The Perfect Hat-trick: Danny Butterfield’s Unlikely FA Cup Glory

Neil Warnock is an interesting character. No story sums him up better than when he let his wife decide the teamsheet in the 2009-10 FA Cup fourth-round replay.

As Crystal Palace manager, Warnock faced a difficult challenge. 

Days before their FA Cup clash with Wolverhampton, the club entered administration following financial troubles. To make things worse, they had just been awarded a 10-point deduction that had drawn them into the relegation battle at the bottom of the Championship.

Palace were scrambling for funds and was forced to sell their main forward Victor Moses.

On the brink of collapse, a win against Wolves would secure Palace hefty prize money which could reverse their fortunes, quite literally.

It was a crisp winter morning in February. Sitting in bed next to Sharon, his wife, Warnock was anxious about the upcoming game. But she had an epiphany which put Warnock at ease.

“I’ve had a weird dream. I think that your right-back will score the winning goal today,” said Sharon.

With little attacking options, Warnock had no option but to trust his wife’s gut instincts. 

As the Palace players sat in the changing rooms at Selhurst Park, Warnock ushered for silence and delivered a surprising team talk: “Danny Butterfield, you’re playing up front.”

Palace’s right-back Danny Butterfield - who had scored six times in 240 Palace games - wasn’t exactly the most likely to spearhead the team at one of its most precarious moments. 

“It was a little bit comical, but it was also a bit of a freebie for the squad and for me, thinking ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’, we’re on TV, the club get money, and we’ve got a chance of beating Wolves in a one-off game… that was the mentality going into it,” recalls Butterfield.

The makeshift striker was encouraged to be a nuisance as Palace would play direct to Alan Lee in the hope that Butterfield could feed off his flick-ons. But, he failed to make his mark in the first half and worried he might be taken off.

Regardless, Warnock remembered what his wife had told him. 

Butterfield had experience as a striker for his Under-12 team and his instincts kicked in during the second half.

After 62 minutes of play, Wayne Hennessey denied Matt Lawrence’s header, the ball teed up perfectly for Butterfield to header it confidently to give Palace the lead. 

After Wayne Hennessey denied Matt Lawrence’s header, the ball teed up perfectly for Butterfield to header it confidently to give Palace the lead. 

Just three minutes later, Butterfield caught the end of Darren Ambrose’s through-ball, marginally missed a last-ditch tackle, and bobbled a right-footed shot beneath Hennessey’s arm. 

The stadium erupted. 2-0 to Palace.

In the Sky Sports studio, Paul Merson couldn’t contain his excitement. Presenter, Ed Chamberlin, began to narrate over the games, “Two in three minutes has put Crystal Palace on the edge of a tie at home to Aston Vill-”, but was cut off by Merson’s scream.

“A hat-trick! It’s a hat-trick!” Merson shouted. “It’s 3-0!”

Butterfield had snuck between two defenders. As the ball fell to his feet, he shuffled the ball to his left foot and placed it neatly between the splayed legs of the goalkeeper. 

In as little as six minutes and 48 seconds, Butterfield had completed the perfect hat-trick and broke his club’s record for the fastest-ever three-goal haul.

That was Butterfield’s last game in a Palace shirt and perhaps his most important. In one game, he has secured his club over £330,000 in TV payments alone.

“I knew all the lads were happy for me because I was the dressing room joker and had been at the club such a long time. It was a really special moment for me, but as daft as it sounds, it was almost embarrassing at the same time – because that’s not what I do!” reflected Butterfield.

Warnock’s wife was proven right - but even in her dreams, she couldn’t picture such a magical moment.