Eddie Butler has died

From the bbc

ormer Wales rugby union captain and legendary broadcaster and commentator Eddie Butler has died at the age of 65.
After rising to prominence with club side Pontypool, Butler played 16 times for Wales between 1980 and 1984, captaining the side on six occasions and scoring two tries.
The number eight was called up to the British and Irish Lions squad that toured New Zealand in 1983.
After retirement he became a respected rugby broadcaster.
Butler died in his sleep on a charity trek in Peru.


He was a pivotal part of the Pontypool side that was created by Ray Prosser and dominated Welsh club rugby in the late 1970s and early 1980s, captaining the side between 1982 and 1985.
Butler had also played for Cambridge University from 1976-1978 while studying French and Spanish at Fitzwilliam College.
Butler's first cap came in Wales' 18-9 Five Nations win against France in January, 1980.
He retired from international rugby in 1985 aged 27 and having worked as a teacher in Cheltenham for three years, Butler then joined Radio Wales as a press and publicity officer in 1984.

While still playing for his beloved Pontypool, Butler went on to work for a property development company.
He started his newspaper journalism career with the Sunday Correspondent in 1988 before stints with Observer and the Guardian and returned to BBC Wales in 1990 after being brought back in by new head of sport Gareth Davies.
Butler started his commentary career alongside the great Bill McLaren.
After McLaren's retirement, Butler became the BBC rugby lead commentator where he formed a notable partnership with the likes of former England hooker Brian Moore and ex-Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies.
Butler will be remembered for his brilliant prose that accompanied montages for major sporting and political events, with the final one marking the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
He also commentated on Olympic sports and the Invictus Games, as well as lending his voice to stirring montages for the BBC's NFL highlights programmes.
In 2010, Butler joined a host of former Wales captains who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise funds for Velindre Hospital, Cardiff's specialist cancer treatment centre.
Butler presented history series on the BBC including Wales and the History of the World, Hidden Histories, Welsh Towns at War in 2014 and two series of Welsh Towns in 2015.
He was also an author after publishing three novels and two non-fiction books.
Away from rugby and broadcasting, Butler campaigned for Welsh independence in recent years.

His passing prompted tributes and condolences from inside and outside rugby union.

While others had Bill McClaren it's Butler who was the main man for many of my years getting into rugby. Him and Brian Moore had a great partnership over the years. A real shame.

Goodness me, I am quite shocked by this. He was doing a charity trek in Petru when he died, so obviously still fit and healthy.

I loved listening to his commentary, a lyrical Welshman, who took over Bill McLaren's mic with great aplomb. He was no bad player either, though unfortunately at no great time for Wales.

RIP Eddie, gone way to soon and you will be missed.

Very sad to hear

The Six Nations will be poorer for his passing.
I shall miss his insightful and witty commentaries and journalism.
My personal favourite was from an article he wrote shortly after Mike Phillips had been arrested for brawling in a MacDonalds in Cardiff High Street at four o'clock in the morning after playing for Wales in a Six Nations game,
"The blame lies as much with the management and senior Wales players; everyone knows Phillips should never be allowed out after dark without adult supervision.".

Also, for those who do not know him too well Big Gee is known to the Scottish posters as Saint Gee Of The Bedpan for his sterling work as a frontline nurse throughout the pandemic. Which makes this comment unintentionally hilarious...
Goodness me, I am quite shocked by this. He was doing a charity trek in Petru when he died, so obviously still fit and healthy.

Yes Gee, fit and healthy...apart from the being dead part.

Very sad indeed. Will definitely miss his montages and voice overs. Seems so sudden.

I will miss Eddie Butler.  One of the great voices I will always associate with Rugby.  Real shame.  For me, part of the three great Rugby broadcasters along with Bill McClaren and Ian Robertson.  Not sure if I would have enjoyed the sport as much without them.  I always enjoyed Eddie butler pronouncing the most difficult names with style and gravitas. He seemed to take every word seriously and pronounced each word with care, accuracy, and intent. A real great of our game.

A lovely tribute by Brian Moore, on Twitter. I knew he would leave a very touching tribute, amongst all the rest of the nice ones.

https://twitter.com/brianmoore666/status/1570456555480547329?s=46&t=lOO7CjcH-IRHKeaAGaHQEg

Very easy guy to listen to, a voice ill always associate with the six nations and every February and March. Its quite sad really.

That's a real shame. I always liked Butler although many didn't including a lot of Welsh fans, for some reason they thought he favoured England which wasn't the case. His verbal sparring with Brian Moore was always a laugh.
Seems all the best commentators are slowly going one way or another.

RIP, Eddie butler, use to love listening to him and brian more talking about the game.

He'll be really missed, I loved his poetic introductions to the 6Ns games as well as his commentary - the Pitbull and the Poet. RIP Eddie.

Haven't been a fan of his commentary in recent years, but always liked his work outside of Rugby. He was always a cool and level head on Scrum V too. RIP Eddie, the first Autumn series and 6N without you is going to be strange.

I loved the calming tone of Eddie's voice. Mrs Bounce didn't know his name but as soon as I said "The rugby commentator with the lovely deep voice" she knew exactly who I meant.

The way he went from soothing to raised tone during the exciting bits then back to calm again was a wonderful foil to Brian Moore's ranting and scathing attacks on players - they were a great commentary team.

Eddie will be hugely missed - not just by the rugby world in general, but by huge numbers of regular rugby fans. As Mikey says above, the Autumn series and the 6 Nations will be a different place without him.

I sincerely hope that the BBC and ITV go looking for someone worthy to fill his big boots.

Mr Bounce wrote:

I sincerely hope that the BBC and ITV go looking for someone worthy to fill his big boots.

Sadly I fear not. The trend is seemingly whoever ticks the most boxes rather than an expert on the game who is also an excellent communicator.
For me David Flatman is best pundit, combines knowledge as ex player with self deprecating humour to great effect. Others just love sound of own voice. It's obviously a subjective thing as I may really like someone who others don't (as it happens Eddie Butler good example). For non-rugby voice overs Butler was one of the best, even his detractors admit that.

Cotter will step into the main role and deservedly so. Would love to see them go and get mullins for the few games that the BBC have.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Cotter will step into the main role and deservedly so. Would love to see them go and get mullins for the few games that the BBC have.

Yes he is by far best commentator, good over a number of sports but brilliant at rugby. Plus of course he does Olive and Mabel voice overs....

Horrible news, a big loss for northern hemisphere rugby and Welsh rugby. I'll miss his commentary during the six nations. My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones.

Visiting those high altitudes in Peru-particularly if you fly up there from the capital-is no joke if your health is suspect (though we're not told if this were the case).

Remember John Peel, the famous disc jockey? Exactly the same fate befell him.