Stewart Downing

Stewart Downing was born in Middlesbrough, England on 22nd July 1984 and showed great promise as a footballer from a young age. As a teenager he joined his local club, Middlesbrough's, academy and progressed well, eventually being offered a professional contract in 2001. Downing's debut for Boro's first team came at the back end of the 2001/2002 season when he played 90 minutes in a 1-0 defeat at Ipswich Town.  

Downing would go on to make just two more appearances that season, and a further three the season after, and, in 2003/2004, manager Steve McClaren decided that the time was right for him to go out on loan to gain some experience. 

Downing spent just over a month at Sunderland before being recalled to the Riverside due to an injury crisis and he then set about cementing his place in the first team. Downing would go on to play a further 18 games in the league that season, although he was an unused substitute in Boro's League Cup Final triumph over Bolton. In 2004/2005 Downing made 49 appearances in all competitions, and his performances prompted England manager Sven Göran Eriksson to give him his debut in a friendly against the Netherlands. Unfortunately for Downing he would sustain an injury whilst training with the England squad later that season that would keep him out of action until 2006.

On his return to first team football, Downing made arguably his most telling contribution for Middlesbrough by providing three assists in the UEFA Cup semi final second leg, helping the club to reach its first ever European final. Boro went on to lose the final to Sevilla but the experience was hugely valuable for Downing, who was named in the England squad for the 2006 World Cup. Downing was a regular for Middlesbrough over the next three seasons but he was unable to prevent the club from being relegated at the end of 2008/2009 and they were unable to afford to keep him. 

Downing was sold to Aston Villa for £10m, and would go on to spend two seasons at Villa Park, scoring 11 goals in 79 appearances for the club. Having vehemently denied that Downing would be sold, Villa accepted an offer from Liverpool for his services ahead of the 2011-2012 season and he left for a fee in the region of £20m. Downing spent two seasons at Liverpool, helping them to secure the 2011-2012 League Cup and scoring seven goals in 91 games for the club. He then left to join West Ham United for a fee of around £5m in August 2013.

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