Julian Calero Fernández (born 26 October 1970) 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, and is the current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Levante. Following a playing career spent entirely at the amateur level, he coached mainly as an assistant, including with the Spain national team at the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

Career

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Calero represented

Parla Parla () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It is located in the southern part of the region, approximately 20 km from the capital, Madrid. History Origins Earliest evidence of human occupation includes stone tools m ...

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

, Atlético Pinto, Valdemoro, Alcalá and

Coslada Coslada () is a city and municipality in the autonomous community of Madrid in central Spain. It has an area of 11.7 km2. The is located in Coslada, which has become a major logistics hub in the country. Due to the area's close proximity to th ...

as a player. He began his manager career with the former's youth setup, and moved to

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

in 2003. In 2005, Calero was appointed Míchel's assistant at

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

side

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. After the manager's departure to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, he left Rayo and was named manager of ''Los Blancos youth categories; he also was in the staff of the reserves, behind

Juan Carlos Mandiá Juan Carlos Mandiá Lorenzo (born 17 January 1967) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defender, currently assistant manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Qadsiah. Playing career Mandiá was born in Alfoz, Province of Lugo. Over a ...

and Julen Lopetegui. In October 2009, Calero replaced Juanvi Peinado at the helm of Alcobendas Sport in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. He left the club the following May, being replaced by Alfredo Santaelena, and in October he was named at the helm of former club Parla. Calero moved abroad for the first time in his career in May 2011, being appointed assistant to

Dmitri Cheryshev Dmitri Nikolayevich Cheryshev (; born 11 May 1969) is a Russian professional football manager and a former forward. He is the manager of Tajikistani club Ravshan Kulob. During his 16-year senior career, he was mainly associated with Dynamo Mo ...

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

side Volga Nizhny Novgorod. He subsequently returned for another spell at Parla before being appointed in charge of Alcorcón B on 26 December 2012. In 2013, Calero served as Luis Milla's assistant at Al Jazira. On 24 March of the following year, he was appointed manager of another club he represented as a player, Atlético Pinto. Calero was appointed assistant of

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

on 7 May 2014, behind Lopetegui. On 15 June 2016, he joined

Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football executive and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He won five La Liga and three Champions League trophies with Real Madrid in 14 years ...

's staff at

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

. On 3 July 2017, Calero was appointed manager of

Navalcarnero Navalcarnero is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located about from Madrid. Sights include the church of Inmaculada Concepción. History By the end of 1499 the city of Segovia founded the location of Navalcarnero, to put an en ...

in the third division. He led the club to a sixth position during the campaign, finishing two points shy of the play-offs. Calero joined Hierro's staff at the Spain national team on 13 June 2018, being named his assistant. On 1 July of the following year, he took over

Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish professional football club in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with a capacity of 3,800 seats. ...

, freshly relegated from

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, but was dismissed on 3 March 2020, as the club were six points off the play-offs. On 30 June 2020, Calero was named manager of fellow third level side

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

, and led the side back to

after 19 years. He made his professional level debut as a player or manager on 15 August 2021 in a 1–0 loss at

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

. On 17 May 2023, after leading the club to two consecutive eleventh-place finishes, Calero announced he would departure Burgos at the end of the season. On 25 September, he replaced Víctor Sánchez at the helm of Cartagena also in the second division. On 6 June 2024, after avoiding relegation with the ''Efesé'', Calero announced his departure from the club, and two days later, he took over at fellow second division side Levante.

Personal life

Calero's son Iván is also a footballer and a midfielder.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Levante *

: 2024–25

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calero, Julian 1970 births Living people Footballers from Madrid Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders AD Parla players CF Fuenlabrada footballers RSD Alcalá players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers AD Alcorcón B managers CF Rayo Majadahonda managers Burgos CF managers FC Cartagena managers Levante UD managers Atlético Madrid non-playing staff Rayo Vallecano non-playing staff Real Madrid CF non-playing staff Al Jazira Club non-playing staff Real Oviedo non-playing staff Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal