INTERVIEW: Downing excited by challenge as new season closes in

Keith Downing says he has loved every minute of his time at Derby County so far - and he is excited for the upcoming 2025/26 campaign to get underway.

Downing took on the role of First Team Coach as part of John Eustace’s staff when he was appointed as the Rams’ Head Coach in February this year.

Downing and Assistant Head Coach Matt Gardiner had worked alongside the Derby boss in his previous stints in charge of Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers and had built a strong working relationship between themselves.

The trio, with the support of First Team Transition Coach Jake Buxton and Head of Goalkeeping Paul Clements, oversaw the Rams’ rise from the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship table in March to safety inside eight weeks at the back end of the 2024/25 season.

After preserving the club’s second-tier status, Downing believes there are positive foundations in place for the club, notably with the incredible passion of the Rams’ faithful.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far,” Downing said in his first RamsTV interview since joining the club back in February.

“The 14 weeks at the end of last season were a rollercoaster, but it was a time to learn a lot about the football club and the supporters and how they back the team with passion.

“It was a huge effort from everybody to get us over the line. As players and staff, we got ourselves together and made sure we were pretty competitive and hard to play against.

“We ground out some good results with some real resilience. We’re happy to be in the position we’re in now, but we’ve got to try and kick on and improve the squad and the results.”

Derby’s players reported back for pre-season training towards the end of June and, since then, they have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming campaign.

Having taken in friendlies against Matlock Town, FC Red Bull Salzburg, Walsall and Burton Albion, the Rams will travel to Solihull Moors this evening in their penultimate workout (7:45 kick-off).

The Rams’ pre-season games programme will then conclude at Pride Park Stadium against Greek top-flight side Atromitos on Saturday (3pm kick-off), a week before the opening day showdown at Stoke City.

Downing said: “Pre-season is about getting players fit for the start of the season.

“It has been a great opportunity for the youngsters to get in front of the management team, too, with a lot of enthusiasm. It is a good learning curve for the players and us.

“We are trying to build the football club, and with that, there has to be a little bit of patience. It is that time where we don’t need to panic and just make sure we’re ready to go for the opening day at Stoke.

“The group and working hard and learning every single day. We want to improve from last year and keep building.”

He added: “We are looking for players to get 90 minutes under their belts now in pre-season and work on the system too.”

Downing was a youth player at Chelsea during the 1980s, but he moved east to begin his professional career with Notts County in 1984.

From there, he switched back towards his birthplace and settled at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where Downing would spend the vast majority of his playing career.

The midfielder made over 200 appearances for the Molineux club during a six-season spell, which started in the fourth tier but ended just one promotion away from the top flight of English football, following two promotion campaigns.

Downing also won the Associate Members' Cup - the predecessor to the Football League Trophy - in 1988, when he played the full 90 minutes of Wolves’ final triumph over Burnley in front of a crowd of over 80,000 at Wembley Stadium.

Shorter spells with Birmingham City, Stoke City, Cardiff City and Hereford United followed, before he hung up his boots in 1999.

He started his coaching career with Wolves' youth set-up following his retirement, and he stepped back into senior football as assistant manager to John Ward at Cheltenham Town.

Downing took over the reins when Ward left the club in 2007, and he went on to manage the Robins in 50 games before his own departure the following year.

From there, he embarked on a long spell at West Bromwich Albion, where he took on a variety of roles, including a caretaker stint in charge following the end of Steve Clarke’s time as manager during the 2013/14 Premier League season.

He joined the England set-up in 2015, and he led their Under-19s to victory at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2017, with Downing’s squad comprising of several rising stars, including future Ram Mason Mount.

The assistant manager role at Bristol City was next, as he worked under Dean Holden before taking up the same role at Plymouth Argyle alongside Steven Schumacher.

He linked up with Eustace for the first time at Birmingham City in 2022, before following the former midfielder to Blackburn Rovers in early 2024 and subsequently Derby in February 2025.

With vast experience in the game, Downing still gets a buzz out of doing his work on the grass every single day.

He said: “The game has evolved and changed quite a bit; there’s a lot of new terminology and sports science involved.

“For me, it is important to get a feel of what players like and dislike. It is also about supporting the manager and advising with all my experiences, both good and bad.

“I am probably here as the older and experienced guy who tries to calm things down when it gets a bit difficult. I try to add my value and support to everybody that I can.

“I have had various roles in coaching, but my last few roles have been to help younger coaches with John Eustace, Dean Holden and Steven Schumacher. My role has changed a little, but in the last few years, I have not led too much and instead have been behind the scenes.

“We have a good team here with John, Matt Gardiner, Jake Buxton and Paul Clements. As long as I am enjoying it, I want to be around it. I love working with the players on the grass; it makes me feel young, and it is what I get a buzz out of.”

He added: “I first met John just before he got the Birmingham City job, and I am indebted to him for having me alongside him in his last three roles. We had a coffee and a chat, and he wanted someone with experience to join him. It was on my doorstep at Birmingham too, so it was ideal!

“I was really impressed with how he went about things there in creating a really good environment with clear togetherness. He kept the club up in the first year and then progressed after that; he has a unique talent for it.”