Glen Downey (born 20 September 1978) is an English former professional

footballer 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 lea ...

who played as a defender from 1997 to 2007. He notably played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, having also had spells with

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

Spennymoor United Spennymoor United Association Football Club was an association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. History Spennymoor United Association Football Club was formed in 1904 as an amalgamation of Spennymoor Town and Weardale ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

, Shelbourne, Newry City,

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

and

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The team play in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History Previous clubs The club claims it w ...

Career

Downey started his career as a trainee at

in 1997 but in three years with the club he had failed to make a single first team appearance and was released in 2000. He then moved into Non-League whilst having a brief loan spells with

and

before moving to Ireland where he featured for Shelbourne and Newry City. He then joined

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

side

in 2003. He had struggled to make an impact with The Seadogs, and following his release in 2004 he was surprisingly signed up for

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

side

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English former professional football manager and coach. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional sports coaching with Notts County in 1993. He briefly took ...

, his manager at Scarborough. Originally signed as defensive cover, he was given a new one-year deal a year later despite the fact he only played 14 minutes in his first season with The Mariners. In his first appearance of the 05–06 season Downey impressed after replacing the injured Rob Jones in the impressive 1-0

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

victory away against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. In his only league appearance of that season on New Year's Eve, he came on as substitute and scored an 84th-minute winner against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in a game where both Grimsby centre backs Simon Ramsden and Rob Jones departed through injury. Downey had played at left back as part of a makeshift back four with regular left back

Tom Newey Thomas William Newey (born 31 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer, commentator and football coach who is the Under 15s & Under 16s Coach at Leeds United. As a player he was a left-back from 2002 to 2017. He could also ope ...

moving to centre back to partner striker Gary Jones. Despite earning several plaudits in all 3 of his appearances for the club, Downey was released and joined

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side

at the start of the 2006–07 season. This was only to be a brief spell and he departed after playing only a handful of games. Following his release from Worksop he was never to sign again with a club at neither professional or semi-professional terms, and despite never officially announcing his retirement from the sport he would never play competitive football again,

Personal life

Downey's younger brother Gareth was also a professional footballer who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Like Glen he was on the books for

, Shelbourne, and

. Downey now runs a chain of

Fish and Chips Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of batter (cooking), battered and fried fish, served with French fries, chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, ...

shops with his brother in

Wearside Wearside () is a built-up area in County Durham and Tyne and Wear, England. It is named after the River Wear which flows through it and traditionally all in the County of Durham. In the 2011 census, its official name was the Sunderland Built- ...

Honours

Grimsby Town

Play-off runner up: 2005-06

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Glen English men's footballers 1978 births Living people Hartlepool United F.C. players Bishop Auckland F.C. players Spennymoor United A.F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Men's association football defenders Shelbourne F.C. players League of Ireland players Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne