Íñigo Calderón Zapatería (born 4 January 1982) is a Spanish former professional

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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, currently a

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 ...

. He played for

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

and Alavés in Spain, joining Brighton & Hove Albion in 2010 and going on to remain several years with the club while appearing in 232 competitive games.

Playing career

Spain

Born in

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

, Basque Country, Calderón started his professional career with

in the

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 ...

, achieving two first-place finishes and one third during his three-year spell but seeing his team consecutively fail in the promotion play-offs. In 2007, he moved to Alavés (he had already represented its C and B sides early in his career), playing two

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 ...

seasons – often serving as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

– and suffering relegation in his

second year The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 7 January 2010, after a spell on trial, Calderón signed with

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club Brighton & Hove Albion on a contract until the end of the campaign. He made his debut nine days later in a 2–1 win at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, and scored his first goal for the Seagulls in another away fixture (also 2–1 victory), against Charlton Athletic on 23 February. Calderón's offer of a new contract at Brighton was withdrawn after he agreed to join League One rivals

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in May 2010. However, on 10 June, the player agreed to a new three-year deal, with

Gus Poyet claiming "Calde is a quality player and was always our first-choice right-back...". In the 2010–11 season, Calderón scored eight goals, including a first-half strike in the 4–3 victory over Dagenham & Redbridge that helped Albion secure promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. He subsequently signed a one-year extension, keeping him at the

Falmer Stadium Falmer Stadium, currently known as the American Express Stadium for sponsorship reasons and more commonly referred to as the Amex, is a association football, football stadium in Falmer, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. With a capacity o ...

until 2014. Calderón netted his first goal of 2011–12 in the 2–0 home defeat of

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

– a thunderous drive from 25 yards. He appeared predominantly as a right midfielder in 2014–15, scoring four times and being subsequently voted player of the season.

Later career

On 9 July 2016, aged 34,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Calderón joined

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

on a one-year contract. On 19 July 2017, he switched to the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

with Chennaiyin.

Coaching career

Beginnings

During the later years of his career, Calderón secured a

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

, before returning to his former club Alavés as assistant manager to the reserves following his retirement. He went back to Brighton & Hove Albion in June 2023, being named under-18 head coach.

Bristol Rovers

On 26 December 2024, Calderón was appointed manager of League One side Bristol Rovers on a two-and-a-half year deal. Having watched a 3–1 away defeat against Exeter City from the stands on the day of his appointment, his first match in charge was a 3–0 loss at

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

, with his team ending the calendar year in 20th position; 2025 saw an upturn in form however, with thirteen points from the first eight matches including vital wins over fellow strugglers

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, Peterborough United and Burton Albion, and the manager talked of the importance of helping erase the negative atmosphere that surrounded the club at the time of his appointment. Despite this, Calderón's side would pick up just one point in nine games across March and April 2025, having their

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

confirmed on 29 April after a point elsewhere for Burton Albion left the Rovers four points from safety with just one fixture remaining. Subsequently, he confirmed that he would like to remain at the Memorial Stadium, admitting however that the situation was out of his control; on 4 May, following a 4–1 final day away defeat to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, he left.

Personal life

Calderón has a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

in sport psychology. He is also a qualified teacher.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Brighton & Hove Albion *

: 2010–11 Chennaiyin *

: 2017–18 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 2010–11 League One *Indian Super League Fittest Player: 2017–18

References

External links

Official Brighton & Hove Albion profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calderon, Inigo 1982 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Vitoria-Gasteiz Men's association football fullbacks Segunda División players Segunda División B players Deportivo Alavés B players Alicante CF footballers Deportivo Alavés players English Football League players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Indian Super League players Chennaiyin FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Spanish football managers English Football League managers Bristol Rovers F.C. managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in England Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. non-playing staff