PLAYER PROFILE

Stewart Downing

Position: Midfield

Height: 6'0

Weight: 10st 12lbs

Date of Birth: 1984-07-22 Middlesbrough, England

Stewart Downing

Stewart Downing is a talented left-sided midfielder who broke into Middlesbrough's first team squad in 2001/02 and for whom Boro's coaching staff have high hopes.

An England international at under-18, under-21 and now senior levels, Downing has a sweet left foot capable of unlocking defences at any level, as he has shown in his few appearances for the first team so far.

Stewart made his long-awaited Middlesbrough debut in the 1-0 Premiership defeat at Ipswich Town in April 2002 and almost scored a late equaliser, which would have perfectly finished off a fine performance.

Three days later he was rewarded with his home debut, replacing Benito Carbone at half-time in a 2-0 home defeat to Chelsea and was again impressive in the final game of the season at Leeds United.

He scored in Boro's 4-1 Worthington Cup win over Brentford in October 2002, and made two further Barclaycard Premiership appearances towards the end of the 2002/03 campaign, boding well for the future at his hometown club.

In October 2003, Stewart joined Sunderland on a month's loan, looking for some first team experience, however he was called back to Middlesbrough in December as Steve McClaren needed him to cover for his injury-stricken side. During his short spell with the Black Cats he scored three goals in just seven appearances.

Downing started nine out of the 21 games he featured in following his returning from Sunderland and subsequently cemented his place in the first team the following season, earning rave reviews for his performances.

As a natural attacking left-footer, calls soon came for him to be drafted into England's senior squad to play in the long-standing 'problem' position, and in February 2005 Downing was selected by Sven for the friendly against Holland. He came on as a second-half substitute and performed well on his debut in the goalless draw at Villa Park. All in all in the 2004/05 season, he made 48 appearances and scored 6 times.

He made twenty-six appearances in the 2005/06 season and scored once. He also made it into Sven Goran Eriksson's World Cup squad, making three appearances as a substitute.

This superb form continued into 2006/07 as he scored two goals in 42 appearances. He is a vital part of the Boro team