 Downes withWest Ham United in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Flynn Downes[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1999-01-20)20 January 1999 (age 26)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Brentwood, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Southampton | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2006 | Ongar Town | ||
| 2006–2017 | Ipswich Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2021 | Ipswich Town | 92 | (3) |
| 2018 | →Luton Town (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Swansea City | 37 | (1) |
| 2022–2024 | West Ham United | 21 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | →Southampton (loan) | 33 | (2) |
| 2024– | Southampton | 20 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 2017–2018 | England U19 | 5 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | England U20 | 6 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:12, 15 March 2025 (UTC) | |||
Flynn Downes (born 20 January 1999) is an English professionalfootballer who plays as adefensive midfielder forPremier League clubSouthampton.
A product of theIpswich Town academy, which he joined in 2006, Downes made his debut for the club in 2017. After spending some time on loan atLuton Town in 2018, Downes returned to Ipswich and firmly established himself in the first team for the next few seasons. After much speculation surrounding his future starting in summer 2020, Downes joinedSwansea City in August 2021, moving on to West Ham United the following year. In his first season at West Ham, he won the 2023 Europa Conference League title, before spending the2023–24 season on loan atEFL Championship clubSouthampton.
Downes was born inBrentwood, Essex and attendedBrentwood School.[4][5] He joinedIpswich Town at the age of seven,[2] after joining from Ongar Town,[6] signing a two-year scholarship in May 2015.[7] Downes signed a one-year professional contract with the club on 29 June 2017, with the option of a further year.[8] However, after impressing managerMick McCarthy during pre-season, he signed a new three-year contract with Ipswich on 19 July to keep him at the club until the summer of 2020.[9] He made his professional debut on the opening day of2017–18, coming on as asubstitute for the injuredAndre Dozzell in first-halfstoppage time in a 1–0 home victory overBirmingham City.[10]
On 31 January 2018, Downes joinedLeague Two leadersLuton Town onloan until the end of2017–18.[11] He made his debut three days later, starting in Luton's 1–0 home win overExeter City.[12] Following the match, managerNathan Jones said "He was outstanding. It's as if he lives here in terms of the way he went about the pitch, the confidence he played with, the security and everything he had".[13] Downes finished the loan with ten appearances,[14] as Luton werepromoted toLeague One after finishing second in League Two.[15]
Following his return from loan, Downes played regularly for the first team during the2018–19 season, making 30 appearances across all competitions – ending in the team being relegated to League One.[16] He signed a new three-year contract with the club in March 2019, with the option of a further year, and scored his first professional goal in a 3–2 home victory overLeeds United on the final day of the season.[17][18]
Downes remained a regular player for Ipswich following relegation to League One during the 2019–20 season. He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 home win overShrewsbury Town on 31 August.[19] On 1 December 2019, Downes captained Ipswich for the first time in a FA Cup second round tie against Coventry City, which ended as a 1–1 draw. Aged 20, he became the club's youngest ever captain.[4]
Following his impressive performances for the Blues, Downes was linked with a move away from the club during summer 2020. On 1 September, the club confirmed that it had rejected two bids for Downes from a Premier League club, widely reported to beCrystal Palace.[20] After the second bid was rejected, Downes reportedly handed in a transfer request and subsequently was left out of the squad for the club's opening three games.[21]
Downes returned to the first-team on 16 September, coming on as a second-half substitute in anEFL Cup second round tie againstFulham. He continued to feature from the bench for the next few matches, before suffering a knee injury in a 1–1 draw withMK Dons on 3 October, with the injury expected to rule him out of action for two months.[22] Downes made 25 appearances during an injury hit 2020–21 season.[23]
During the summer of 2021, Downes was told by new managerPaul Cook that he was not in his plans for the upcoming season, and was told to train with the club's U23s.[24] He was subsequently not allocated a squad number for the 2021–22 season and continued to be linked with a move away from the club, with Championship clubs such asAFC Bournemouth,Barnsley andSwansea City being reportedly interested.[25]
On 10 August 2021, Downes joined Swansea City on a four-year deal, for a fee reportedly around £1.5 million. This ended his 15-year association with Ipswich Town.[26] In the2021–22 season, Downes completed 92.6% of his 2,465 attempted passes achieving the highest pass-completion rate in the top four divisions in English football for 2021–22.[4]
On 7 July 2022, Downes signed for West Ham United on a five-year contract, with a further one-year option, for an undisclosed fee, reported by theBBC to be around £12 million.[27][28] On 7 August 2022, Downes made his Premier League debut as a 92nd-minute substitute forJarrod Bowen in a 2–0 home defeat toManchester City.[29] On 7 June 2023, Downes was part of the squad in the2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final, againstFiorentina in Prague. West Ham won their first trophy in 43 years with a 2–1 victory.[30]
On 21 August 2023, Downes joinedSouthampton on a season-long loan.[31] Downes made his debut for the club on 26 August 2023 in a 2–1 victory againstQueens Park Rangers, coming on as a substitute forJack Stephens in the 25th minute.[32] On 20 January 2024, he scored his first goal for Southampton in a 1–3 victory against Swansea City.[33] At the end of the season Downes' performances for Southampton were praised by United Kingdom Prime Minister,Rishi Sunak, himself a Southampton supporter.[34] Downes ended theseason having made 37 appearances in all competitions. He scored two goals and made three assists and on 26 May was a member of the team which won promotion back to the Premier League having beatenLeeds United 1–0 in theChampionship play-off final atWembley.[35]
On 16 July 2024, Downes joined Southampton permanently on a four-year contract for a fee undisclosed by the clubs but reported to be an initial fee of £15 million.[36][37] He scored his first Premier League goal on 29 November 2024, the equaliser in a 1–1 draw atBrighton.[38]
Downes was called up to theEngland under-19 team on 24 August 2017 for twofriendly matches againstPoland andGermany.[39] He made his debut on 5 September against the latter, starting in a 3–1 defeat, in which he was substituted in the 60th minute.[40] He wascapped five times by England at under-19 level.[41] Downes was named on standby for theEngland under-20 team on 9 November 2018 for a match againstGermany.[42] He was called into the squad three days later[43] and earned his first cap as an 89th-minute substitute in a 2–0 victory the following week.[44][45]
He attendedBrentwood School, Essex following in the footsteps of former Hammers midfielderFrank Lampard.[46] Downes supportsWest Ham United, his family and friends all supporting the club.[6][47]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ipswich Town | 2017–18[14] | Championship | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[16] | Championship | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 30 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20[48] | League One | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | |
| 2020–21[23] | League One | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| Total | 92 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 3 | ||
| Luton Town (loan) | 2017–18[14] | League Two | 10 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Swansea City | 2021–22[49] | Championship | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 39 | 1 | |
| West Ham United | 2022–23[50] | Premier League | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11[a] | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| Southampton (loan) | 2023–24[51] | Championship | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 37 | 2 |
| Southampton | 2024–25[52] | Premier League | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 22 | 1 | |
| Career total | 213 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 242 | 7 | ||
West Ham United
Southampton
Individual
