Javier Calleja Revilla (born 12 May 1978) is a Spanish retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played mainly as a

left midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, currently

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 ...

of Levante UD. He amassed

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' ...

totals of 192 matches and nine goals over one decade, mainly with

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

(six seasons) and

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

(three). He also represented Málaga in the competition, in a professional career which lasted 16 years. Calleja later managed Villarreal, his first stint being in 2017.

Playing career

After growing unsuccessfully through the ranks of Real Madrid and making his professional debut with lowly

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

, Alcalá de Henares-born Calleja signed with

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

, but spent some months with its

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

CD Onda. He made his first-team debut in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, playing nine games in the 1999–2000 campaign as the side returned to

and contributing one goal, in the 3–1 away loss against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El S ...

. Calleja was a very important member for the ''Yellow Submarine'' in his first three seasons in that tier, scoring four goals in 35 matches in 2001–02. On 5 April 2003, he netted a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

as a late substitute in a 2–0 home win over

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

, dedicating the goal to his mother who had died hours before. However, the emergence of

Santi Cazorla Santiago "Santi" Cazorla González (; born 13 December 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer. A former Spanish international, Cazorla operated primarily as an attacking midfielder, but also played as a winger, central midfielder or as a ...

and two consecutive serious knee injuries limited him to just 25 appearances over the following three campaigns. Ahead of 2006–07, Calleja left Villarreal and joined Málaga CF. He was an instant first choice in

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

, making 38 appearances in his second season as the club returned to the top flight after a two-year

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: *Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * Gl ...

. After a serious injury to teammate

Adriano Rossato Adriano Fabiano Rossato (born 27 August 1977 in Vila Velha, Espírito Santo) is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a left back, and is a manager. Football career During his Brazilian career, free kick specialist Rossato represented B ...

, Calleja spent much of the following campaign playing as

left-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 s ...

. On 12 June 2009, after his contract with Málaga expired, he moved to Osasuna in a 2+1 years deal.

Coaching career

In September 2012, 34-year-old Calleja announced his retirement and immediately returned to his former club Villarreal, being appointed manager of the youth sides. On 9 May 2017, he replaced Paco López at the helm of the reserves. Calleja was named manager of the first team on 25 September 2017, in place of fired

Fran Escribá Francisco 'Fran' Escribá Segura (born 3 May 1965) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a left winger. He is the current manager of Real Zaragoza. Club career Born in Valencia, Escribá played youth football with Valen ...

. In his first season he led them to the fifth position, with the subsequent qualification to the group stage of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. On 20 May 2018, he extended his contract. On 10 December 2018, with the side just three points above the relegation zone and having managed only one win in the last nine league fixtures, Calleja was dismissed. On 29 January 2019, however, he was reinstated in the post following the sacking of Luis García. He left in July 2020, after a late run of form won the team a fifth-place finish and European qualification. On 5 April 2021, Calleja was appointed coach of last-placed

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

on a short-term deal. Having achieved his target of avoiding relegation, he was rewarded with a two-year contract the following month. He left at the turn of the calendar year with the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

club in the relegation zone, having taken one point from the last 15 and been eliminated from the second round of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

by third-tier

Linares Deportivo Linares Deportivo () is a Spanish football team based in Linares, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2009 as a replacement for dissolved CD Linares, it plays in Primera Federación – Group 1. The team's stadium is '' Estadio ...

. Calleja was named manager of Levante UD on 16 October 2022.

Personal life

Calleja's brother Fernando, who was born over a decade after him, was also a footballer but never any higher than the third division.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Villarreal * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2003, 2004

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calleja, Javier 1978 births Living people People from Alcalá de Henares Spanish footballers Footballers from the Community of Madrid Association football midfielders Association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Madrid C footballers UD Almería players RSD Alcalá players Villarreal CF players Málaga CF players CA Osasuna players Spain youth international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Villarreal CF B managers Villarreal CF managers Deportivo Alavés managers Levante UD managers