Nevin quit over then-owner John Boyle’s decision to plunge the club into administration.
Boyle, who had already splurged £11 million of his own money on the club, felt enough was enough as losses topped £2 million a year.
There were scenes of devastation as tearful club staff emptied their desks, with 19 players also made redundant.
From the wreckage, though, came rebirth.
Butcher remembers driving the remnants of the squad, full of youngsters and low-paid pros, by minibus to Glasgow Green for training.
There, they weren’t even allowed to train on the pitches, but on strips of grass in between.
With no goals for shooting practice, trackie tops were laid on the ground.
At lunch break, players were fed from pots of beans or spaghetti hoops.
But in recollections that might fill ICT supporters with hope, the savage cuts at the club were prelude to dramatic recovery and the flourishing of young talents.
Among them were James McFadden and Stephen Pearson, as well as fellow future Scotland caps Stevie Hammell and David Clarkson.
The McFadden and Pearson sales to Everton and Celtic respectively helped Motherwell exit administration after two years.
After surviving relegation on a technicality, Butcher took Well into the top six twice in the next two seasons and to a League Cup final defeat to Rangers in 2005
After his departure in 2006, the foundations built were strong enough for Mark McGhee to take them to third place in the table and into the UEFA Cup.
Butcher (65), recalling the heartbreak of administration, said: "It was just horrible.
“We had 19 players go - including, if you can believe, Roberto Martinez who is now Portugal head coach!
“It was devastating to see staff lose their jobs and that’s one reason I’m relieved for Caley Thistle, where redundancies seem very light.
“People went in through a door as employees and came back out without a job. It was horrible saying goodbye to the players, who really didn’t deserve it.
“It seems different at Caley Thistle. I’ve compared the two situations in my mind and the damage was far worse at Motherwell.
“Motherwell were lucky, in many respects, with young players they were able to sell to help come out of administration a couple of years later.
“McFadden and Pearson made the club nearly £2 million, which was phenomenal.
“But there were some surreal moments. We didn’t have a training ground and ended up training at Glasgow Green.
“We were paying £40 to train there and weren’t even allowed on the pitches!
“We had a squad of 18 or 19 training with jumpers for goalposts, literally - it was bizarre - and it was baked beans and spaghetti for lunch. It was just crazy, minimalistic!”
Butcher is impressed by what he has heard of Orion businessman Alan Savage’s interventions before and during administration.
He said: “Motherwell, with the transfer cash, returned something like 35p in the pound compared to most administrations which end up at about 5p in the pound.
“Whatever happens, you feel sorry for the tradesmen and small businesses because they’re never going to get all their money. It is heartache because they’re family businesses and they get hurt big time.
“If Alan Savage has managed to pay a lot of them back already then that is just great for the city and those affected.
“You can see that Alan’s heart is there. He’s obviously got some money, but it is really very kind of him to contribute what he has.”
Butcher is not enough in tune with the current ICT squad to weigh up their individual prospects, but said: “After relegation at Inverness, the youth team went.
“From that, we brought two marvellous young players, Nick Ross and Graeme Shinnie, into the first team. Nick had a great Inverness career and it is unbelievable what Graeme is still achieving at Aberdeen.
“There are winners and losers in administration and the current crop of young players have a wonderful chance.
“Motherwell bounced back stronger and so can Caley Thistle.
“We were lucky to stay up at Motherwell as Falkirk couldn’t meet the stadium criteria.
“I managed to get two players from Partick Thistle - Stephen Craigan and little ‘Toastie’ up front, Alex Burn - and we never looked back.
“We got into the top six two years in a row. It just took off.
“Administration can be a cause. It can really galvanise the players with good leadership.
“It’s like scarifying your garden lawn coming out of winter. You get rid of the dead moss and the good growth comes through. Inverness can come back slimmer, sleeker, more effective. It is a fresh start - and it can release you.
“But I just can’t believe or comprehend how it has gone from where we were, to now. It is crazy - horrible.
“The priority has to be getting back to a good level, with promotion eventually.
“It's such a terrific club and fanbase. With a clean slate, I hope and believe they can get back where they belong.”
