Officially Official: Danny Butterfield joins Bolton on loan

There's a new Butterfield in town, and this one has a little more experience under his belt. Danny Butterfield (who has no relation to Jacob Butterfield as far as I can tell) has joined Bolton on loan until May 4th (end of regular season) from Southampton. This Butterfield is 33 years old, and plays mainly as a right back, although he can also be deployed in the midfield, either in the centre or on the right. Bolton announced the deal just before the loan window shut today,

Bolton Wanderers have completed the loan signing of Danny Butterfield from Southampton. #BWFC

— Official BWFC (@OfficialBWFC) March 28, 2013

The defender has played for only a handful of clubs in his 16 year-long career, starting out with 5 seasons at Grimsby Town, a club he made 147 appearances for. He then spent 8 seasons with Crystal Palace, making 269 appearances for them. Funnily enough, his time at Palace overlapped with Dougie's playing time, and Butterfield's record for the club's fastest ever hat-trick actually beat Freedman's.

After a brief loan stint at Charlton Athletic, Butterfield signed for Southampton in 2010. In his first 2 seasons for the Saints, he made 52 appearances for the Saints, but was struck with both injury and fitness problems, and hasn't played since last season.

While Bolton do need a right back of distinguished quality, I'm not sure of the wisdom of signing an aging player who hasn't played properly in over a year, especially if the club aims to push for promotion. We shall see.