Junior Lloyd Opara (born 6 January 1984) is an English former

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 striker. He played for many clubs during his career. While Opara was at Peterborough he starred in a '

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

' documentary

Big Ron Manager ''Big Ron Manager'' is a television documentary series based on Ron Atkinson's efforts as a troubleshooter at the English football club Peterborough United, at the time playing in League Two. The series was screened on Sky One in 2006. Overvie ...

which was aired in 2006. His older brother Kelechi was also a professional

Career

He began his career at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in 2001 and made his senior debut on 13 October 2001 against

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 ...

. After being released by Colchester in 2002 he joined

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 ...

, who were interested in taking on the final year of his scholarship. He instead joined

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third level of the Engli ...

in January 2003. He has also played for Enfield,

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

Cheshunt Cheshunt (/ˈtʃɛzənt/ CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, situated within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London. The town lies on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering th ...

, and

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

and many others. He left Swindon by mutual consent in September 2004 after failing to adapt to life outside London. After a trial at Chelsea, 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 Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on loan in March 2006, and while Opara was at Peterborough he starred in a Sky One documentary 'Big Ron Manager'. In January 2007 he joined

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

on a month's loan, after which time he returned to Peterborough, who cancelled his contract the following month by mutual consent. He joined, then rejoined

Arlesey Town Arlesey Town Football Club is a football club based in Arlesey, Bedfordshire, England. Affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association, they are currently members of the and play at New Lamb Meadow. History The club was establishe ...

, after another brief spell at

where he came on as a sub and picked up a winners medal in the final of the 2008

Herts Charity Cup The Herts Charity Cup, officially titled the Hertfordshire Football Association Charity Cup, was begun in the 1900–01 season as a fund raising competition for the chosen charities of the Hertfordshire County Football Association. It is second o ...

. In 2008–09 season he appeared for Broxbourne Borough in the Premier Division of the

Spartan South Midlands League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian 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 Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

but he has left the role.

References

External links

* at * {{DEFAULTSORT:Opara, Lloyd 1984 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield People from Enfield, London English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Colchester United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Enfield F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Redbridge F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Cheshunt F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Windsor & Eton F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players Potters Bar Town F.C. players Waltham Forest F.C. players Arlesey Town F.C. players F.C. Broxbourne Borough players Haringey Borough F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players 21st-century English sportsmen