{"id":639109,"date":"2026-06-15T01:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T01:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/639109\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T01:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T01:16:15","slug":"terry-butcher-an-interview-with-the-original-heavy-metal-footballer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/639109\/","title":{"rendered":"Terry Butcher: an interview with the original heavy metal footballer"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a man who was one of the most fearsome footballers of his generation, Terry Butcher cringes at the thought of looking back at his career in the game. \u201cI get embarrassed by it,\u201d says the defender who won the UEFA Cup with Ipswich Town and three Scottish titles with Rangers, and captained the England national team. \u201cI don\u2019t like seeing myself or hearing myself talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s made an exception for Butcher: Invisible Wounds<\/a>, a new hour-long documentary currently streaming on ITVX in the UK. It\u2019s a portrait of a sporting warrior \u2013 a man who put the fear of god into opponents, was once reprimanded for kicking a referee\u2019s dressing room door off its hinges in anger after an especially fiery game, and, famously, played virtually an entire match against Sweden in 1989 while bleeding profusely from a head wound, resulting in one of the most iconic images in football history.<\/p>\n

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But that\u2019s only part of what Invisible Wounds is about. The documentary also address the death of Butcher\u2019s son Chris, a former soldier who died in 2017 following a struggle with the PTSD from his time serving Iraq and Afghanistan. \u201cIt\u2019s far more than just the story of a footballer\u2019s career,\u201d says Butcher of the documentary. \u201cI wanted to tell Chris\u2019s story. That was more important to me than any football I kicked.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a moving watch, but one thing it doesn\u2019t get into is Butcher\u2019s love of heavy metal<\/a> \u2013 and especially Iron Maiden<\/a>. His fandom stretches back to the 80s, a time when most of his teammates were listening to Phil Collins or R&B.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to listen to Iron Maiden on my little headphones to psych myself up before going on the pitch,\u201d says Butcher. \u201cIt was always the music for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Classic\n<\/p>\n

What got you into metal in the first place?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first album I bought was actually an Al Stewart one, Year of the Cat, which is an absolute classic. I love that. I actually like John Denver \u2013 whisper that one. But heavy metal was always there. The more I got interested in football, the more it played a part. A lot of people listened to disco or R&B, but that never got me going. If I was in my car and had heavy metal on, my foot tended to press down on the accelerator even more. I could really relate to [then-Liverpool manager] Jurgen Klopp talking about \u2018heavy metal football.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Terry\n<\/p>\n

Terry Butcher in England kit at the 1982 World Cup (Image credit: Tom Buist\/Mirrorpix\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

You were the original heavy metal footballer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I was probably one of them. Me and my friend [late Ipswich striker] Paul Mariner. He was a real character \u2013 he had the long hair and everything. Marrers was the one I used to go to the Ipswich Gaumont with to see heavy metal bands. I went to see Iron Maiden with him there. He took me along to see AC\/DC<\/a> at Wembley Arena too. Funnily enough, when I watch Ipswich now, they play Thunderstruck just before the start of the game, and Enter Sandman by Metallica. It\u2019s perfect to get the crowd going \u2013 loud, brash\u2026 bang, bang, bang.\u201d<\/p>\n

I could really relate to Jurgen Klopp talking about \u2018heavy metal football\u2019.<\/p>\n

Terry Butcher<\/p>\n

Were your teammates into metal?<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Me and Marrers used to commandeer the team cassette player, and the rest of the players didn\u2019t like it at all. I remember coming back from a game and someone put a cassette on that we didn\u2019t like. I went to the front of the bus, took the cassette out and threw it through the skylight onto the road. We were both quite tall, so we could fend off any retribution from whoever owned it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When did you first see Maiden live?<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m sure it was at the Gaumont. I got to know a guy who was close to Maiden and Steve Harris<\/a>. He introduced me to Steve, and we got to know each other very well, going to concerts and backstage. I always wanted to be a heavy guitar player or drummer. It’s amazing how rock stars all want to be footballers and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legendary Bobby Robson managed you at Ipswich and, later, during your England career. Was he a Maiden fan?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Bobby Robson did not like heavy metal. He\u2019d say, \u2018Don\u2019t you play that, Butcher\u2019, so there was no chance. He was a big Sinatra guy \u2013 his favourite track was My Way. Graeme Souness, who was the manager at Rangers when I was there, wasn\u2019t into music, but his number two was Walter Smith \u2013 a really tough guy made of granite and steel, but actually quite warm underneath. We used to play Bon Jovi, which Walter Smith actually fell in love with. Then we got him into AC\/DC and a few records we suggested. We converted him into a heavy metal fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maiden famously have their own football team. Did you ever play with them?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. When I was in Scotland, they played the Playhouse in Edinburgh. On the morning of the concert, they played a football match with the roadies and local people. So yes, I was invited to play for Iron Maiden\u2019s team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other team must have been shitting themselves when they saw you.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were, like, \u2018What a ringer! You can\u2019t have him play.\u2019 Another time, I went to Steve Harris\u2019s house in Essex for an album launch. Everybody was there in their leather jackets. He\u2019s got a beautiful house, and there was a football pitch in the garden. And to the side, he\u2019d built a bar. It was always my ambition to walk straight off a football pitch and into a bar with my boots and shorts still on. So that\u2019s what I did \u2013 played the game, walked into Steve\u2019s pub and had a couple of pints straight after the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

You talked about listening to Maiden to psych yourself up before games. Did that really work?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did for me. I used to go to the toilets, put the headphones on and listen to heavy metal, and then I’d want to break down the door to get out on the pitch and go kill someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Terry\n<\/p>\n

Terry Butcher takes the ball from France\u2019s Michel Platini in the 1982 World Cup (Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Of all the musicians you\u2019ve met, who are the tastiest footballers?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say any of them are tasty \u2013 they\u2019re bang average. Actually, one of the best is Rod Stewart. I played with him in a testimonial for [former Aberdeen player] Alex McLeish. He was pretty good. I was wondering what the singalong was going to be in the bath afterwards, but he was knackered and couldn\u2019t speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

I played the game, walked into Steve\u2019s pub and had a couple of pints straight after the game.\n<\/p>\n

Terry Butcher<\/p>\n

What about Steve Harris? Is he any good?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s probably one of the best I\u2019ve seen. He\u2019s not a tall guy, though I\u2019m 6\u20194\u201d so I dwarf most people. But he\u2019s got the energy for it. I guess you get that from playing onstage for two hours a night. But he\u2019s going to be disappointed this season cos West Ham have gone down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you go easy on tackles when you\u2019re playing amateur teams<\/p>\n

\u201cI always go in hard. If you don\u2019t, you could come out injured. I met a guy who played in that game at Steve Harris\u2019s house. He told me, \u2018You nearly destroyed me with one tackle \u2013 you absolutely wiped me out. The impact was felt all around London.\u2019 If I\u2019m going in for a tackle, I steam right in.\u201d<\/p>\n

If push comes to shove, what\u2019s your favourite Iron Maiden song?<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Run To The Hills because of the children. Chris, in particular, loved that one. We\u2019d all do the drumming to it. But I think my favourite would be Wasted Years, just because it’s a great song. I did try to get Paschendale as my ringtone., but I\u2019m not great with technology. I actually have Guns N\u2019 Roses\u2019 Sweet Child O\u2019 Mine as a ringtone. When I was assistant coach for Scotland [in the late 2000s], I did a press conference but I forgot to turn my phone to silent. Halfway through, I got a call and Sweet Child O\u2019 Mine started playing. I got absolutely slaughtered for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Terry\n<\/p>\n

Terry Butcher in new documentary Butcher: Invisible Wounds (Image credit: Press)<\/p>\n

What\u2018s the best Maiden show you\u2019ve ever seen?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got to be Twickenham [in 2008]. I’ve never been to Twickenham to see a rugby match. In fact, I’ve only been there once, and that was for an Iron Maiden concert. I had my three sons all with me, and it was the perfect night. We went backstage before and afterwards. We were all plastered, but it was incredible.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there was a concert at the Playhouse in Edinburgh. Normally, I stand right next to the mixing desk, and that night this roadie came up to me and said, \u2018Come with me, you\u2019re going onstage.\u2019 I said, \u2018No, no, no\u2019, because I\u2019m in Scotland and I\u2019m a former England captain, so I thought I\u2019d get pelted. But they dragged me onstage with Iron Maiden to sing along with one of their songs. Did I get any grief? Yeah, I got a bit of stick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you going to be at Maiden\u2019s big show at Knebworth this year?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m thinking about going to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got to talk about the current World Cup. What are England\u2019s chances of finally winning this year?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2018re very good. I think the way [England coach] Thomas Tuchel goes about his work is great. He demands performances and sets his stall out right away so everybody knows what they have to do. He desperately wants to win the World Cup for England and for himself. There’s also a bit of fear from the players of being left out or given a rollicking, which hasn’t been there in many years. With the weather out there as it is, it’s going to be even worse than when we were in Mexico in ’86 with the storms and everything. But as long as the players are mentally stronger than the opposition, they’ll get through it. The more games they play, the better they’ll be, and there’s good competition for places. I can see them going all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

So should we all go down the bookies and put 50 quid on England winning the World Cup?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, go buy a few more Iron Maiden records you haven\u2019t got already.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butcher: Invisible Wounds is streaming now on ITVX.<\/p>\n

Butcher: Invisible Wounds – Official Trailer – YouTube
\n\"Butcher:<\/p>\n

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