WATCH: Nicky Butt explains why he stayed at Newcastle after relegation in 2009

Thankfully, it seems like a long time ago now, but there was a time when Newcastle United dropped out of the Premier League. Well, two times, in fact.

The first time was back in 2009 when Alan Shearer was brought back to the club to try and stop the drop. Shearer was Newcastle's fourth manager that season. It was a shambles.

Newcastle had some big players in the squad, too, one of whom was former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt, who, despite reaching the end of his career, was still a formidable force in the midfield.

It felt like Butt would be one of the first out of the door when Newcastle were relegated, but the Mancunian stayed on to help the Magpies get back into the Premier League.

Nicky Butt stayed on after relegation

In a recent interview on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Butt spoke about why he stayed at the club and went on to admit that, aside from winning the treble with Man United, promotion with Newcastle was one of the best moments of his career.

"End of the season, I was done. I was gone, I couldn't do anything that I wanted to do, I was getting a bit embarrassed with myself.

"I thought 'well, we've gone down now', and it wasn't the fact of the players - if we'd have left that day, we're all going back to our families, we've got a nice house, we could live with it.

"But I remember the kit lads were getting sacked, some of the canteen were going and I was like 'Oh my god, this is massive'. It affects everybody.

"So I stayed on for another year. To be fair, I didn't play too much, but I wanted to be part of the team.

"Apart from obviously the treble year, I wouldn't put anything above getting promotion, only because of what it meant to the football club going down.

"If I'd just come in and got promotion, it might not have meant as much, but I saw the club really go down and then come back up, and it was a great way for me to call it a day and retire."

 

Nicky Butt wouldn't put anything in his career (apart from the treble) above promotion with Newcastle 🤯🏆 pic.twitter.com/8F5JQelqEX

— The Good, The Bad & The Football (@goodbadftblpod) April 1, 2026

Nicky Butt's actions really show up those of Michael Owen

We absolutely love this from Nicky Butt. Given the number of players who jumped ship each time Newcastle were relegated, it's great to see that at least one man was able to think of how it was affecting others and stepped up to put things right.

Obviously, Nicky Butt wasn't the only one to do that, but when you're a treble-winning Manchester United and England hero, there's probably an expectation that you wouldn't lower yourself to playing in the Championship.

When you look at what other high-profile players did when we got relegated - making up brochures and pimping themselves out to other clubs like a certain Michael Owen who shall remain nameless! Nicky Butt, you're alright with us, mate!