Stewart Downing is a 32 year old player that has gone through many English clubs including: Sunderland, Aston Villa, Liverpool and West Ham United.
Despite that he has performed in some of the more prominent and well-known clubs in England such as: Liverpool, it’s with Middlesbrough where his career started and where it’s more meaningful for him to perform in.
It was back in September of 2001 where Downing managed to sign his first professional contract as he became an official player of Middlesbrough and from there on out he managed to make over 170 appearances for the club before eventually making a move to Aston Villa.
From there on out Downing initiated his playing career which saw him joining various clubs but now that he is 32 years old, the English player has decided to make a return to his childhood club Middlesbrough in a transfer that was completed on July 16 of 2015 but it wasn’t until a few days ago that Stewart Downing has talked about what it feels like to get back to the place where he initially developed as a footballer.
‘’It does feel different for me playing for Middlesbrough than other clubs. There are a lot of family and friends in that crowd. Local people and that means that local players can get it tougher. I was fortunate. I didn’t need to leave as a kid. I was happy here at a good club with a good chairman and manager’’ Stewart Downing said as he talked about what it’s like to make a return to his childhood club after around 6 years of playing in other clubs.
Downing is now hoping that he can help Middlesbrough in surviving in the Premier League which is one of their main objectives in this season.