Season #2 | 1880-81 | Games #3 - #6
134 Seasons, 33 Managers, 983 Players, 5,671 Matches, Only One Aston Villa
100% Oligarch and Human Rights Abuse free
Player #828
Appearances:
79
Starts:
73
Goals:
11
Seasons:
2
Source: Football card #27 Stuart Downing issued by Topps under the Match Attax 2009-10 series, 2009.
Source: Football card #27 Stuart Downing issued by Topps under the Match Attax 2009-10 series, 2009.
Stewart Downing
Position
Winger
From
2009-10
To
2010-11
🏴
IMAGE CREDIT
Stewart Downing
Seasons Quick-View
Seasons
Age*
25 | 26 |
Division
PL | PL |
Appearances
79 |
35 | 44 |
Starts
73 |
33 | 40 |
Substitute
6 |
2 | 4 |
Unused
1 |
1 | 0 |
Goals
11 |
3 | 8 |
*Age on opening day of the season
FAC: FA Cup; FL: Football League; D1: Division 1; D2: Division 2; D3: Division 3; PL: Premier League; CH: Championship
FULL SEASON BREAKDOWN
Stewart Downing
Birth Date
Sunday, 22 July 1984
Birth Place
Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire
Birth Country
England
Villa Youth
n/a
From
Transfer in
Middlesbrough
From
For
£11,700,000
On
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Previous Clubs
2003-09 Middlesbrough |
2003 Sunderland (L) |
Loans Out
None
Transfer Out
To
Liverpool
For
£20,520,000
On
Friday, 15 July 2011
Subsequent Clubs
2011-13 Liverpool, £20.52m |
2013-15 West Ham United, £5.22m |
2015-19 Middlesbrough, £7.11m |
2019- Blackburn Rovers, Free |
Source: Football card #27 Stuart Downing issued by Topps under the Match Attax 2009-10 series, 2009.
Source: Football card #27 Stuart Downing issued by Topps under the Match Attax 2009-10 series, 2009.
Villa Career
Seasons Active, Fee, Starts (Sub) | Goals |
2009-11 £11.7m, 79 | 73 (6) | 11 |
STARTS
SUBS
GOALS
Played Under
Martin O’Neill |
Gérard Houllier |
First Squad Appearance
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Debut Appearance
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Burnley (a), Premier League
DEBUT
First Goal
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Final Appearance
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Liverpool (h), Premier League
FINAL
Final Squad Appearance
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Honours
2009-10 League Cup Runners Up |
Height
(5 ft 11 in) 1.8 m
Foot
Left
International Team
England
Stewart Downing
Player #828 for Aston Villa, Stewart Downing played as a winger for the club in 2009-10 and 2010-11 making 79 appearances and scoring 11 goals.
Downing was born in Pallister Park, Middlesbrough on 22 July 1984 and was signed by Martin O’Neill from Middlesbrough for a fee of £11,700,000 on 16 July 2009.
Downing was signed injured and as a result his debut was delayed for four months with him finally making an appearance as a 70’ substitute for Steve Sidwell in Villa’s draw at Burnley on Saturday, 21 November 2009.
O’Neill would name Downing in every squad (36) for the remainder of the 2009-10 campaign handing the winger 33 starts as Villa reached the League Cup final, an FA Cup Semi Final and a 6th placed finish in the Premier League.
For his part Downing struck 3 goals - his first league goals being a brace in Villa’s 5-2 win over Burnley on Sunday, 21 February 2010 - and developed a dynamic triumvirate with James Milner and Ashley Young as O’Neill developed one of the most exciting first XIs Villa had seen in recent decades.
O’Neill however would controversially walk out on Villa on the eve of the 2010-11 campaign and a series of mis-steps by the Villa hierarchy set the club on course for a half decade of drudgery and ultimate relegation.
The first step was a fire sale of the club’s best assets - some of which is alleged to have prompted O’Neill’s departure - closely followed by a series of poor managerial appointment commencing with Gérard Houllier in 2010-11.
Houllier - who manager to neither start nor finish the 2010-11 campaign in charge - once again made Downing a virtual ever present as the winger made 44 appearances and hit eight goals and created 7 assists.
Villa however had lost the impetus of O’Neill and the excellence of James Milner and the often drudgery like football under Houllier led Downing - along with Ashley Young - to see their careers away from Villa Park.
Sadly Downing chose to leave the club as the post Houllier exodus began. In truth of all the recent departures - Gareth Barry, James Milner, Ashley Young and Downing - it was the latter’s that seemed the most undeserved.
It’s fair to say that Villa saw the best of Downing’s club career and the player should probably have repaid the club’s faith in nursing him to fitness with greater loyalty.
However on the flip side - unlike with the transfers of Milner and Barry - Villa received fair value for Downing as he moved on to Liverpool for a fee £20,520,000 in July 2011.
Villa’s loss however was also Downing’s as despite significant transfer fees his career went backwards on the pitch before drifting back to Middlesbrough and into the lower leagues.