TERRY BUTCHER never pulled out of a challenge as a player, so it is not surprising that the former England captain grabbed the chance to coach a club on the other side of the world with both hands when opportunity knocked.

The 47-year-old Motherwell manager flew to Australia last Thursday after Tim Parker, the chief executive of Sydney FC, indicated that he was the leading candidate to replace Pierre Littbarski as the head coach of the Hyundai A-League champions. Butcher liked what he saw and signed a two-year contract yesterday.

“This is a great job when you think I am taking over the champions of the A-League,” Butcher said. “It’s going to be a really tough act to follow but this is a huge opportunity for me that I couldn’t turn down.

“It was a shock the way it came around, because a lot of people thought Pierre Littbarski had signed a (new) deal. When they approached me, Motherwell gave me permission and then it really started from there.”

Littbarski turned down a reduced financial package to stay at the club for a second year, having led them to the inaugural A-League title in February, but Butcher did not need much convincing to swap North Lanarkshire for New South Wales.

“When I came out here I looked at the city, looked at the people, the squad and realised this is a great place to be,” Butcher said. “They are winners of the A-League and are in the Asian Champions League, so it’s a great scene down here. This league is really taking shape and they are looking at more teams to add, so people back home will take notice. There are a lot of people who have put a lot of money into it and they badly want it to be a success.”

Butcher has not been shy of voicing his opinions as a pundit while covering the England team for BBC Radio 5 Live and he has frequently questioned David Beckham’s contribution to the team, so it will be intriguing to see how he handles Dwight Yorke, should the former Manchester United forward decide to see out the final year of his £380,000-a-year contract with the Australian champions.

Butcher had two years left on his contract at Motherwell, where he spent the past four years steering the club from administration to the 2005 CIS Insurance Cup final and to a mid-table finish in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague last season. Unfortunately for Beckham and some of his team-mates, Butcher will start in Sydney after fulfilling his World Cup commitments for the BBC in Germany on July 10.

“Sydney have won the inaugural league so I am under a lot of pressure to win it again,” Butcher said.

Maurice Malpas, Butcher’s assistant at Motherwell and the Scotland Under-21 caretaker manager, has been appointed as his replacement at Fir Park.

TERRY’S DILEMMA A PLACE IN THE SUN OR MOTHERWELL?

“SO WHERE the bloody hell are you?” the Tourism Australia advertisement asks and it seems that the appeal of going Down Under is irresistible to some people (Kelly Macnamara writes). The Aussies have found they can get away with swearing in British newspaper adverts this week and they have also managed to get away with the Motherwell manager.

But what could Sydney possibly have that Motherwell does not? Apart from the obvious sun, sea and sand, that is.

Motherwell cannot boast any beaches, but it does have a loch nearby and it is a good place to spot wildfowl. However, the Motherwell Civic Centre does not stand a chance in comparison with Sydney’s iconic Opera House.