| Aaron Downes | |
| Full name | Aaron Terence Downes |
| Nationality |  Australia
|
| Rovers apps (goals)a | 8 (0) |
| Position | Defender |
| Date of birth | 15 May 1985 (Age 40) in Mudgee, NSW |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in |
| Joined | |
| 1 January 2012 from Chesterfield (loan) | |
| Left | |
| 6 May 2012 to join Chesterfield | |
| Senior clubs | |
| Hampton & Richmond Frickley Athletic Chesterfield Bristol Rovers Torquay United | |
| a League appearances and goals only Last updated by Gasheadsteve on 14/05/2013 | |
Defender Aaron Downes joined Rovers on a month-long loan on new year's day, 2012 from Chesterfield. Brought in to provide cover following a string of injuries to key Rovers players, Downes quickly established himself as a key player in The Pirates' defence, leading to his temporary contract being extended until the end of the 2011–12 season.
He won the club's inaugural Player of the Month award for January 2012, but almost immediately suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the side until the season was almost over. He played a total of eight times in the league and once in the FA Cup before returning to his parent club.
He has international honours for Australia at the under-20 and under-23 levels, but has never been capped by the senior national team.
Career[]
Although born in Australia, all of Aaron's senior football has been played in England. He began with brief spells at non-league clubs Hampton & Richmond and Frickley Athletic, before being snapped up by manager Roy MacFarland to play for Chesterfield.
He had played his youth football at the Australian Institute of Sport before moving to England to play professionally, but his senior career was dogged by injury problems. In spite of these setbacks, he played 174 league games for The Spireites in seven and a half years before joining Rovers on loan at the beginning of 2012.
He was released by Chesterfield in the summer of 2012, and despite expressing an interest in securing his services once again for Rovers, manager Mark McGhee opted not to offer him a contract, leading him eventually to sign a year-long deal with Torquay United towards the end of July.
Career stats[]
| Season | Club | League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | ||
| 2002–03 | Hampton & Richmond | 1 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | Frickley Athletic | 3 | 0 |
| 2004–05 | Chesterfield | 9 | 2 |
| 2005–06 | Chesterfield | 22 | 0 |
| 2006–07 | Chesterfield | 45 | 3 |
| 2007–08 | Chesterfield | 40 | 2 |
| 2008–09 | Chesterfield | 42 | 2 |
| 2009–10 | Chesterfield | 7 | 1 |
| 2010–11 | Chesterfield | 0 | 0 |
| 2011–12 | Chesterfield | 9 | 0 |
| 2011–12 | →Bristol Rovers (loan) | 8 | 0 |
| 2012–13 | Torquay United | 38 | 5 |
Record against Rovers[]
Aaron has played two competitive first team matches against Bristol Rovers, both times while playing for Torquay United during the 2012–13 season.
| Date | Club | Venue | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 October 2012 | Torquay United | Memorial Stadium | 3–2 to Rovers | Scored Torquay's second goal |
| 27 April 2013 | Torquay United | Plainmoor | 3–3 | Michael Poke also in team |