Miguel Llera

Miguel Llera
Llera playing for Sheffield Wednesday in 2012
Personal information
Full name Miguel Ángel Llera Garzón
Date of birth (1979-08-07) 7 August 1979
Place of birth Castilleja de la Cuesta, Spain
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position Centre back
Youth career
Recreativo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2001 Recreativo B
2000–2001 → San Fernando (loan) 19 (0)
2001–2005 Alicante 102 (4)
2005–2007 Gimnàstic 39 (5)
2007–2008 Hércules 11 (1)
2008–2009 Milton Keynes Dons 36 (2)
2009–2011 Charlton Athletic 41 (6)
2011–2012 Blackpool 0 (0)
2011 → Brentford (loan) 11 (0)
2011–2012 → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 4 (0)
2012–2014 Sheffield Wednesday 79 (10)
2014–2015 Scunthorpe United 15 (1)
Total 357 (29)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Miguel Ángel Llera Garzón (born 7 August 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

He played mostly in the lower leagues of his country, appearing in only 12 La Liga games with Gimnàstic. He moved to England in 2008 after signing with Milton Keynes Dons, going on to remain in the country until his retirement and represent a host of clubs, mainly Sheffield Wednesday (three years) and Charlton Athletic (two).

Football career

Spain

Llera was born in Castilleja de la Cuesta, Province of Seville. After unsuccessfully emerging through local Recreativo de Huelva's youth ranks, he represented several modest clubs until 2005–06, when he contributed with 27 games (scoring three times) to Gimnàstic de Tarragona's[1] return to La Liga after a 56-year absence; however, midway through the following season, he was released from contract, after appearing in 12 matches (all starts) for the Catalans and scoring in defeats against Real Sociedad (2–3, away[2]) and Getafe CF (1–3, home[3]) as Nàstic was eventually immediately relegated back.

In 2007–08 Llera continued in Segunda División, but also failed to impress at Hércules CF, playing in only 11 games out of 42.

Milton Keynes Dons

Subsequently, Llera took his game to England, joining League One side Milton Keynes Dons in September 2008.[4]

He scored twice during his spell with the Dons, against Carlisle United[5] and Brighton & Hove Albion.[6]

Charlton

After a successful season, with a third-place finish straight out of Football League Two, albeit without eventual promotion, Llera signed for Charlton Athletic on 2 July 2009,[7] after turning down a new contract offer – he became the first Spanish footballer to play for the club.[8][9]

Llera quickly established himself as a fans' favourite after just four games, scoring on his debut against Wycombe Wanderers[10] but also picking up a head injury which led him to wear a helmet for the next few games, similar to that of Chelsea's Petr Čech; he scored his first goal for the Addicks on 22 August 2009, in a 2–0 home win against Walsall.[11]

Blackpool

After leaving Charlton at the end of the 2010–11 season, Llera spent some time training with Blackpool and joined them on trial, making his debut against Rangers on 19 July 2011. On 2 August, he scored from a free kick against Lancaster City in a 1–3 defeat, and, two days later, he signed a one-year contract with the option of a further year.[12]

Brentford / Sheffield

On 7 September 2011, Llera transferred to Brentford on a three-month loan deal.[13] On 22 November he moved to Sheffield Wednesday, in a loan agreement lasting until January 2012.[14]

On 10 January 2012, Llera was signed on a permanent deal by Wednesday, having been released by Blackpool.[15][16] On 11 February, in a game against Exeter City, he suffered a head injury in an eventual 1–2 away loss,[17] going on to miss approximately one month of action.

Scunthorpe

After impressing on trial, on 21 July 2014 Llera was offered a contract by Oldham Athletic, which was later withdrawn.[18] He eventually moved to League One's Scunthorpe United late in the month, agreeing to a one-year deal also after a trial period.

Llera made his competitive debut on 9 August 2014, in a 1–3 defeat at Swindon Town.[19] His first appearance at Glanford Park took place the following weekend, and he scored a 39th minute own goal in 0–4 loss to Preston North End.[20]

Llera netted his first and only goal for the Iron on 13 December 2014, contributing to a 2–1 home win over Crewe Alexandra.[21] On 5 May of the following year, it was announced he would not be offered a new contract and was free to leave the club.[22]

Llera was appointed Professional Development Phase coach at Chesterfield in August 2017, after three years as youth manager at Sheffield Wednesday.[23][24]

Club statistics

As of 25 March 2015
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
San Fernando (loan) 2000–01[25] Segunda División B 190——190
Alicante 2001–02[25] Segunda División B 27210—282
2002–03[25] Segunda División B 33160—391
2003–04[25] Segunda División B 27110—281
2004–05[25] Segunda División B 150101[lower-alpha 1]1171
Total 102490111125
Gimnàstic 2005–06[25] Segunda División 27330—303
2006–07[25] La Liga 12200—122
Total 39530—425
Hércules 2007–08[25] Segunda División 11141—152
Milton Keynes Dons 2008–09[26] League One 362101[lower-alpha 2]0382
Charlton Athletic 2009–10[26] League One 264001[lower-alpha 2]0274
2010–11[26] League One 152201[lower-alpha 2]0182
Total 4162020456
Blackpool 2011–12[26] Championship 0010—10
Brentford (loan) 2011–12[26] League One 111102[lower-alpha 2]0141
Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 2011–12[26] League One 40000040
Sheffield Wednesday 2011–12[26] League One 1640000164
2012–13[26] Championship 41650—466
2013–14[26] Championship 22031—251
Total 831081009111
Scunthorpe United 2014–15[26] League One 151602[lower-alpha 2]0231
Career total 321283528136431
  1. ↑ Appearance in Promotion Play-offs
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy

Honours

Club

Alicante

Sheffield Wednesday

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "El club espera descarte de Primera tras fichar a Merino y Pérez" [Club await release from Primera after signing Merino and Pérez]. La Nación (in Spanish). 19 July 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  2. ↑ Real Sociedad 3–2 Gimnastic de Tarragona; ESPN Soccernet, 17 December 2006
  3. ↑ Gimnastic de Tarragona 1–3 Getafe; ESPN Soccernet, 14 January 2007
  4. ↑ "MK Dons bring in defender Llera". BBC Sport. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  5. ↑ "MK Dons 3–1 Carlisle". BBC Sport. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  6. ↑ "Brighton 2–4 MK Dons". BBC Sport. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  7. ↑ Javier Estera (10 June 2009). "Miguel Ángel Llera ficha por el Charlton" [Miguel Ángel Llera signs with Charlton]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  8. ↑ James Chard (27 May 2009). "Llera to leave as talks break down". MK Citizen. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  9. ↑ "Charlton recruit defender Llera". BBC Sport. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  10. ↑ "Charlton 3–2 Wycombe". BBC Sport. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  11. ↑ "Charlton 2–0 Walsall". BBC Sport. 22 August 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  12. ↑ "Liera completes Blackpool move". Blackpool F.C. 4 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  13. ↑ Brentford sign Blair Adams and Miguel Llera on loan; BBC Sport, 8 September 2011
  14. ↑ "Llera loaned to Owls". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 22 November 2011. Archived from the original on 28 December 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  15. ↑ "Owls land Llera". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 12 January 2012. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  16. ↑ Sheffield Wednesday sign Miguel Llera from Blackpool; BBC Sport, 10 January 2012
  17. ↑ "Exeter 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1: Match Report". Sheffield Star. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  18. ↑ "Offer: Miguel Llera". Oldham Athletic A.F.C. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "Swindon Town 3–1 Scunthorpe United". BBC Sport. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "Scunthorpe United 0–4 Preston North End". BBC Sport. 16 August 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "Scunthorpe United 2–1 Crewe Alexandra". BBC Sport. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  22. ↑ "Iron announce retained list". Scunthorpe United F.C. 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  23. ↑ "Llera lands academy role". Chesterfield F.C. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  24. ↑ "Who's Who at the Proact". Chesterfield F.C. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Llera: Miguel Ángel Llera Garzón". BDFutbol. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Miguel Llera". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
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