Editing Nicky Butt (section)

===Manchester United===
[[File:Nickybutt.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Butt on the sidelines at [[Old Trafford]] in March 2004]]
Born in [[Gorton]], [[Manchester]], Butt began his career at [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] as an important part of their youth team before turning professional in 1993.

He made his first-team debut in the [[1992–93 in English football|1992–93 season]] as a substitute against [[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]] in a 3–0 [[Premier League]] win on 21 November 1992, but did not get his big break in the team until the [[1994–95 in English football|1994–95 season]], often covering for [[Roy Keane]] in the event of injuries and suspension. One of his first appearances for the first team came in the FA Cup semi-final on 10 April 1994, also against Oldham as a substitute, this time in a 1–1 draw at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]]. United won the replay 4–1 at [[Maine Road]] but he was not included in the squad. 1994–95 saw Butt play 35 games in all competitions, scoring one goal and featuring in the starting eleven for the FA Cup final, which United lost to [[Everton F.C.|Everton]].

With the departure of [[Paul Ince]] to [[F.C. Internazionale Milano|Internazionale]] in the 1995 close season, manager [[Alex Ferguson]] chose to draft in Butt as Ince's successor in midfield alongside [[Roy Keane]]. Butt was part of a notable batch of talented, young Manchester United players dubbed [[Fergie's Fledglings]], who had mostly been involved in United's FA Youth Cup-winning triumph of 1992 and gradually been introduced into the first team over the next few seasons. Others included [[David Beckham]], [[Gary Neville]], [[Phil Neville]] and [[Paul Scholes]] – who all spent a decade or more in the [[Old Trafford]] team's first team and helped the club win numerous major trophies as the dominant force in English football.

Butt performed remarkably in his early seasons as a regular first team player at United, and often started in the lineup, scoring crucial goals, such as against [[Liverpool]] in [[Eric Cantona]]'s comeback match in October 1995, and forcing [[Nigel Winterburn]] to concede an [[own goal]] for the winner against [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] in November 1996 – a game which saw the end of a three-match losing run in the league. Butt also functioned as a steady replacement for [[Roy Keane]] as the midfield ball winner, while Keane was injured for much of the 1997–98 season, earning a PFA Team of the Year award that year. However, Keane returned and after forward [[Paul Scholes]] was re-deployed as a midfielder around the end of the 1990s. Butt's first-team chances started to become increasingly limited, with many of his appearances coming from the bench from this stage onwards.

Butt still went on to collect many honours at United, as the club capped their domination of the 1990s with a remarkable and unique [[Treble (association football)|treble]] win in 1999 (with Butt playing the whole of the [[1999 UEFA Champions League Final|Champions League Final]] due to Roy Keane being suspended), and several more titles in the years up till 2001. By the time of his departure from [[Old Trafford]], Butt had gained six [[Premier League]] title winner's medals, three [[FA Cup]] winner's medals and a [[UEFA Champions League|Champions League]] winner's medal. He had also collected an FA Cup runners-up medal in 1995.