Nutmegging Neymar and cheating death - how England's world champion fought back
A trip to Brazil on what was originally billed as a holiday sounds glamorous for most - but for Jack Downer, it has yielded daily training, a sprained ankle and food poisoning.
And yet, he's not remotely perturbed. Then again, nor should he be, as for a man who spent 12 months going through multiple life threatening operations, two comas, and learning how to walk again before becoming a two-time champion of the world, dealing with his current hardships is child's play.
That summary barely touches the surface of the 25-year-old's inspirational story, that incorporates everything from a freak but nigh-on fatal injury, nutmegging Neymar, YouTube boxing ambitions, tragically losing a close friend and Superball World Panna glory. And it's the sport in which he's risen to worldwide fame that ignites our conversation.
“Panna is essentially like boxing but football," he explains. "It’s one-on-one, it originated in Amsterdam, and essentially when you compete it’s a three minute game, almost like one round of boxing. Each player has a small goal in a cage and the most goals in three minutes wins. However, if you nutmeg the opponent that’s an instant knockout.”
The name derives from Holland, where 'Panna' aptly translates to nutmeg. But Downer initially had no knowledge of the concept when at 10-years-old, he picked up a football lying around in his dad's boxing gym and tried to replicate the Ronaldinho clips he's watched on YouTube.
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The natural talent was obvious but four years later, despite interest from professional clubs, he quit the game following an injury which sidelined him for eight months. It took his mum to trick him into going training with his local club again, initially inviting him out for a walk having secretly packed new boots, to instigate a meeting that would change his life forever.
Downer met Yofi Yvorra, who had previously played street football, and possessed an impressive array of skills. "There was a kid there the year below me in school and he nutmegged me and I was like ‘that’s it I’m gonna have to learn,’ and I got addicted," said Downer. "That whole week leading up to the next class I pestered the coach, I found YouTube videos of the 'Street Kings' in Holland, and then I nutmegged the kid next week and got revenge. And I trained every day like that in the nine years that followed."
Jack Downer made an incredible recovery to become a two-time Super Ball World Panna champion (Greg Coleman)HAVE YOUR SAY! What do you make of Panna? Comment below.
That dedication culminated in a first world title in 2020. But a year later, and his life would again change direction, this time in harrowing circumstances. A one-off return to 11-a-side football for a charity game was going well, with Downer exciting the crowd with nutmegs and rainbow flicks. That was until, he tried to latch onto a long ball forward only to be on the end of a mistimed lunge from the onrushing keeper.
“I’d had many sporting collisions but nothing like this," recalled Downer. "I was used to being winded but this was different. I didn’t take a breath for about 40 seconds. I was convinced I was dying."
Few around him were convinced of the severity. Teammates tried to persuade him to continue and Downer would later learn the commentator on duty that day had mocked him light-heartedly. Even the emergency services advised him to use an ice-pack when contacted, and eventually it was a two-hour taxi ride to hospital with, unbeknown to him at the time, a grade five liver laceration.
Even in the wait to be seen, a female with a bruise from a Covid jab was prioritised in the queue. When eventually scan results returned and Downer was taken down for emergency surgery, specialists had deemed there to be a litre and a half of blood in his abdomen. His subsequent explanation was anything but diplomatic.
He explained: “They said if I laid my liver out and smashed up with a hammer until it exploded, it would be like what had happened to me. I was later told if the collision was one millimetre in difference on impact, I would have died on the field."
His life remained in the balance as things unfolded in front of his family and girlfriend. There were numerous procedures, time in a coma and despite periods of consciousness, memories of that period are hazy at best. Bladder issues and lung infections led to being induced in a coma a second time, with Downer later told he was “extremely close to dying again."
Downer has nutmegged the likes of Neymar (Instagram)
Downer now has a huge social media following across his platforms (Instagram)Intensive rehabilitation followed as he was taught how to walk and talk again. So weak was Downer, having dropped from 71kgs to little more than 50, that holding a pen was beyond him. Indeed, it was only when 82 stables were successfully removed from his stomach that he was assured he would eventually recover fully.
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At this point the 2022 World Panna Championships lay just 12 months away. Naturally, he was advised by experts to forget going to Prague and instead, he targeted a new goal.
His father had returned to the UK from China having lost his job overseas in the Covid-19 pandemic. A boxing fanatic, Downer set off on a new journey which involved training with him in the gym: “I kept this going. We managed to get investment so he could stay and teach me with the aim of me fighting in a YouTube boxing fight. I was grateful for everything that I had, I was alive because of my family and the love I had for them and my girlfriend so thought why not."
Meeting Conor McGregor in Dublin served as more motivation and soon, a combination of football, boxing, and rehab sessions meant Downer was back training 16 times a week. The magic with a ball at his feet was also returning, heading to Qatar for promotional work where he nutmegged Neymar and brushed shoulders with Kylian Mbappe. In the meantime, his social media profiles showcasing his talent were building.
The scars remain from Jack Downer's emergency procedures (Greg Coleman)And yet, there was more adversity to come. In June 2022 Downer headed to Paris for what was initially billed as a glamour trip. A Liverpool fan, he arrived in France for the Champions League final and while there, filmed for Playstation with the likes of Roberto Carlos and Patrice Evra. The day after the Reds took on Real Madrid, he was due to return to 11-a-side action for the first time since that ill-fated day which left his life in the balance. This time around though, he didn't even step on the field before fate struck.
While in France he started suffering from stomach pains, and soon he was being sick "every five minutes." Again hospital beckoned where doctors discovered the transfused blood used to previously save his life had congealed, leaving him with a strangulated intestine and that would mean being sick until he died.
A now familiar sequence of emergency procedures, weight loss, and rehabilitation followed. Whilst recovering Downer, by now living in Newbridge, set about helping a "local kid called Fred" who was targeting the World Youth Panna championships. While training with him, Downer felt surprisingly capable himself.
“I kept it on the down-low (that he was training in football) as everyone I knew was scared," he confessed. "I went back to my local football club, Ramsgate, where there is a mural of me on the wall and Panna cages. I had a sessions and started doing well and gaining speed. Soon I was back training every day and started going to Boundary Park, the exact place where I started out practicing skills. I started trying press ups and was getting up to 60 and muscles memory was coming back and I thought 'I'm going to be able to do this'."
What followed seemingly represented a ludicrous gamble. Against the odds, Downer entered the world tournament in Prague, even if the last-minute flights and hotel bookings cost him a fortune. Even upon arrival he was hesitant, saying: “I didn’t want people to know I was there so I avoided being around the place. I wanted it to be low-key, just play and go home."
Remaining innocuous wasn't straightforward. Soon he bumped into Belgian rival Ferjani Safi, with whom he'd had previous battles on the international stage. Disregarding Downer's harrowing year, his message was “I’ll see you in final."
That scenario looked unlikely when Downer, supported by his father and friend 'Jonno', lost his first group game. From there came an amazing run though, with the Englishman overcoming what had previously seemed insurmountable odds to make the final against, you guessed it, Ferjani.
Downer is now targeting a YouTube boxing bout alongside his football ambitions (Greg Coleman)That clash produced incredible sporting theatre. Locked at 4-4 after three minutes, Downer trailed 6-5 in extra time before a goal on the whistle forced a 'Golden Goal' period. There, Downer found himself trapped on his own goal-line before managing to execute a sublime manoeuvre to beat his opponent and score at the other end.
“It's the closest anyone has ever been to losing a world championship final and then winning it” says Downer, with the clock having long ticked past midnight when the defining moment came. “But I was incredibly happy to be there with Jonno and my dad, and everyone back home had live streamed it. I lost a lot of money on flights and travel and bringing my camera man, I even turned down a job to go but I won it, and will always be proud of that."
And prior to Prague his other sporting venture had gathered pace. Watching a Joe Calzaghe documentary had inspired him to contact the iconic Welshman, who duly invited him down to his gym and Newbridge and then offered him a free place to train.
"We didn’t have money because I kept dying all the time and that’s expensive, as you can’t work," said Downer, smiling wryly. "I'd kept my boxing training quiet and still I don’t really post about it. I want to get a fight but I’m not that good yet, but doing it with the Calzaghe family has been really cool."
So much so, that Downer is now based in Newbridge, albeit amid trips back-and-for to England. In the meantime, he lauds the impact on social media of allowing him to promote his work with a football, and his delighted to see Panna, once considered irrelevant and obscure, is growing.
"It's all about respect," he said. "When you see Panna you don’t see age, you don’t see gender, you don’t see religion. It changed my life and can change it for others. Most kids in schools know the term Panna now which is insane, and they know there are careers in football that isn’t just being a pro.”
Filming and powerful photoshoots are also imperative. His latest work with photographer Greg Coleman sees Downer proudly bare the scars that signify his surreal recovery. However, that's far from the only take of adversity that still motivates him, having lost one of his best friends, Matt, in January.
Downer learned of Matt's car accident while on holiday in Bali, and immediately arranged to fly home and repay the support his friend showed him during his own stay in hospital. Sadly, he never made it in time to say goodbye.
"Matt had trained with me in panna and always believed in me," explained Downer, solemnly. "The YouTube boxing was his idea. I always had doubts and I told him but he said ‘no you can do this’. He always promised that when it happened he'd be in the front row in a suit, even if he had to fly to Vegas.
"Matt put me onto this and he was included in that goal. He'll never see it and that's super sad. But I had unwavering faith from him and that gives me an unwavering tenacity to be able to train."
And what of other ambitions? Unsurprisingly, Downer still has goals that to be mere mortals, would be way beyond a distant dream. The next target, to help England win the three-on-three world championships is an attainable ambition. But the charismatic star is thinking way beyond that.
“I want me first boxing fight on YouTube and to win the World Panna again next year. And then after I’ve proven I can do boxing, maybe when I hit 28 I will try go pro at 11-a-side - to prove to everyone that told me you’re too old that it is possible. That would be a pretty fitting end to my career. They are crazy goals but who knows - we’ve done crazy goals already."
Of that, there's little doubt. Downer has taken the sport of Panna on these shores to new levels, and yet his miraculous story would probably be rendered too far-fetched if presented to Hollywood scriptwriters. What transpires with his respective boxing and 11-a-side goals only time will tell, but those following his story will have long learnt the score.
Expect the unexpected. In fact, expect the impossible.
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