Matt Butcher has insisted that once he heard of Bristol Rovers’ interest in signing him, the midfielder was keen to join if his situation at Wycombe Wanderers wasn’t going to improve.
The 27-year-old midfielder arrived in BS7 on loan from the Chairboys for the remainder of the season last Thursday having struggled for game time this term amid Wycombe’s automatic promotion push at the top end of League One.
Butcher had started just four league matches this campaign prior to Sunday, where he was thrown straight into the Rovers side to face Peterborough United as the Gas recorded an important 3-1 victory against a fellow struggler.
The midfielder picked up an assist for former Plymouth Argyle teammate James Wilson’s opening goal in an impressive debut and confessed post-match that he is keen to offer any sort of expertise he can during his time in blue-and-white quarters.
“It’s kind of been ongoing with the situation at Wycombe,” Butcher revealed to Bristol Live. “I didn’t know kind of where I stood within that and it was definitely a club that the second I heard, I was interested in if it wasn’t going to go right at Wycombe.
“It took a bit longer than probably everyone expected but I’m delighted to be here and I’m really excited to move forward.
“It’s been tough because I think up until that point, in my career I’ve played a lot of games each season so that kind of change is different. But at the same time, it was fairly easy to buy into the group and hopefully we can recreate that here and when you look around at good people that helps and you can only do well.
“It wasn’t hard to kind of keep working hard and keep pushing for the team because they were going for something pretty special and I think this is a club where, in the future, that’s ultimately where we’d like to be.
“So yeah, for the group of people it makes it easier so hopefully we can start that momentum now.”
Butcher’s Rovers debut was also his 147th career appearance in League One with the midfielder extremely familiar with the division.
40 of those matches came in Plymouth’s title winning 2022/23 season as Argyle amassed an exceptional 101 points, with current Gas defender Wilson also a key part of that side.
After difficulties getting regular game time up a level in the Championship, Butcher swapped Parks, going from Home to Adams with a permanent move to Wycombe last January.
The Chairboys, at the time, found themselves in a similar predicament to the one Rovers find themselves in now but went on to enjoy an excellent second half of the season as they ended up in 10th place and were unfortunate to lose out to Peterborough in the EFL Trophy final at Wembley.
Butcher started that final as well as 15 of Wycombe’s remaining 18 league games and, although it’s been tough getting a place in the side this year as Wycombe have carried on their momentum to climb up to second in the league, he hopes to enjoy a similar rise with the Gas between now and May.
“Last year I joined Wycombe at a time where I think it was three points off the drop at that point so hopefully I can bring the experience that I’ve been through there and try and stay positive,” the January arrival declared.
“So I think that’s the biggest thing. Try and put a couple of games together and then that feeling kind of overrides a lot of tactics. If you don’t have the foundation for performance then it’s really difficult so hopefully I can bring that side of things definitely.
“I think that’s the reason why I’m in football, the way I get my kind of kicks out of football, is winning games and being on the pitch doing that. So it’s something that I’ll strive to do to do what I can to help the team and ultimately that feeling of walking off with the three points is my favourite thing about football.
“Looking around, you can see your teammates giving their all and vice versa. I don’t think you can beat that feeling so I want to help bring the team closer to where I think the club should be and get away from the situation that we’re in currently.”
The expertise Butcher also brings is the experience of winning League One alongside Wilson, whom he confessed he spoke to before making the temporary move back to the South West.
Coincidentally, the midfielder set his former teammate up for just his second goal of the season, swinging in a corner for a rare goal from a set-piece.
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“He was a big plus,” Butcher admitted when asked about his reunion with the Gas centre-back. “He’s a good friend of mine. I’ve kept in contact with him a lot over the last couple of years since Plymouth. A really good human.
“Like I touched on before, that’s why I want to play. I want to have relationships with people and enjoy coming off a pitch knowing that all of us have worked the hardest.
“So he was a good reference about the group, about individuals. So I definitely learnt a lot from him in the season to come.
“I think it’s the tight knit group, to be honest,” the midfielder added on what it takes to be successful in League One. “I think that Plymouth team that we had was probably not necessarily the best individuals in the league but what we did have was a spirit and a desire to work hard for each other.
“So, I mean that comes day in, day out in training and it’s something I really want to try and bring to a group that’s obviously, with the season it’s been, it’s difficult at times to keep being positive. So hopefully I can bring more of that and have a positive impact on the group as well.”