From The Athletic 👍
“It does scare me a bit, because it’s always been my life. I don’t play golf, I’ve just always played football. I will miss that buzz. It’s true what they say — it goes so quick.”
After 20 years as a professional footballer, Stewart Downing is ready to call it a day.
The former Liverpool and England winger, who turns 37 this month, has been considering his options since leaving Championship club Blackburn Rovers at the end of last season.
“I think I’m going to retire,” Downing tells The Athletic.
“I’ve been waiting a bit as I didn’t want to say it and then someone offers me a year somewhere I really fancied. But the likelihood is that I’ll officially retire in the next couple of weeks.
“I’ve always been quite lucky with injuries, but in the past few years, I’ve had problems with my knee. Recovery takes longer. It’s sore for days and I don’t want to be a burden for a manager where I’m having to say, ‘I can’t play this one’. It gets you down a bit when you can’t do the things you did when you were younger. I suppose it catches up with us all.
“Towards the end of last season, I wasn’t really getting picked and then you don’t get the same enjoyment. It all adds up. Playing in pain is the biggest thing and your health is more important than anything — I don’t want to be unable to walk in my 40s.
“I’ve seen videos and photos from pre-season training this week and I thought, ‘I’m not sure I’ve got that in me anymore’. Once the season starts, I think that’s when missing it will really kick in, especially with the fans coming back. I just wish I’d been able to finish in front of crowds as for the past 18 months we’ve had to gee ourselves up – that’s been a totally different thing for everyone.”
Tanned after a recent holiday in Ibiza, Downing is enjoying being able to spend more time with his young family at home in Wetherby, West Yorkshire.
“It might sound daft but it’s the little things I’ve loved being able to do, like the school run,” he says.
“My girls are seven and three, and you miss out on stuff like that when you’re away all the time for training and matches. Being able to go on holiday and not leave them to go running every day, because you’ve got one eye on pre-season, is another thing.
“I’ve been doing some media stuff with Sky and Talksport and I’ve enjoyed that. I didn’t really think I’d go down that route, but it’s quite laidback and relaxed.
“I’m also in the process of doing my UEFA A coaching licence. I did some work with the under-23s towards the end of last season. There might be something there for me with Blackburn. We’re just waiting for things to settle down. I like helping young players develop.”
Ten years ago to the week, Downing completed the biggest transfer of his career.
Protracted negotiations ended with Liverpool agreeing to meet Aston Villa’s £20 million asking price.
He became the fourth most expensive signing in the club’s history as manager Kenny Dalglish finally got his man. However, within 12 months, Dalglish had been sacked and just over a year after that Downing was also on his way, having has just one season under Brendan Rodgers.
It was a turbulent period for a club still recovering from the ruinous ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett as they finished eighth and then seventh in the Premier League in 2012 and 2013.
Downing is engaging company and refreshingly honest when it comes to reflecting on his two seasons at Anfield. He doesn’t look for excuses. There’s a nagging sense of what could have been.
With Dalglish having fought so hard to get him on board, the Middlesbrough-born winger was desperate to repay the faith shown in him by the Kop legend.
“At one point, I thought the deal (with Villa) was dead in the water,” Downing reveals.
Downing wasn’t sure if he would move to Liverpool or not in summer 2011 (Photo: Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
“When the initial bid of £15 million got rejected, Liverpool were saying £17 million or £18 million tops — but Villa were still saying no.
“I was just turning 27. I thought at that age, it was a lot of money for Liverpool to pay. I didn’t think the Americans (new owners Fenway Sports Group) would go that high, because there was no real resale value for me. I was nervous because I felt like it was probably my last chance to move to a club like Liverpool.
“Every day that summer I was asking Kenny, ‘What’s happening?’. He was so laidback, saying I just needed to sit tight, do pre-season at Villa and it would get done. Kenny didn’t have to sell it to me. I’d have run there myself, even if Liverpool didn’t have a manager.
“When Kenny first made contact, (former Liverpool manager) Gerard Houllier was still Villa boss. I suppose he should have been fighting to keep me but he absolutely loved Liverpool. Gerard’s advice was, ‘If they come in, you have to go. It’s an amazing club’. I was like, ‘Wow, is he actually saying this?’.
“In the end, it was £20 million or nothing. To be fair to Kenny, he really battled away for it and the owners backed him to get it over the line.
“Damien Comolli (Liverpool’s then sporting director) told me there was also interest from Arsenal. Their (Arsenal) plan was to wait and see what Liverpool got to and then come in with a late bid of their own. But in my mind, I was 100 per cent clear I wanted to go to Liverpool. My dad was a Liverpool fan and Kenny was his hero. Plus, I’d always loved playing at Anfield. There had actually first been interest from Liverpool when Rafa (Benitez) was in charge in 2008, but in the end, they went for Albert Riera instead.”
Downing was no stranger to dealing with pressure.
He had made his Premier League debut for hometown club Middlesbrough at the age of 17. He had helped them win the 2003-04 League Cup and reach the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) final two years later before the agony of relegation in 2009 was followed by a move to Villa that summer. He had also played in three of England’s five matches at the 2006 World Cup.
However, he wasn’t fully prepared for life at Liverpool.
Expectation levels were sky-high. When they weren’t met, the scrutiny was unforgiving.
“That was the first thing I noticed,” he says.
“I was coming from a big club in Villa where, of course, the fans would demand we played well, but it was different going to Liverpool. It’s worldwide. Everything gets analysed — you’re on Sky every week, you’re dealing with a lot more criticism.
“Fans look at it and say, ‘Twenty million? We need more from this fella’. I got frustrated with my form. My mindset should have been, ‘Sod it. I’m here to play, this is part and parcel of being at a massive club’. But I let all the criticism I read and heard affect me. I look back now and think, ‘Why did I let that happen?’.
“Kenny would say, ‘Just play. Just do what you did at Villa. Shoot, score, be selfish sometimes’. The season before, I’d been flying. It felt like everything I hit went in. You get those run of forms where you feel nothing can go wrong.
“I knew Stevie (Gerrard) and Carra (Jamie Carragher) from being away with England and they gave me a lot of help and encouragement when times weren’t great. Pepe Reina and Glen Johnson were great lads too.
“I was so desperate to do well at Liverpool. But I was a big confidence player and I let things get to me. I wish I’d had the mentality back then that I have now.”
The memories of his debut, against Sunderland at Anfield on the opening day of the 2011-12 season, are still vivid.
With Liverpool leading 1-0, he embarked on a mesmerising run from inside his own half which ended with a thunderous shot against the crossbar. Dalglish’s side subsequently faded, Sebastian Larsson deservedly equalised just before the hour and Sunderland took a point back to Wearside.
“A Sliding Doors moment,” Downing admits of that blast against the bar. “If that had gone in, I’d have been up and running. I do think about that. Everyone would have been behind me.
“Suddenly, I was trying to fight it. I really wanted to do well for Kenny but it just wasn’t happening for me. Maybe I wasn’t selfish enough. I got into positions at Liverpool where I’d try to play someone in rather than shoot, like I would at Villa. I was probably a bit too nice.
“I also found it different because I was used to playing on the right. I had conversations with Kenny about how I’d love to play there but we had a lot of options for that side, so I played a lot on the left. I felt like my better performances for Liverpool were when I played on the right. But the fact that things didn’t go better for me was nothing to do with Kenny, that was all on me.”
Downing made 46 appearances in all competitions in 2011-12 but finished his first season as a Liverpool player without a Premier League goal or assist despite playing in 36 of the 38 games. There were still days to treasure, though.
He was man of the match, and scored his shootout penalty, in the League Cup final win over Cardiff City at Wembley (main photo). He also got a goal, his first for the club, in an FA Cup third-round victory over Oldham Athletic and the winner in the quarter-final against Stoke City at Anfield.
After defeating neighbours Everton in the semis, hopes of a cup double were wrecked by Chelsea in the final. Substitute Andy Carroll got the score back to 2-1, then came agonisingly close to forcing extra time when Petr Cech tipped his header onto the crossbar late on.
“That goes in, then I’m convinced momentum takes us over the line and we win,” Downing says.
“Lifting two trophies in a season would have been unbelievable for a new team just put together. I really enjoyed the League Cup final – getting at defenders, taking them on, not scared about potentially losing the ball. The problem that season was our league form. As a team, we didn’t do as well as we should have done.”
Liverpool limped home in eighth place, suffering 14 league defeats and were closer in points terms to relegation than Champions League qualification.
New principal owner John W Henry was unimpressed after sanctioning £112 million worth of signings over the course of 2011.
The arrivals of Luis Suarez and Carroll the previous January – funded by the £50 million sale of Fernando Torres to Chelsea — had been followed by deals for Downing, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates in the summer window, plus the free-agent return of Craig Bellamy. Henry had expected a top-four finish and post-season talks over at Fenway HQ in Boston ended with Dalglish being relieved of his duties.
Dalglish (centre) presents new signings (L-R) Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Alexander Doni and Downing in 2011 (Photo: Clint Hughes/Getty Images)
“I was absolutely gutted when I heard,” Downing says. “I get that they’d spent a lot of money and demanded a return, but Kenny deserved at least another six months. There had been an influx of new players and it takes time for things to gel.
“As players, we certainly didn’t know that the owners were going to judge the season solely on Champions League qualification. They expected tomorrow’s success today.
“I felt a bit embarrassed when Kenny left. He had bought us and put a lot of trust in us. As players, we didn’t do well enough for him.
“Some of the games we lost were crazy. QPR away — we were 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go and lost 3-2. You’d come away thinking, ‘How on earth have we managed to lose that when we’re a miles better team than them?’.
“Unfortunately, those kinds of results ended up costing Kenny his job. What a fella he was to play for. He never once blamed the players. he took everything on his own shoulders. He’s such a good person and I just wish he had stayed longer as manager.”
Downing scored Liverpool’s first goal under Rodgers the following August, cutting in off the right to unleash a fierce 25-yarder away to FC Gomel of Belarus in Europa League qualifying.
It was an uncertain time as Rodgers started to overhaul the squad he inherited.
Henderson sought Downing’s advice after the new manager told him he could leave Anfield, just one season after being signed, to join Fulham.
“The transfer deadline was a couple of days away and there had been rumours of Jordan going there with Clint Dempsey coming the other way,” he says. “Before we played Hearts (in the Europa League play-off round), Jordan asked me what I thought he should do. He explained that Fulham wanted him and Liverpool were prepared to let him go.
Downing helped convince Henderson to stay at Liverpool (Photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“I said, ‘Do you want to go?’. He said, ‘No’. He told me that he wanted to be able to say one day that he only ever played for Sunderland and Liverpool. He didn’t want to be someone who went to eight or nine clubs in his career.
“I told him, ‘Well, there’s your answer. Just tell them you want to stay and fight. The club can’t force you to go somewhere you don’t want to go. So if you want to stay, you stay. Prove them wrong’.
“That night, he didn’t have a great game. I knew his confidence had been affected. He was still a young lad. He wasn’t in the team for a while, but he got his head down and fought his way back in. He gained Brendan’s trust and ended up playing ahead of all those players who were brought in.
“I’m so glad he stayed. He’s had an amazing career at Liverpool. He’s come through a lot. It all started with a really tough first couple of years. I’m sure that made him into the player he is today.”
Downing faced his own battle to win over Rodgers.
He was dropped after a 3-0 defeat away to West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of that 2012-13 Premier League season.
Downing did not play regularly under Rodgers (Photo: Stephen Pond – PA Images via Getty Images)
Fabio Borini and a teenage Raheem Sterling were both being picked ahead of him, as the manager publicly questioned whether he had sufficient “fight”.
“I wasn’t very happy about that,” Downing admits.
“Brendan criticised me and Jordan in the media. I thought, ‘If you’d got a problem, pull me into your office and tell me. Don’t tell the media’. Until I read it, he hadn’t said anything to me about needing to do more and fight more.
“Kenny would never have publicly criticised players. If he had an issue, he would always tell you face to face. I like that approach but listen, I got on fine with Brendan. Some people seem to think I didn’t. He was a very good coach and I learned a lot from working with him. He was a young manager back then and still learning. Maybe now he wouldn’t do some of the things he did then, media-wise.
“When a new manager comes in, they always want their own players and I got that vibe. I just got the feeling he was trying to get Kenny’s signings out and not really giving us a chance.
“I didn’t play for a while and then he said, ‘I think you could play left-back’. It was a surprise to me. I was never comfortable playing there, but I didn’t want to leave Liverpool. I wanted to play and that offered me a route into the team. I had a spell there and, eventually, he put me back on the right-wing.”
Downing ended up making 45 appearances in all competitions during a season of transition as Liverpool finished seventh. He contributed five goals and eight assists.
His future remained the subject of ongoing speculation in the summer of 2013 as Rodgers brought in Spanish duo Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto to add to his attacking options. A season-long loan deal for Chelsea winger Victor Moses was also lined up. Downing was getting mixed messages.
“There was interest from West Ham but when I asked Brendan about it he said he wanted me to stay,” he recalls.
“He said I’d start the first league game, against Stoke, and then it was up to me to keep my place. But before we played Celtic in a friendly in Dublin I was told by the club I was free to speak to (West Ham manager) Sam Allardyce.
“I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’. I played that game in a bit of a daze. Something didn’t feel quite right. ‘If the club were accepting a bid for me then the manager must have some say in this’.
“It was more Aspas than Alberto I was competing with, but I was never worried about him coming in. The January before, we’d signed Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge and I’d still played.
“I just didn’t really trust the situation I was in. I could see me being out of the team at the age of 29 and Brendan playing the new players. I didn’t have as tight a relationship with him as I did with Kenny. I went down to West Ham for talks and I got a good feeling off Sam. He built me up and I knew I’d enjoy playing for him.”
Downing completed a £6 million move to West Ham, where he spent two seasons before returning home to Middlesbrough. He helped his hometown club win automatic promotion to the Premier League in 2016, but their return to the top flight lasted only a year.
Elliott has incredible talent, says Downing, and could be a good option for Liverpool in the cups this season (Photo: Juan Gasperini/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
After a 1-0 aggregate loss to Villa in the Championship play-offs in 2018 and then missing them by a point a year later, Downing joined Blackburn as a free agent in the summer of 2019 and last season played alongside Harvey Elliott, the on-loan Liverpool teenager who lit up the Championship with seven goals and 11 assists.
“I first saw Harvey when we played Liverpool in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Anfield before the season restarted last June,” Downing says.
“I couldn’t believe what I was watching.
“He was still only 17 but so mature for his age. I remember Raheem at 17. He had so much talent but he didn’t have Harvey’s understanding of the game – his decision making.
“He really stood out for us last season. You could see it every day with how he trained. He was probably our best player, along with (29-goal top scorer) Adam Armstrong. Harvey always seemed to know where to be, where to go.
“Getting into the Liverpool team is a big ask. He’s got to knock the likes of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane out the way.
“He’s a different type of player, as he’s not someone who relies on pace and power. He’s more of an assist maker. I can see him coming off the bench in the league and starting in the cups for Liverpool this season. He’s certainly got the ability, the confidence and the strength to handle himself at the top level. I’d certainly use him. He’s a great option to have.”
In total, Downing made 408 Premier League appearances and earned 35 England caps. Do any regrets linger from the past two decades?
“I had a really good time at West Ham, but I do wish I’d stayed at Liverpool for another year,” he admits.
“I could see that things were going to get better under Brendan but I was at an age where I couldn’t sit around on the bench. Looking back, I shouldn’t have left when I did. I think he would have played me. I could have been part of that team which went so close to winning the title (in 2014).
“The players brought in that summer I left hardly featured, which always made me wonder whether they were really Brendan’s signings. I might be wrong but I always got the feeling they weren’t. Aspas was a centre-forward really but he was never going to play there with Suarez and Sturridge absolutely flying.
“Suarez was still young back then but such a class player. You could see he was going to be a star in world football. He had the talent and he was fearless — he sort of didn’t care. I used to wish I was a bit more like him — no fear, just play.
“My only other regret was going back to Middlesbrough. I should have stayed at West Ham. I let my heart rule my head and it didn’t go as well as I hoped.
“The two massive highs were playing for Liverpool and England. I won a trophy with one of the biggest clubs in the world. I just wish I’d been able to help them get in the Champions League.
“You always want to do more but you have to be happy with what you get. A lot of lads don’t get a career like the one I’ve had.”
Finally, what about the future? Does life as a manager appeal?
“I’m quite relaxed about what comes next,” Downing adds. “It’s not that I’m thinking, ‘I’ll definitely be a coach’ but it’s something I really enjoy when I’m out there.
“I don’t think you really know for sure with management until you try it. Some have their heart set on it for years and within weeks are thinking, ‘Nah. Get me out of here’.
“Gareth Southgate got burned a bit at Middlesbrough (in his time as their manager). When he left (sacked in October 2009 following relegation to the Championship), he said, ‘Well, that’s me done’. But he went away, got his confidence back and look at him now. Unbelievable the job he’s done with England.
“I didn’t think Steven Gerrard would be a manager. I thought he’d just be a coach — maybe like a Steve Heighway at the academy. Not because I didn’t think he could do it but because he’d had all that pressure for all those years.
“Carra looked nailed on to become a manager from the age of 16! He ran the changing room at Liverpool. He was the voice, a leader, absolute class, I loved playing with him. But he’s gone down another route with the media. Stevie instead is the manager and doing brilliantly at Rangers.
“I’ve learned a lot over the years from some very good players and managers, both in terms of playing style and how you handle people.
“I’m dipping my toe into various things at the minute. I don’t want to rush into nailing myself to one thing.
“I’ve been lucky as a player. Now we’ll see what comes next.”
