Keith Downing was appointed as Derby County's First Team Coach on 13th February 2025 following the arrival of John Eustace as Head Coach.
Born in the West Midlands, Downing was a youth player at Chelsea during the 1980s but he moved east to begin his professional career just up Brian Clough Way 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 at 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 John Eustace for the first time at Birmingham City in 2022, before following the former midfielder to Blackburn Rovers in early 2024.
