Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Gregory Downs | ||
Date of birth | 13 December 1958 | ||
Place of birth | Carlton, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [1] | ||
Position(s) | Full back | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1976–1985 | Norwich City | 169 | (8) |
1977 | → Connecticut Bicentennials (loan) | 16 | (1) |
1977 | → Torquay United (loan) | 1 | (1) |
1985–1990 | Coventry City | 146 | (4) |
1990–1991 | Birmingham City | 17 | (0) |
1991–1994 | Hereford United | 108 | (2) |
1994 | Raunds Town | ||
1994 | Kettering Town | 0 | (0) |
1994 | Redditch United | ||
1994–1995 | Merthyr Tydfil | 8 | (0) |
1995 | Worcester City | ||
1995–1996 | Forest Green Rovers | ||
1996? | Bridgnorth Town | ||
1997? | Malvern Town | ||
1997 | Merthyr Tydfil | ||
1997–2001 | Great Yarmouth Town | ||
2001–2002 | Mulbarton United | ||
2002–2003 | Blofield United | ||
2003 | Dereham Town | ||
2003–2004 | North Walsham Town | ||
Total | 457 | (16) | |
Managerial career | |||
1992–1994 | Hereford United | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Gregory Downs (born 13 December 1958) is an English former professional footballer. Originally a centre-forward, he switched to left full-back early in his career.
Downs began his career with Norwich City where he was player of the year in 1982, the year they won promotion to the First Division a year after relegation.
He remained at Carrow Road until 1985, when moved to Coventry City where he won an FA Cup winner's medal in the 1987 final, where they achieved a surprise 3–2 win over Tottenham Hotspur. He spent five years at Highfield Road, playing 146 league games and scoring four goals.
On leaving in 1990, he dropped down to the Third Division to sign for Birmingham City, playing 17 times in the disappointing 1990–91 campaign where the Blues recorded their lowest ever finish of 13th place. He was then signed by Hereford United, who had appointed former Coventry boss John Sillett as manager for the 1991–92 season. Sillett left Edgar Street after one disappointing season in charge, and Downs was appointed player-manager in his place, an arrangement which lasted for two seasons until he was succeeded by John Layton. In three seasons at the Bulls, he played 108 times in the league's basement division, scoring twice.
After retiring from professional football in 1995, Downs joined the police. However, he continued playing non-league football into his mid forties.
In 2006, he joined Wroxham as assistant to player-manager Damian Hilton. [2] The pair resigned in November 2007; [3] though Hilton had second thoughts and was re-appointed manager, Downs left the club. [4]
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. Norwich compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing rivalry with East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian derby since 1902.
Terry Ian Butcher is an English football manager and former player.
Anthony Mark Mowbray is an English football manager and former footballer who is manager of EFL Championship club Birmingham City, currently on medical leave. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender.
David Watson is an English football manager and former professional player.
Adam James Drury is an English former professional footballer who is best known for his eleven-year spell at Norwich City. Joining in 2001 from Peterborough United, he later went on to captain the club, and is a member of their Hall of Fame. After leaving, he had a short spell with Leeds United, before retiring from professional football at the end of the 2013–14 season. He is assistant manager at non-League club Wroxham.
Liam Sean Daish is a football coach, manager and former professional player who was appointed academy manager at Birmingham City in 2022.
Mark Venus is an English football coach and former player. He is currently assistant manager of Birmingham City. As a player, he spent the majority of his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town. As a coach, he has served as an assistant manager to Tony Mowbray at Hibernian, West Bromwich Albion, Celtic, Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Sunderland and Birmingham City.
John Charles Sillett was an English football player and manager. He played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle. He won the Championship with Chelsea in 1955, playing alongside his brother Peter Sillett. He was manager of Coventry City from 1986 until 1990, winning the FA Cup in 1987, and also had two spells as manager of Hereford United.
Gary McSheffrey is an English football manager and former player who was most recently manager of EFL League Two club Doncaster Rovers.
Richard Edward Shaw is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is under-23s coach at Championship side Watford.
Nicholas Jeremy Eaden is an English football coach and former professional footballer, he is a senior professional development coach at EFL League One side Barnsley.
Mark Rosslyn Bowen is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. He is currently head of football operations at Reading.
Terence Bradley Gibson is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Coventry City, Manchester United and Wimbledon.
Garry James Sidney Pendrey is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, making 345 appearances in the Football League, including more than 300 for Birmingham City. After playing he went into coaching, as manager of Birmingham City, as assistant manager under Alan Buckley at Walsall and Graham Turner at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and as coach or assistant manager under Gordon Strachan at Coventry City, Southampton, Celtic and Middlesbrough.
David Owen Phillips is a Welsh football coach, commentator and former player.
Paul Darren Williams is an English professional football coach and former player who was until August 2022 academy director at Birmingham City.
Nicholas Robert Platnauer is an English former professional footballer and football manager. A left-back, he made 473 league and cup appearances in a 16-year professional career.
George William Curtis was an English association footballer who played in the Football League as a defender for Coventry City and Aston Villa. He made 543 appearances for Coventry between 1956 and 1969, the club's record for an outfield player, winning the 1963–64 Third Division and the 1966–67 Second Division titles and also playing in the First Division from 1967 until 1969. With Aston Villa, he was part of the side which won the 1971–72 Third Division.
Coventry City Football Club is an English association football club based in Coventry in the Midlands. The club was founded in 1883 as Singers F.C. by Willie Stanley, an employee of cycle firm Singer Motors. In 1898, the name was changed to Coventry City. The club first joined the Football League after World War I and in 1938, the club missed out on promotion to the First Division by one point.
The 1990–91 season was Coventry City's 24th consecutive campaign in the Football League First Division, following their promotion from the Second Division in 1967. The club started the season with John Sillett in charge, three years after he and George Curtis had managed the club to victory in the 1986–87 FA Cup. Sillett left the club in November after a run of poor results, and was replaced by Terry Butcher who arrived as a player-manager from Rangers.