Junior Lloyd Opara (born 6 January 1984) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He played for many clubs during his career. While Opara was at Peterborough he starred in a '

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

' documentary

Big Ron Manager ''Big Ron Manager'' is a television documentary series based on Ron Atkinson's efforts as a troubleshooter at the English football club Peterborough United, at the time playing in League Two. The series was screened on Sky One in 2006. Overvi ...

which was aired in 2006. His older brother Kelechi was also a professional footballer.

Career

He began his career at Colchester United in 2001 and made his senior debut on 13 October 2001 against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. After being released by Colchester in 2002 he joined Cambridge United, who were interested in taking on the final year of his scholarship. He instead joined Stevenage Borough in January 2003. He has also played for Enfield,

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

, Hornchurch, Cheshunt, and Swindon Town and many others. He left Swindon by mutual consent in September 2004 after failing to adapt to life outside London. After a trial at Chelsea, Opara was unhappy with life at Swindon, the 22-year-old was also a transfer target for League Two side Peterborough after training at London Road. "Chelsea want him to go there for a trial period, so we can't stand in his way," Posh manager Steve Bleasdale told his club's website. Opara, who has had previous spells with Colchester, Cambridge and Swindon, has scored 23 goals this season for Southern League side Cheshunt. He signed for Peterborough United on loan in March 2006, and while Opara was at Peterborough he starred in a Sky One documentary 'Big Ron Manager'. In January 2007 he joined Burton Albion on a month's loan, after which time he returned to Peterborough, who cancelled his contract the following month by mutual consent. He joined, then rejoined Arlesey Town, after another brief spell at Cheshunt where he came on as a sub and picked up a winners medal in the final of the 2008 Herts Charity Cup. In 2008–09 season he appeared for Broxbourne Borough in the Premier Division of the Spartan South Midlands League.

After football

After retiring from football Opara became a teacher. In 2018 he was a deputy headteacher at the

John Port School John Port Spencer Academy, formerly known as John Port School, is an academy and secondary school in the village of Etwall, Derbyshire, England.

in Derbyshire but he has left the role.

References

External links

Profile
a
UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Opara, Lloyd 1984 births Living people Footballers from Enfield, London English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Colchester United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Enfield F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Redbridge F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Cheshunt F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Windsor & Eton F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players Potters Bar Town F.C. players Waltham Forest F.C. players Arlesey Town F.C. players F.C. Broxbourne Borough players Haringey Borough F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players