Miguel Ángel Llera Garzón (born 7 August 1979) is a Spanish football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former professional player who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

. He is currently assistant manager of club Maltby Main. He played mostly in the lower leagues of his country, appearing in only 12

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

games with Gimnàstic. He moved to England in 2008 after signing with

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

, going on to remain in the country until his retirement and represent a host of clubs, mainly

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

(three years) and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

(two).

Playing career

Spain

Llera was born in

Castilleja de la Cuesta Castilleja de la Cuesta is a town and municipality in the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Hernán Cortés died in this town on December 2, 1547. He is not buried here, as his will directed that his remai ...

, Province of Seville. After unsuccessfully emerging through local

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

's youth ranks, he represented several modest clubs until 2005–06, when he contributed with 27 games (scoring three times) to

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

's return to

after a 56-year absence; midway through the following season, however, he was released from contract after appearing in 12 matches (all starts) for the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

and scoring in defeats against Real Sociedad (2–3, away) and Getafe CF (1–3, home), as ''Nàstic'' were immediately relegated. In 2007–08 Llera continued in Segunda División, but also failed to impress at Hércules CF, playing only 11 games out of a possible 42.

Milton Keynes Dons

Subsequently, Llera took his game to England, joining

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

in September 2008. He scored twice during his spell with the Dons, against Carlisle United and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Charlton

After a successful

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, with a third-place finish straight out of

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, albeit without eventual promotion, Llera signed for

on 2 July 2009, after turning down a new contract offer – he became the first Spanish footballer to play for the club. Llera quickly established himself as a fans' favourite after just four matches, scoring on his debut against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

but also picking up a head injury which led him to wear a helmet for the next fixtures, similar to that of

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as ...

; he scored his first goal for the Addicks on 22 August 2009, in a 2–0 home win against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

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 A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

against

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

in a 1–3 defeat, and, two days later, he signed a one-year contract with the option of a further year.

Brentford / S. Wednesday

On 7 September 2011, Llera transferred to Brentford on a three-month loan deal. On 22 November he moved to

, in a loan agreement lasting until January 2012. On 10 January 2012, Llera was signed on a permanent deal by Wednesday, having been released by Blackpool. On 11 February, in a game against

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, he suffered a head injury in an eventual 1–2 away loss, 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 Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

, which was later withdrawn. 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 Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

. His first appearance at

Glanford Park Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the current home of team Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, it was the first new purpose-built Football League stadi ...

took place the following weekend, and he scored a 39th minute

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

in 0–4 loss to Preston North End. Llera netted his first and only goal for the Iron on 13 December 2014, contributing to a 2–1 home win over

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

. 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.

Coaching career

S. Wednesday / Chesterfield

In July 2014, Llera began coaching the under-14 squad of Sheffield Wednesday. In summer 2015, he started working as a first-team scout. In January 2016, Llera launched his own academy, Miguel Llera International Football Academy, occasionally sending young players for trials at Wednesday. In August 2017, he was appointed Professional Development Phase coach at

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. On 11 January 2019, Llera left the

Proact Stadium Technique Stadium (formerly known as b2net Stadium and Proact Stadium) is an all-seater football stadium in Whittington Moor, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on the site of the former Dema Glassworks. It is the home of Chesterfield FC, replacing the ...

by mutual consent.

Sheffield FC / Hallam University

Starting in July 2015 and with the duration of one year, Llera was part of the staff at

Sheffield FC Sheffield Football Club is an English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, although now based in nearby Dronfield, across the county boundary in Derbyshire. They currently compete in the . Founded in October 1857,

, acting as

assistant manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

as well as being responsible for subjects concerning the academy. In September 2015, he became the club's scholarship football coach and also second and third team manager at Sheffield Hallam University; in addition, he held the same position at Meadowhead School Academy Trust. Llera left all of these roles in September 2016.

Walsall

A qualified

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

who owned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in sport psychology and coaching, Llera subsequently worked as a primary and secondary physical education fitness coach. On 12 July 2019, he was hired as academy manager at Walsall. On 14 January 2022, Llera left his role as Walsall academy manager.

Non-League coaching roles

In July 2023, Llera joined NCEFL Division One team

Retford United Retford United Football Club (also known as the Badgers) are an England, English association football, football club based at Cannon Park in Retford, Nottinghamshire. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1987 by Retfor ...

as a member of their coaching staff. In October 2023, he was appointed assistant manager of NCEFL Premier Division club Maltby Main.

Club statistics

Honours

Club

Alicante * Segunda División B: 2004–05 Sheffield Wednesday * Football League One runner-up: 2011–12

Individual

* Football League One Player of the Month: April 2012

References

External links

* *
Official Football Academy website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Llera, Miguel 1978 births Living people People from Seville (comarca) Footballers from the Province of Seville Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Atlético Onubense players CD San Fernando players Alicante CF footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Hércules CF players English Football League players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff Chesterfield F.C. non-playing staff Walsall F.C. non-playing staff