Nicky Butt bicycle kick: Newcastle star's 2009 effort will always be most pointless

While most iconic bicycle kicks will go down in history as pure works of art, Nicky Butt’s effort in 2009 might not fit that particular bill.

Newcastle welcomed derby rivals Middlesborough for a crucial Championship clash as 50,000 partisan Geordies packed the terraces of St James’ Park.

Marlon Harewood had given Newcastle a first-half lead and, early in the second half, Butt was summoned from the bench to sure up the midfield and protect that advantage.

What followed was one of the football’s most iconic oddities as Butt malfunctioned and reverted to factory settings while deep inside his own half.

It took only seconds after his arrival for Butt to etch his name into the annuls of the footballs’s horrible histories with a remarkable overhead kick that was as stunning as it was pointless and confusing.

After the ‘Boro keeper smashed a goal-kick deep into the Newcastle half, a defensive header sent a high ball in Butt’s direction.

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Without a second thought, Butt loaded up, leapt and smoked a bizarre kick right off the pitch and into the stands.

Of course, when the incident was remembered back in a 2018 tweet, it almost instantly went viral and it’s not hard to see why.The way the ball just harmlessly veers out of play just adds so much to the drama of the moment.

Ronaldo's was ok but it doesn't come close to when Nicky Butt got subbed on and within 30 seconds smashed one into touch deep in his own half, for no obvious reason. pic.twitter.com/D962AkSiEe

On top of all that, Butt wasn’t even under pressure from the opposition. he had the freedom of the Newcastle half to bring the ball down and control and get Newcastle moving forward once again.

It’ the sort of