Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt departs CEO role at Salford City

Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has left his role as Chief Executive Officer of Salford City.

The 49 year old played 387 times for the Red Devils, scoring 26 goals.

After playing for Newcastle United, he joined the coaching set up at Carrington back at his former side and was appointed head of the academy in 2016.

Butt would then become the head of first-team development, reporting directly to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær during his time at the club.

In March 2021 he finally left United’s academy to focus on work with Salford City, where alongside other members of the Class of 92, he became a part owner of the League Two club in 2014.

He was appointed CEO in 2022 after taking over the reins from fellow former United man, Gary Neville.

The Manchester Evening News report that he has now left this role as “he cannot dedicate the time” the job requires.

Commenting on his decision to leave he said, “whilst I have enjoyed the day-to-day responsibilities of the Chief Executive role and discovered a huge amount about the challenges an EFL club faces away from the football pitch, I have recently realised how much I miss the coaching and development of players.”

The former United man delved deeper into his future plans when he stated, “this has increased my desire to get back into that side of the game.”

“Over the past few months, there have been several exciting opportunities put forward to me that have put my focus back on coaching and on the grass. That being said I have always wanted to put Salford first.”

Butt assured fans of the club that it will be “very much business as usual” despite his departure from the role as they “now have experienced executives within the senior management team” allowing him to step away from his duties.

Finance director Jonathan Jackson will now take over as chief executive officer on an interim basis, the club’s statement added.

It will be interesting to see where Butt lands in the future as he clearly has a coaching itch still left to scratch. Whether he will continue to work at youth level or take the step to a more senior management position remains to be seen.