Keith Downing

Keith Gordon Downing (born 23 July 1965) is an English former footballer and football manager who is a first-team coach at club Derby County. He made the majority of his professional appearances forr Wolverhampton Wanderers.

A former Chelsea youth team player, he moved from Mile Oak Rovers into the English Football League with Notts County in 1984. Three years later, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers. He spent six years with Wolves, winning the Football League Trophy in 1988 and successive Fourth Division and Third Division titles in 1987–88 and 1988–89. He joined Birmingham City in 1993 before moving on to Stoke City the following year. In 1995, he joined Hereford United via Cardiff City, and retired in 1999.

Downing went on to become a coach and also spent September 2007 to November 2008 as Cheltenham Town manager, and served West Bromwich Albion as caretaker manager for a brief spell in the 2013–14 Premier League season. He was appointed England U20 head coach in July 2015 and then took up the same role with the England U19 team 13 months later, whom he led to the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship title.

Playing career Early career Downing was a junior player at Chelsea but left Stamford Bridge at the end of the 1982–83 season. He spent a season with Mile Oak Rovers. He began his professional career in 1984 at Richie Barker's Notts County, who went on to be relegated out of the Second Division at the end of the 1984–85 season. The "Magpies" finished eighth in the Third Division in the 1985–86 season and then seventh in 1986–87 under the stewardship of Jimmy Sirrel.

Wolverhampton Wanderers He left Meadow Lane and moved on to Graham Turner's Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1987. Wolves won promotion as champions of the Fourth Division in 1987–88, and Downing also played in the 1988 Football League Trophy final victory over Burnley at Wembley Stadium. Wolves won a second-successive promotion in the 1988–89 season, winning the Third Division title by an eight-point margin.

Managerial career Cheltenham Town Downing joined Cheltenham Town as an assistant manager in July 2004, working alongside manager John Ward, who he had met through his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers where Ward had been assistant manager. However, they struggled after striker Steven Gillespie was sold to Colchester United for £400,000.

Coaching spell In February 2009, he was appointed assistant manager at League Two side Port Vale. This was a temporary appointment to help manager Dean Glover, and both men left the club in May 2009. In July 2009, Downing was appointed the academy coach at West Bromwich Albion. He served as joint-assistant head coach for the "Baggies" under Steve Clarke and in December 2013 temporarily took over first-team duties at the Premier League club after Clarke was sacked and before Pepe Mel was appointed manager early the following month. He was not a popular figure with fans at The Hawthorns due to his years of service at Black Country derby rivals Wolves. However, his UEFA Pro Licence and popularity with the players made him a serious candidate to replace Mel in the summer. Alan Irvine got the job however, and Downing left the club in January 2015 following a backroom reshuffle by new boss Tony Pulis.

England youth Downing was appointed head coach of the England U20 team in July 2015, initially on an interim basis. His appointment was made permanent in February 2016. He changed roles to become head coach of the England U19 team in August 2016. He led the under-19s to victory in the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship with a 2–1 victory over Portugal. He was a part of Gareth Southgate's scouting team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

EFL coach Downing left Bristol City in October 2021. He was appointed as first-team head coach at Plymouth Argyle in December 2021, working under manager Steven Schumacher, who clarified that "Keith has come in as my No 2, if you like". Downing left the club at the end of the 2021–22 season, much to director of football Neil Dewsnip's disappointment. In July 2022, Downing returned to Birmingham City as one of two assistants to newly appointed head coach John Eustace. He left the club on 10 October 2023 after Eustace's dismissal.

In February 2024, he reunited with Eustace again when appointed as an assistant coach alongside Matt Gardiner at Blackburn Rovers. Eustace changed jobs to manage Derby County 12 months later and Downing followed him to Pride Park Stadium to become a first-team coach.

Personal life Downing married in 1993 and has two sons from that marriage. He is a cousin of Judas Priest guitarist K. K. Downing. His nephew, Paul Downing, also played professional football.

Career statistics Playing

Managerial

Honours as a Player Wolverhampton Wanderers Football League Fourth Division: 1987–88 Football League Trophy: 1988 Football League Third Division: 1988–89

as a Manager England U19 UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2017