Cristian Montaño

Montaño joined West Ham United as an under-12 player, before he signed his first professional contract in June 2010.[8] In August 2011, he signed a one-month loan deal with League One side Notts County,[9] making his debut on 9 August in a League Cup game against Nottingham Forest, which Notts County lost on penalties after the game had finished 3–3.[10][11] He scored on his league debut four days later in a 2–1 defeat to Charlton Athletic at Meadow Lane.[12] His loan with the "Magpies" was extended until 9 October,[13] after which he returned to West Ham. Manager Martin Allen said that "he's a fantastic player and what a lovely lad. He's humble, hard-working and dedicated".[14]

Soon after leaving Notts County, Montaño signed a one-month loan deal with Swindon Town of League Two.[15] He made his debut for the "Robins" on 15 October, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 away win against Accrington Stanley.[16] His loan was cut short in November and he returned to the Boleyn Ground having scored one goal in four appearances.[17] Swindon boss Paolo Di Canio said that "I don't know if he feels part of Swindon Town. He didn't prove this to me."[18] Days after leaving Swindon, Montaño signed a one-month loan deal with League Two rivals Dagenham & Redbridge.[19] He scored on his debut for the "Daggers" in a 3–2 defeat to Southend United at Victoria Road on 19 November.[20] Montaño's loan was twice extended as manager John Still felt that "it gives us a player who has done very well for a little bit longer."[21][22]

Montaño again joined Notts County on loan in February 2012.[23] However he played only four games in his second spell and the loan was not extended and he returned to West Ham in March.[24] On 16 March, Montaño returned to League Two when he joined Oxford United on loan as a replacement for ex-loanee Lee Holmes.[25] His first goal for the "U's" came on 7 April in a 2–1 away defeat to Northampton Town.[26] Manager Chris Wilder decided to extend the loan spell after finding that striker Tom Craddock would not recover from his injury before the end of the season.[27] In total he scored ten goals in 39 appearances for four different clubs across five separate loan spells during the 2011–12 season.[28]

In August 2012, Montaño signed a two-year contract with Oldham Athletic, with the option of a third year, for an undisclosed fee (reported as being £50,000).[29][30] Manager Paul Dickov said that: "I gather he could have stayed at West Ham, but he was keen to move because of his wish to play football rather than being a squad player."[31] He scored two goals in 33 games in the 2012–13 campaign after missing two months with a torn thigh muscle.[32] He scored twice in 15 games in the first half of the 2013–14 season.[33]

He was sacked by the club in December 2013 on the grounds of gross misconduct relating to alleged spot-fixing in relation to the 2013 English match fixing scandal.[34] He said he was preparing to head to Manchester to speak to manager Lee Johnson when a club director rang to ask his location, the director then informed the police, who came to his location and arrested him, and the club announced that they had sacked Montaño whilst he was at the police station; he said "no-one from Oldham spoke to me about it. ... they were turning against me, I was left on my own".[35] In November 2014, having been released from bail but with investigation still ongoing by the National Crime Agency, Montaño announced his intention to sue Oldham Athletic for unlawful dismissal and loss of earnings; this would be the remaining £39,000 of his £1,500 a week wages and compensation of £76,500.[36][30] The spot-fixing charges were dropped in January 2015.[37][38]

"I had got no club. I thought my life was over, all I know is football. Then I saw all the abuse I was getting on Twitter. How much people were talking. People wishing bad on me, saying, ‘I hope someone breaks your legs’. Other people were laughing at me and telling me I wouldn’t get back into football and wishing the worst on me. Listening to what people were saying about me on social media led to me thinking about taking my own life."

— Montaño was suicidal after facing possible financial ruin and the prospect of the criminal charges costing him his career, as well as turning friends and supporters against him.[39]

Following his dismissal by Oldham Athletic, Montaño returned to his hometown to play for América de Cali in the Categoría Primera B; he slept on a friend's couch and took a bus to the training ground.[39] He scored one goal in nine league games in the 2014 season to help the "Scarlets" to a fifth-place finish, and also made seven appearances in the Copa Colombia. He featured twice at the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero in the 2015 season before returning to England after the criminal charges against him were dropped.[39]

Montaño playing for Bristol Rovers in 2016

Montaño joined Bristol Rovers in July 2015; manager Darrell Clarke stated that "he comes with quite a lot of baggage [but] I know that he is desperate for another opportunity to play league football and I'm a firm believer in giving everyone a second chance".[40] He scored two goals in 31 appearances as the "Gas" secured automatic promotion out of League Two in 2015–16.[41] He signed a contract extension of an undisclosed length in June 2016.[42] He played 31 games in the 2016–17 campaign before he was released in April 2017.[43] Clarke said that "Montaño was a very tough decision, it was borderline really. But there has to be a freshness and a bigger freshness than we've had in the last couple of seasons".[44]

Montaño signed a two-year contract with newly relegated League Two side Port Vale in June 2017.[41] Manager Michael Brown stated that "hopefully he will be an exciting player for us. We have someone who has to put the ball in the box – to feed the Pope!"[45] Montaño impressed in pre-season, however struggled at the start of the 2017–18 season after picking up a troublesome hamstring injury.[46] The injury developed into a tear in early September, ruling him out of action for two months.[47] He returned to action as a late substitute on 17 October, when he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 win at Morecambe.[48] He went on to establish himself in the first team and scored three goals within the space of four days at the start of December – his brace against Cambridge United earned him a mention on the League Two team of the week.[49][50] He was sent off after giving away a penalty in an FA Cup match at Yeovil Town on 12 December, but was defended by manager Neil Aspin, who claimed it was a "soft" penalty.[51] Montaño became unpopular with some supporters, but was praised by Aspin after filling in at left-back in February.[52] He excelled in his new role, and was one of the "Valiants" most in-form players until he was sidelined with a hamstring injury in mid-April.[53] Aspin handed him a new two-year contract the following month and told the press that "I felt it was imperative to what we want to do next season that we got him signed".[54]

He struggled with injury at the start of the 2018–19 season, missing most of September with a knee injury and then breaking down upon his return to action at home to Milton Keynes Dons on 2 October, leaving the team to go down to ten men after leaving the pitch 20 minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute.[55] Speaking at the end of the month, Aspin said Montaño "needs to get his finger out [as] the time for pussy-footing about is over" and that he needed to return to fitness and rediscover the excellent form he showed at full-back the previous season.[56] He managed to show his ability by scoring two goals in a 3–0 victory at Yeovil Town on 27 November, after the game he said that "I feel really happy with myself and my performance – being able to repay the gaffer and the confidence he gave me to be in the front three".[57] Seven days later he again scored a brace at Vale Park, helping Vale to a 4–0 over Stoke City U21 in the EFL Trophy; Aspin went on to say that Montaño had been disappointing at left-back at the start of the campaign, but had been excellent in his traditional role as a left-winger.[58] The performance against Stoke earned him the EFL Trophy's Player of the Second Round award.[59] He ended the campaign with seven goals in 20 starts and 13 substitute appearances.[60]

He picked up a hamstring injury in the first pre-season game of the 2019–20 campaign and was ruled out of action until the opening game of the season.[61] Though John Askey put him back to his favoured position on the left-wing, Montaño said that he learned a lot from his time as a left-back under Aspin and became a better winger as a result.[62] He was then returned to the left-back role in the absence of Adam Crookes in October/November and Askey said that "I would say he has looked better at left back than when he was playing left wing at the start of the season".[63] He was at fault for Macclesfield Town's opening goal in a 2–2 Boxing Day draw, but responded well by being named as man of the match in the next two games.[64] He was praised by the Port Vale Foundation Trust for helping the charity to support the local community during the COVID-19 pandemic in England.[65] He signed a new one-year contract after he ended the campaign with 36 appearances.[66][67]

He scored a "goal-of-the season contender" in a 3–2 home defeat to Leyton Orient on 29 November 2020, "charging forward [from left-back] and bending the ball into the top corner with his weaker right foot".[68]