Stewart Downing

**Stewart Jason Downing** (born 22 July 1984) is an English footballer. He started playing for the Middlesbrough first team in 2001. He went on loan to Sunderland in 2003, and spent the next six years at Middlesbrough. When they were relegated in 2009 he left to join Aston Villa, and spent the next two years there. He had a two-year spell with Liverpool from 2011, and joined West Ham United in 2013. He went back to Middlesbrough for four years, then finished his career playing for Blackburn Rovers.

### Start with Middlesbrough

He joined the Middlesbrough first team in 2001, having played for the Academy. In his first two seasons, he played in five Premier League matches, and failed to score any goals during that time.

#### Sunderland loan

In 2003, he joined Sunderland on loan, and stayed there until 30 November 2003. He scored three goals in seven matches.

#### Next six years with Middlesbrough

He became a regular at Middlesbrough, and spent the next six seasons there. They had some highs and some lows, but were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2008–09 season. Downing left Middlesbrough at the end of 2008–09.

#### Start with England team

In 2005, he began playing for the England team.

### Move to Aston Villa

After Middlesbrough's relegation, he joined Aston Villa for the 2009–10 Premier League. He played there for two seasons.

### Joining Liverpool

He joined Liverpool in 2011 and stayed there for two seasons.

### Move to London with West Ham

In 2013, he joined London club West Ham United, where he spent the next two seasons.

### Move back to Middlesbrough

He re-joined Middlesbrough in 2015, and stayed with the side for four seasons.

### Move to Blackburn Rovers

Downing joined Blackburn Rovers and played for two seasons between 2019–20 and 2020–21.

### Club

|rowspan=2|Club|rowspan=2|Season|colspan=3|League|colspan=2|FA Cup|colspan=2|League Cup|colspan=2|Other|colspan=2|Total|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan=9|Middlesbrough|2001–02|Premier League|3|0|0|0|0|0|—|3|0||
|2002–03|Premier League|2|0|0|0|1|1|—|3|1||||
|2003–04|Premier League|20|0|2|0|2|0|—|24|0||||
|2004–05|Premier League|35|5|2|0|2|0|9|1|48|6|||
|2005–06|Premier League|12|1|5|0|0|0|9|0|26|1|||
|2006–07|Premier League|34|2|8|0|0|0|—|42|2||||
|2007–08|Premier League|38|9|5|1|2|0|—|45|10||||
|2008–09|Premier League|37|0|5|2|1|0|—|43|2||||
|Sunderland (loan)|2003–04|First Division|7|3|—|—|—|7|3|||||
|rowspan=3|Aston Villa|2009–10|Premier League|25|2|6|0|4|1|0|0|35|3|
|2010–11|Premier League|38|7|3|0|2|1|1|0|44|8|||
|rowspan=3|Liverpool|2011–12|Premier League|36|0|6|2|4|0|—|46|2||
|2012–13|Premier League|29|3|2|0|2|0|12|2|45|5|||
|rowspan=3|West Ham United|2013–14|Premier League|32|1|1|0|4|0|—|37|1||
|2014–15|Premier League|37|6|4|0|1|0|—|42|6||||
|rowspan=5|Middlesbrough|2015–16|Championship|45|3|0|0|4|0|—|49|3||
|2016–17|Premier League|30|1|3|1|1|0|—|34|2||||
|2017–18|Championship|40|3|2|0|3|0|2|0|47|3|||
|2018–19|Championship|38|2|1|0|1|0|—|40|2||||
|rowspan=3|Blackburn Rovers|2019–20|Championship|41|2|1|0|1|1|—|43|3||
|2020–21|Championship|18|0|1|0|0|0|—|19|0||||

### International

|rowspan=2|National team|rowspan=2|Year|colspan=2|Competitive|colspan=2|Friendly|colspan=2|Total|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan=8|England|2005|0|0|1|0|1|0||
|2006|6|0|2|0|8|0||||
|2007|5|0|2|0|7|0||||
|2008|1|0|4|0|5|0||||
|2009|0|0|2|0|2|0||||
|2011|5|0|4|0|9|0||||
|2012|0|0|2|0|2|0||||
|2014|0|0|1|0|1|0||||

## Honours

**Middlesbrough**
- Football League Cup: 2003–04
- UEFA Cup runner-up: 2005–06
- Football League Championship runner-up: 2015–16

**Aston Villa**
- Football League Cup runner-up: 2009–10

**Liverpool**
- Football League Cup: 2011–12
- FA Cup runner-up: 2011–12

**Individual**
- North-East FWA Player of the Year: 2005
- Alan Hardaker Trophy: 2012
- Aston Villa Player of the Season: 2010–11
- Middlesbrough Player of the Year: 2004–05
- Middlesbrough Young Player of the Year: 2003–04

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Stewart Downing
- **image**: Stewart Downing 2016.jpg
- **image size**: 200
- **caption**: Downing training with Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough in 2016
- **full name**: Stewart Downing
- **birth place**: Middlesbrough, England
- **position**: Midfielder#Winger, Left Winger, Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder
- **youthyears1**: –2001
- **youthclubs1**: Middlesbrough F.C. Reserves and Academy, Middlesbrough
- **years1**: 2001–2009
- **clubs1**: Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough
- **caps1**: 181
- **goals1**: 17
- **years2**: 2003
- **clubs2**: → Sunderland A.F.C., Sunderland (loan)
- **caps2**: 7
- **goals2**: 3
- **years3**: 2009–2011
- **clubs3**: Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa
- **caps3**: 63
- **goals3**: 9
- **years4**: 2011–2013
- **clubs4**: Liverpool F.C., Liverpool
- **caps4**: 65
- **goals4**: 3
- **years5**: 2013–2015
- **clubs5**: West Ham United F.C., West Ham United
- **caps5**: 69
- **goals5**: 7
- **years6**: 2015–2019
- **clubs6**: Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough
- **caps6**: 153
- **goals6**: 9
- **years7**: 2019–2021
- **clubs7**: Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers
- **caps7**: 59
- **goals7**: 2
- **totalcaps**: 597
- **totalgoals**: 50
- **nationalyears1**: 2001
- **nationalteam1**: England national under-16 football team, England U16
- **nationalcaps1**: 2
- **nationalgoals1**: 0
- **nationalyears2**: 2002
- **nationalteam2**: England national under-18 football team, England U18
- **nationalcaps2**: 3
- **nationalgoals2**: 0
- **nationalyears3**: 2002–2003
- **nationalteam3**: England national under-19 football team, England U19
- **nationalcaps3**: 7
- **nationalgoals3**: 0
- **nationalyears4**: 2004–2005
- **nationalteam4**: England national under-21 football team, England U21
- **nationalcaps4**: 8
- **nationalgoals4**: 0
- **nationalyears5**: 2007
- **nationalteam5**: England national football B team, England B
- **nationalcaps5**: 1
- **nationalgoals5**: 2
- **nationalyears6**: 2005–2014
- **nationalteam6**: England national football team, England
- **nationalcaps6**: 35
- **nationalgoals6**: 0