Paul Downing (footballer)

Paul Michael Downing (born 26 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Portsmouth.

Paul Downing

Downing playing for Doncaster Rovers in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Paul Michael Downing[1]
Date of birth	26 October 1991[2]
Place of birth	Taunton, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current team	Portsmouth
Number	5
Youth career
0000–2009	West Bromwich Albion
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2012	West Bromwich Albion	0	(0)
2010	→ Hereford United (loan)	6	(0)
2010–2011	→ Rotherham United (loan)	0	(0)
2011	→ Shrewsbury Town loan)	0	(0)
2011–2012	→ Barnet (loan)	26	(0)
2012–2016	Walsall	156	(6)
2016–2018	Milton Keynes Dons	37	(0)
2017–2018	→ Blackburn Rovers (loan)	16	(1)
2018–2019	Blackburn Rovers	15	(0)
2019	→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)	18	(0)
2019–	Portsmouth	6	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:01, 17 September 2019 (UTC)

Club career

West Bromwich Albion

Downing was born in Taunton, Somerset and came through the youth system at West Bromwich Albion.[2] He signed a professional contract lasting until June 2012, with an option of a further year in the club's favour.[3] He made the bench for a 0–0 draw against Blackburn in the Premier League on 24 May 2009.[4]

Downing went on a one-month loan deal to Hereford United on 25 January 2010, along with West Brom teammate Lateef Elford-Alliyu.[5] He was given the squad number 16, and made his debut on 2 February in a 2–0 win against Lincoln City at Edgar Street.[6] He was sent off on his final appearance, a 5–0 loss to eventual league winners Notts County on 27 February.[7] He made six appearances during his loan spell.[8]

Between November 2010 and April 2011, Downing signed on loan for two successive spells with Rotherham United [9] and Shrewsbury Town[10] but made no senior appearances for either club before returning to West Brom.[11]

On 3 November 2011 he signed on loan for League Two side Barnet, initially on a one-month deal.[12] He made his debut on 8 November in a 2–0 win in the Football League Trophy against Cheltenham Town.[13] On 17 November Barnet extended the loan deal to allow him to remain there until 2 January.[14] On 19 January 2012 the loan deal was extended again to allow him to remain at Barnet until 28 February.[15] On 29 February the loan deal was extended again, this time until the end of the season.[16] He was sent off for the second time in his career during a 1–1 draw with Rotherham on 3 March.[17]

When Downing returned to West Bromwich Albion at the end of the 2011–12 season the club announced that they were not offering him a new contract. On 24 May 2012, Downing was released after three years at the club, having never made an appearance for the first team.

Walsall

On 1 August 2012, Downing signed for League One team Walsall.[18] He made his debut on 1 September in a 2–2 draw against Brentford.[19]

Milton Keynes Dons

On 27 June 2016, after declining a new contract with Walsall, Downing joined fellow League One side Milton Keynes Dons on a free transfer, signing a two-year deal.[20] Downing made his league debut for the club on 6 August 2016, in a 0–1 away win against Shrewsbury Town.[21]

Blackburn Rovers

On 31 August 2017, Downing initially joined fellow League One club Blackburn Rovers on a season-long loan.[22] On 8 January 2018, Downing joined the club permanently on a one-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[23] On 15 May 2019 it was announced that Downing will leave at the end of his contract.[24] Downing was seen by many of his Rovers teammates to be something of a mentor figure, leading him to be known among the squad as Uncle Paul.

Doncaster Rovers

On 24 January 2019, it was announced that Downing had been loaned to Doncaster Rovers in League One for the rest of that season.[25]

Portsmouth

On 21 June 2019, it was announced Downing had signed for League One side Portsmouth on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract after being released by Blackburn Rovers.[26]

Personal life

He is the nephew of former footballer and manager, and former assistant head coach of West Brom Keith Downing. His older brother Leigh was formerly at the West Bromwich Albion academy as a scholar.[27]

Career statistics

As of match played 12 December 2020 [28]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
West Bromwich Albion	2008–09[29]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2011–12[30]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Hereford United (loan)	2009–10[8]	League Two	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Shrewsbury Town (loan)	2010–11[31]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Barnet (loan)	2011–12[30]	League Two	26	0	2	0	0	0	4[lower-alpha 1]	0	32	0
	Total		32	0	2	0	0	0	4	0	38	0
Walsall	2012–13[32]	League One	31	1	0	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	32	1
	2013–14[33]	League One	44	1	2	0	2	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	49	1
	2014–15[34]	League One	35	1	2	0	2	0	6[lower-alpha 1]	0	45	1
	2015–16[35]	League One	46	3	5	0	3	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	56	3
	Total		156	6	9	0	7	0	11	0	183	6
Milton Keynes Dons	2016–17[36]	League One	37	0	2	0	1	0	3[lower-alpha 3]	0	43	0
	2017–18[37]	League One	0	0	0	0	2	0	1[lower-alpha 3]	0	3	0
	Total		37	0	2	0	3	0	4	0	46	0
Blackburn Rovers (loan)	2017–18[37]	League One	16	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	18	1
Blackburn Rovers	2017–18[37]	League One	12	0	—		—		—		12	0
	2018–19[37]	Championship	3	0	0	0	1	1	—		4	1
Doncaster Rovers (loan)	2018–19[37]	League One	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
Portsmouth	2019–20	League One	6	0	1	0	3	0	4	0	14	0
	2020–21	League One	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	0	6	0
	Total		6	0	1	0	5	0	8	0	20	0
Career total			262	7	16	0	16	1	27	0	321	8

1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in the League One play-offs
3. Appearances in the EFL Trophy

Honours

Blackburn Rovers

• EFL League One runner-up: 2017–18[38]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Portsmouth" (PDF). English Football League. p. 55. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
3. "West Bromwich Albion Team Profiles: Paul Downing" West Bromwich Albion F.C. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
4. "Blackburn 0–0 West Brom" West Bromwich Albion F.C. 24 May 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
5. "Hereford sign West Brom's Downing and Elford Alliyu" BBC Sport. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
6. "Hereford 2–0 Lincoln" BBC Sport. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
7. "Notts County 5–0 Hereford" BBC Sport. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
8. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
9. "Rotherham sign Will Atkinson & Paul Downing" BBC Sport. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
10. "Shrewsbury sign Davis, Nicholls and Downing" BBC Sport. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
11. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
12. "Barnet sign defenders Paul Downing and Michael Hector" BBC Sport. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
13. "Cheltenham 0–2 Barnet" BBC Sport. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
14. "Barnet extend Paul Downing loan deal from West Brom" BBC Sport. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
15. "Barnet extend deals of Alassane N'Diaye & Paul Downing" BBC Sport. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
16. "Downing extends loan deal" Yahoo! Eurosport. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
17. "Barnet 1–1 Rotherham" BBC Sport. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
18. "Paul Downing & Connor Taylor sign one-year deals for Walsall" BBC Sport. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
19. "Walsall 2–2 Brentford" BBC Sport. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
20. "Downing is a Don". Milton Keyes Dons Official Site. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
21. "Report: Shrewsbury Town 0–1 Dons". Milton Keynes Dons Official Site. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
22. "Blackburn Rovers sign Sam Hart, Rekeem Harper and Paul Downing". BBC Sport. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
23. "Paul Downing: MK Dons defender completes permanent Blackburn Rovers move". ITV News. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
24. "Rovers confirm retain list". Blackburn Rovers. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
25. "Downing joins Rovers on loan". Doncaster Rovers Official Site. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
26. "Ellis Harrison and Paul Downing: Portsmouth sign Ipswich Town striker and Blackburn defender". BBC Sport. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
27. "Assistant head coach" West Bromwich Albion F.C. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
28. "Paul Downing". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
29. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
30. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
31. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
32. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
33. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
34. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
35. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
36. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
37. "Games played by Paul Downing in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
38. Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-1-4722-6106-9.

External links

• Paul Downing at Soccerbase