Lloyd Opara

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' documentary Big Ron Manager which was aired in 2006.

Lloyd Opara
Personal information
Full name Junior Lloyd Opara[1]
Date of birth (1984-01-06) 6 January 1984[1]
Place of birth Enfield, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Playing position(s) Striker
Youth career
000?–2001 Colchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 Colchester United 6 (0)
2002–2003 Cambridge United 10 (1)
2003 Stevenage Borough 1 (0)
2003 → Enfield (loan) 4 (2)
2003 Braintree Town 1 (0)
2003 Hornchurch 5 (1)
2003–2004 Grays Athletic 11 (3)
2004 Swindon Town 0 (0)
2004 St Albans City 2 (0)
2004 Bishop's Stortford 1 (1)
2005 Redbridge 15 (5)
2005 → Chelmsford City (loan) 1 (0)
2005–2006 Cheshunt 25 (18)
2006 → Peterborough United (loan) 8 (1)
2006–2007 Peterborough United 11 (1)
2007 → Burton Albion (loan) 1 (0)
2007 Cheshunt 10 (6)
2007 Windsor & Eton 1 (0)
2007 Harlow Town 1 (0)
2007 Potters Bar Town 0 (0)
2007 Waltham Forest 2 (0)
2007–2008 Arlesey Town 2 (1)
2008 Cheshunt 3 (0)
2008 Broxbourne Borough V. & E. 6 (2)
2008 Haringey Borough 39 (16)
2012 Haringey Borough 7 (1)
Total 173 (59)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

His older brother Kelechi was also a professional footballer.[2]

Career

He began his career at Colchester United in 2001 and made his senior debut on 13 October 2001 against Blackpool.[3] 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.[4] He has also played for Enfield, Braintree Town, 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.[5] After a trial at Chelsea,[6] 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,[7] 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,[8] after which time he returned to Peterborough,[9] who cancelled his contract the following month by mutual consent.[10] 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 in Derbyshire but he has left the role.[11] [12]

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References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2003). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004. Queen Anne Press. p. 324. ISBN 1-85291-651-6.
  2. "Soccer: U's look to youth". Colchester Daily Gazette. 9 November 2000. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  3. "Late, Late Goal Denies U's Away Point". Colchester United F.C. 13 October 2001. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  4. "Opara opts for Stevenage". BBC Sport. 2 January 2003. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  5. "Opara quits Swindon". BBC Sport. 16 September 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  6. Sims, Andy (10 March 2006). "Chelsea pluck Opara from obscurity to boost striking ranks". The Independent. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  7. "Peterborough sign Opara on loan". BBC Sport. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  8. "Burton take striker Opara on loan". BBC Sport. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  9. "Burton to let striker Opara leave". BBC Sport. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  10. "Boston set to sign Posh striker". BBC Sport. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  11. "Ex-Burton Albion footballer swaps pitch for classroom at Derbyshire school". Derbyshire Live. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  12. "Remembering some Burton Albion signings whose stay was very brief". Derbyshire Live. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
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