Simon Downer Explained

Simon Downer
Fullname:Simon Downer[1]
Birth Date:19 October 1981
Birth Place:Romford, England
Position:Defender
Youthyears1:–1998
Youthclubs1:Leyton Orient
Years1:1998–2004
Years2:2004
Years3:2005–2006
Years4:2006–2008
Years5:2008
Years6:2008
Years7:2009–2010
Years8:2010–2014
Years9:2014–2015
Years10:2015–2018
Years11:2018–2019
Clubs1:Leyton Orient
Clubs2:Aldershot Town (loan)
Clubs3:Weymouth
Clubs4:Grays Athletic
Clubs5:Wivenhoe Town
Clubs6:Sutton United
Clubs7:Rushden & Diamonds
Clubs8:Sutton United
Clubs9:Maidenhead United
Clubs10:Sutton United
Clubs11:Hampton & Richmond
Caps1:79
Goals1:0
Caps2:8
Goals2:0
Caps3:17
Goals3:2
Caps4:38
Goals4:1
Caps5:1
Goals5:0
Caps6:7
Goals6:0
Caps7:48
Goals7:1
Caps8:97
Goals8:4
Caps9:27
Goals9:0
Caps10:53
Goals10:0
Caps11:19
Goals11:0
Club-Update:21:10, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

Simon Downer (born 19 October 1981) is an English former footballer who played as a central defender or right back.

Club career

Downer's previous clubs include Leyton Orient, Aldershot Town (loan), Weymouth, Grays Athletic, Wivenhoe Town, Rushden & Diamonds and Sutton United.

Having played for the West Ham youth academy, Downer, who at the time was playing for Leyton Orient, went on trial with Newcastle United. However, Bobby Robson decided against signing the 19-year-old Downer, as he had a recurring problem with his left knee that needed an operation. This has hampered his career and at one point he retired from football. In between his 'retirement', Downer worked as a bricklayer.[2]

On 26 May 2009, Downer signed a one-year contract to remain at Rushden & Diamonds for the duration of the 2009–10 season. During the close-season after, he decided not to renew his contract offered and signed with Sutton United,[3] with whom he won the Isthmian League Premier Division at the end of the 2010–11 season.[4] He scored his first Sutton league goal in a 4–3 home victory over Wealdstone on 27 November 2010.[5] He won the Players' Player of the Year award for the 2011–12 season.

Downer rejoined Sutton in 2015 for a third spell after spending the previous campaign at Maidenhead United. He made his 200th career appearance for Sutton in September 2015 and was part of the team which won the National League South title.[6]

On 4 December 2016, Downer appeared in The Non-League Paper's team of the day alongside teammate Roarie Deacon and manager Paul Doswell following an impressive performance in Sutton's 2–1 victory over League Two side Cheltenham Town in the 2nd round of the FA Cup on 3 December.[7] Downer appeared in every round of Sutton's historic run to the 5th round of the FA Cup for the first time ever, including a 3–1 victory over League One team and local rivals AFC Wimbledon on 17 January 2017,[8] a 1–0 victory over Championship team Leeds United on 29 January[9] and a 0–2 defeat to Premier League Arsenal on 20 February.[10] Downer appeared again in the NLP team of the day after a 3–2 away victory against Torquay United on 25 February, when he was forced to step in as goalkeeper following an injury to Ross Worner.[11] [12] He made his 250th appearance for Sutton United in February 2017.[13]

Honours

Sutton United

Notes and References

  1. Book: Barry J. . Hugman . The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . 2003 . Queen Anne Press . 1-85291-651-6 . 121 .
  2. Web site: BBC - Chris Bevan: How Simon Downer found his feet on football's fringes.
  3. News: Fulham friendly fiasco creates £30,000 shortfall in Sutton budget. Stuart. Amos. 13 July 2010. 14 July 2010. Surrey Comet.
  4. News: Sutton United 2-0 Carshalton Athletic: Match report. Sutton United F.C.. 26 April 2011. 28 May 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928022417/http://www.suttonunited.net/matchreport.html?id=380. 28 September 2011. dmy-all.
  5. Web site: SuttonUnited.net - The official website of Sutton United Football Club . www.suttonunited.net . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101130100534/http://suttonunited.net/matchreport.html?id=358 . 2010-11-30.
  6. Web site: SuttonUnited.net - the official website of Sutton United Football Club. www.suttonunited.net . https://web.archive.org/web/20160308040713/http://suttonunited.net/firstteam_squad.html . 8 March 2016.
  7. News: The NLP's National League and FA Cup Team of the Day December 4. 5 December 2016. 6 December 2016. The Non-League Paper.
  8. News: AFC Wimbledon 1-3 Sutton United . 17 January 2017 . 7 March 2017 . BBC.
  9. News: Sutton United 1-0 Leeds United . 29 January 2017 . 7 March 2017 . BBC.
  10. News: Sutton United 0-2 Arsenal . 20 February 2017 . 7 March 2017 . BBC.
  11. News: Torquay United 2 Sutton United 3. 25 February 2017. 7 March 2017. BBC.
  12. News: The NLP's National League and FA Trophy Team of the Day February 26. 27 February 2017. 5 April 2017. The Non-League Paper.
  13. Web site: Simon Downer. Sutton United F.C.. 4 August 2017.