Inigo Calderon, a Brighton player like no other
Have you ever Googled Inigo Calderon? Type the name of Brighton’s favourite Spanish son into the world’s leading search engine and see where it takes you.
“Brighton and Hove Albion defender Inigo Calderon was one of three players who visited children in Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice last Tuesday. Calderon, Bruno Saltor and Andrea Orlandi were shown around the House by 14-year-old Seagulls fan Nicholas Clayton. The tour finished off with a kick-about in the garden with the players.”
“Brighton defender Inigo Calderon has raised over £2,500 for Chestnut Tree House after taking part in the Triatlon Aritzaleku in his native Spain.”
“Brighton defender Inigo Calderon is the winner of the Sky Bet Football League Unsung Hero of the Month award. Calderon is a regular visitor to hospices in Sussex – he raised £2,500 for a local hospice last summer by completing a mini-triathlon – and he helps with the education of young professionals in Brighton’s academy.”
“Spanish full-back Inigo Calderon gave Albion In The Community apprentices and Want To Work participants a lecture on sports psychology at the American Express Community Stadium yesterday.”
“Brighton & Hove Albion’s Inigo Calderon has been named PFA Player in the Community at the Football League Awards 2013. During 2012, Calderon designed and delivered his own educational workshops for the club’s beneficiaries.”
“Brighton and Hove Albion Player Inigo Calderon helped Seaford students achieve their goals when they visited the American Express Community Stadium in an even hosted by Albion in the Community. Over 60 students were tasked with designing a smart phone app that would enhance the experience of visitors to the Amex with Calderon on hand to offer advice and encouragement.”
For six-and-a-half-years, Calderon was so much more than a footballer for Brighton. He took the club and the city to his heart in a way that few players ever have and in return, he became loved by the Albion faithful.
You’d have got long odds on that when Calderon first rocked up in England in January 2010. “Inigo who?” was the reaction when Brighton unveiled the 28-year-old Spanish right back as Gus Poyet’s first signing of the transfer window.
At this point in time, the Albion were nearly nine months into Tony Bloom’s reign as chairman. Money was very clearly available for defenders, as the £250,000 showered on James Tunnicliffe and the £100,000 spent on Jake Wright by Russell Slade the previous summer had shown.
Why then was Poyet picking up a player who had been a free agent for the past six months since being released by Spanish third tier club Deportivo Alaves?
After all, this was a bloke who had undertaken unsuccessful trials with Gillingham, Norwich City and Swansea City, where he’d first flown over to watch his mate Andrea Orlandi in action.
In fact, the most intriguing thing about Calderon wasn’t his football ability; it was that he had a Masters in Sports Psychology and a Masters in Sports Science. And that he looked like a cross between Jesus Christ and Fernando Alonso.
Poyet knew best though, as was so often the case in the first few years of his reign, and Calderon was soon making his Albion debut in a 2-1 win away at Walsall alongside fellow new signing Marcos Painter.
Suddenly, Brighton had two full backs who were comfortable in possession and not afraid to attack. Poyetball – as it would have been known if it was cool to combine a manager’s name with ‘ball’ back in 2010 – was born.
From day one, Calderon looked a class above most of his teammates. The moment that Brighton fans began to truly fall for him came on February 23rd 2010 under the lights at the Valley.
The Albion arrived in South East London in the League One relegation zone. Charlton Athletic were chasing promotion to the Championship. Not many people gave Poyet and his players much hope but Calderon clearly hadn’t read the script.
In the 36th minute, he went rampaging forward from right back. No Charlton player seemed interested in closing him down and so Calderon managed to make it to around 25 yards out from goal, from where he bent a powerful effort around Rob Elliot in the Addicks goal and into the bottom corner.
Great goal, even better celebration; Calderon ran over to the Charlton fans, got down on one knee and began shining the boot which has just mesmerised everyone in attendance. A star was born – although it may have been a short-lived one had history taken a different turn.
It often goes forgotten that when Brighton offered Calderon a three-year extension to his original six month deal at the end of the 2009-10 season, he told the Albion he wanted to wait and see what Southampton were going to offer.
The Saints were known to be interested but the uncertainty surrounding Alan Pardew’s future meant that they weren’t in a position to put a contract on the table by the middle of May – that being the deadline that Poyet had set Calderon to commit to the Albion before the Brighton boss would turn his attentions to finding a repacement right back.
Calderon missed the deadline, the Albion withdrew their offer and as a result, it looked like Calderon was St Mary’s bound on a free transfer. It had shades of Sergey Gotsmanov 20 years earlier, the Soviet superstar who had been given a chance in English football by the Albion for 16 games, only for Southampton to steal him from under Brighton’s noses during the summer of 1990 by paying £150,000 to Dinamo Minsk for his services.
Gotsmanov never settled at the Dell. Luckily, we never got the chance to find out if a similar fate would have befallen Calderon. Poyet performed what must have been the only u-turn of his entire life; one month after Calderon’s Brighton career looked over, the offer was put back to him and he duly signed, turning down a more lucrative two-year deal at Southampton in favour of three years at the Albion. And he was made vice-captain for good measure.
The rest, as they say, is history. Calderon missed just two league games in the 2010-11 League One title winning season, scoring an impressive eight goals from right back. The majority of them came in vital games; first versus second when the Albion won 4-0 at Charlton and in another top-of-the-table clash two weeks later at Peterborough United.
There was the only goal in a 1-0 win over Notts County during Mad March when Brighton won eight games out of eight. Calderon also struck in both the promotion-clinching 4-3 victory against Dagenham & Redbridge and the title-clinching 3-1 success away at Walsall. He took part in the lap of honour after the Daggers victory draped in a Basque flag.
Calderon was a trail blazer. Had he not settled and taken to Brighton so easily, would the club have been able to attract his compatriots Vicente, Bruno and David Lopez to the club? Not to mention Orlandi, who was part of the reason that Calderon wound up in England in the first place.
He played as a right back. He played as a left back. He even found himself playing as a right winger in the second half of the 2014-15 campaign when Chris Hughton liked to use two full backs on one flank in his defensive 4-4-2 formation.
Calderon’s determination meant that he still managed to score four times despite those stifling tactics. One of those was memorably notched with his face in a 2-0 home win over The Leeds United.
Calderon ended the season being voted as the Albion’s Player of the Year. He was typically humble when presented with the award, his first comments on stage being, “I thought it would be Dunky.”
In 2015-16, Bruno’s outrageous form meant that Calderon found himself surplus to requirements on the pitch. He played just 17 times, his last appearance coming in February. And yet there was still one more classic Calderon moment to come, three months after we last saw him sporting the number 14 shirt.
It was at Hillsborough in the Championship play off semi final first leg. Four game-ending injuries in the space of 20 minutes had shattered Brighton’s hopes of taking anything back to Sussex.
The 10 men were now just desperately holding on for the final half hour, trying not to slip too far out of sight. And there was Calderon, running up and down the touchline to warm up vigorously.
Hughton had made all three of his subs out of necessity but Calderon was still jogging and stretching as he was permitted to do so, taking the opportunity to run backwards and forwards, encouraging his weary teammates and passing on tactical advice.
It was a sight almost as iconic as Liam Rosenior’s ‘chin up’ gesture at the full time whistle – or at least it would have been had anybody caught Calderon on camera.
Sheffield Wednesday won 2-0 that night and a 1-1 draw in the second leg saw the Owls advance to Wembley. Calderon was released at the end of the season after 232 games and 19 goals, never getting the chance to grace the Premier League with his talents.
He has watched the Albion in the Premier League though. Calderon’s been found drinking beer with fans in the West Lower concourse after games whenever he’s been able to fly back to England from his commitments with Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta, Indian Super League outfit Chennaiyin FC or most recently Alaves who he returned to as B Team assistant in March 2019.
Within three months of their appointments, Calderon and manager Inaki Alonso helped deliver promotion to the third tier at the end of the 2018-19 season. The hope will be that success is the first of many in Calderon’s managerial career and one day, he can return to the Amex in a coaching role.
Imagine that. Inigo Calderon, Brighton and Hove Albion manager. It will be another impressive headline to add to the Google search results of a Brighton player like no other.
