Butterfield began his senior rugby career with Northampton Saints and played for them 227 times.[3] In addition to his duties at Northampton he also played 54 times for Yorkshire and captained them in two County Championship finals, in 1953 and 1957.[3]
He is considered to have been one of the most gifted centres to have played Rugby for England and was capped 28 times and captained the team four times.[4] He was first capped by England in 1953 against France; here he played with a fellow Northampton player Lew Cannell. Butterfield played for England for 6 years, including 28 successive matches – in his final season he was captain. Butterfield became England's most capped back, and on his watch, England won the Five Nations' Championship four times, the Triple Crown twice and a Grand Slam.
Butterfield was influenced as a player by the Bradford Northern Rugby League club whom he used to watch as a child.[citation needed] He used to watch the pre-war international outside half, Willie Davies.[citation needed] Of him, Butterfield said, "Willie always carried the ball in front of him with both hands. Though he always continued to run straight when he passed. I modelled my technique on his."[citation needed] One of the most memorable features of Butterfield's game was his near-perfect timing of a pass.[citation needed]
Later life
After retiring from full-time rugby, Butterfield briefly worked the paint industry and later opened the Rugby Club in Hallam Street, London, which he and his wife, Barbara, ran for 25 years.[5] Butterfield and his family also enjoyed skiing. His later years were dogged by ill health.
