arrow_downward Catch UP On Social
RAMS Live
9 hours ago

Work has started to overhaul Derby County’s playing surface at Pride Park Stadium in preparation for the start of the 2025/26 Sky Bet Championship campaign in August.

10 hours ago

Take a look at every single goal scored by Derby County Women during the 2024/25 season.

1 day ago

Former Derby County Managing Director Stuart Webb speaks about winning the 1974/75 First Division title with the Rams at the recent 50th anniversary celebration dinner at Pride Park Stadium.

1 day ago

Father’s Day falls on Sunday 15th June in 2025 and a special lunch package is available at Derby County’s Pride Park Stadium to celebrate!

4 days ago

Derby County Community Trust is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant from the Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund (BFF).

4 days ago

The daughter of former Derby County player Francis Lee, Gillian Lee, speaks about her father winning the 1974/75 First Division title with the Rams at the recent 50th anniversary celebration dinner at Pride Park Stadium.

5 days ago

Find out more about how Derby County Academy utilises host families to house players in the club’s youth set-up, with the focus on first-team midfielder Liam Thompson and current scholars in the Academy.

5 days ago

Former Derby County midfielder Bruce Rioch speaks about winning the 1974/75 First Division title with the Rams at the recent 50th anniversary celebration dinner at Pride Park Stadium.

6 days ago

Take a look at every single goal scored by Derby County during the 2024/25 season.

6 days ago

Derby County will host their latest Fans’ Forum during June.

arrow_downward Open Social

Keith Downing

Basic Info
Position First Team Coach
Nationality England
Date of birth 23/07/65
Biography
News feed

Biography

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.