Leigh Downing following in uncle's footsteps with West Brom under 18s promotion
Former West Brom first team coach Keith Downing's nephew Leigh has been appointed as the club's new under 18s manager.
The young coach has been part of the Albion coaching staff within the academy for 13 years - after he was released as a player.
Since then he has made his way through the academy ranks and has now been appointed as the new lead under 18s professional development phase coach.
Downing will manage the under 18s side and oversee the development of the Albion youngsters between 16 and 18.
The young coach, whose uncle Keith served as assistant head coach under Steve Clarke before taking charge of six games during a spell as interim manager, is looking forward developing the next crop of young Albion talent.
He said: "I’m delighted to get this role and am looking forward to working with this group of players.
“This is my 13th year coaching at Albion and every two or three years I’ve progressed into the next role at the academy.
“Since I got released here as a scholar, I was brought into the coaching setup and started as the Assistant Foundation Phase Coach, then went onto be Lead Foundation Coach, Assistant Youth Development Phase Coach, Lead YDP Coach and Assistant PDP Coach.
“So I’ve done every coaching role up until Lead U18s which I am now and it’s worked out quite well.
“My best days playing were as a scholar at this football club, so I know how much the lads enjoy it.
“This is the next step for me now to progress further and when I first started coaching, the current group of U18s were very young and in a way, they’ve followed me on the journey. I’ve got good relationships with all of the players and the staff who are now working in that phase as well.
“I want us to be as competitive as we can this season and in the division we play in, we know it’s going to be tough. Ultimately, if we get lads playing for in the 23s and even training with the first team then that’s the end goal we’re all striving to achieve.”
