Aaron Terence Downes (born 15 May 1985) is a former Australian

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a defender. He is currently assistant manager at

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Club career

Born in

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

and raised in

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gover ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Downes was signed for

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

on 1 August 2004 by ex

manager Roy MacFarland after having trials at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

and a short spell at non league outfit

Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History Although the club itself claims it was formed in 1910, the team was activ ...

. Before moving to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

he was a player at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. At the end of the 2006–07 season following his side's relegation to

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

not only did he sign an extension to his current contract at

but he also was made team captain of

following the departure of ex captain

Mark Allott Mark Stephen Allott (born 3 October 1977) is an English former footballer. Career Oldham Athletic Allott initially came through the youth ranks and was highly rated as a centre forward, scoring on his debut as a substitute in a defeat agai ...

. Downes was at that time a valued member of the squad and as well as his defensive qualities he has an eye for goal, mainly from set pieces. On 22 April 2009, Downes signed a new 2-year contract extension with

, despite the defender picking up a serious knee injury before the contract was signed. He was released by the club at the end of the 2011–12 season having suffered further serious injuries during his tenure. In July 2012 Downes signed a one-year contract with Torquay United. Manager, Martin Ling said of Downes, "He needs someone to take a punt and that is the right word for a player who has suffered two cruciates". He enjoyed a successful season, striking up a strong defensive partnership with Brian Saah, culminating in him being voted the supporters' "Player of the season". In June 2013, he signed a new two-year contract to keep him at Torquay United until 2015. On 11 May 2015, Gary Johnson made Downes his first signing at Cheltenham Town F.C., Cheltenham Town. Although sidelined by a knee injury for a large part of 2016, he captained the side to the National League (division), National League title and continued to lead them in their first season back in the English Football League. Downes retired from football at the end of the 2017–18 Cheltenham Town F.C. season, 2017–18 season. On 13 December 2018, Downes was appointed assistant manager at former club

International career

Over the years he has worked his way up at international level starting at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. He was also called up by the Olyroos – the Australia national under-23 football team.

Honours

Club

;

: 2010–11 Football League Two, 2010–11 ;Cheltenham Town F.C., Cheltenham Town * National League (division), National League: 2015–16 National League, 2015–16

International

;Australia national football team *OFC U-20 Championship: 2005 OFC U-20 Championship, 2005

Individual

*Chesterfield F.C., Chesterfield Player of the Year: 2006–07 * Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Player of the Year: 2012–13 Torquay United F.C. season, 2012–13

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downes, Aaron 1985 births Living people People from Mudgee Australian soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Men's association football defenders Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Frickley Athletic F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Isthmian League players Northern Premier League players Sportsmen from New South Wales Soccer players from New South Wales