Cristian Alexis Montaño Castillo (born 11 December 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership club Livingston. A versatile player, he is able to play at left-back or as a forward, though his preferred position is as a winger; he is known for his pace.
Born in Cali, Colombia, he emigrated to London at a young age and joined the West Ham United Academy. He never played a first-team game for the club, but did play on loan at Notts County, Swindon Town, Dagenham & Redbridge and Oxford United. He was signed by Oldham Athletic in August 2012, but was sacked in December 2013 after being arrested for spot-fixing and rape. All charges were later dropped and he returned to his hometown in Colombia to play for América de Cali. He returned to England and joined Bristol Rovers in July 2015. He helped the club to win promotion out of League Two in 2015–16, before he moved on to Port Vale in June 2017. He stayed at Vale Park for four seasons, where he learned to play at left-back. He signed with Livingston in May 2021.
Early life
Born in Cali, Colombia, Montaño moved to London as a child and holds nationality of both Colombia and the United Kingdom. He recalled that he "always heard gun shots growing up in Colombia", before moving to England at the age of ten to join his mother, who had emigrated four years previously.
Playing career
West Ham United
Montaño joined West Ham United as an under-12 player, before he signed his first professional contract in June 2010. In August 2011, he signed a one-month loan deal with League One side Notts County, 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. He scored on his league debut four days later in a 2–1 defeat to Charlton Athletic at Meadow Lane. His loan with the "Magpies" was extended until 9 October, 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".
Soon after leaving Notts County, Montaño signed a one-month loan deal with Swindon Town of League Two. He made his debut for the "Robins" on 15 October, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 away win against Accrington Stanley. His loan was cut short in November and he returned to the Boleyn Ground having scored one goal in four appearances. 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." Days after leaving Swindon, Montaño signed a one-month loan deal with League Two rivals Dagenham & Redbridge. He scored on his debut for the "Daggers" in a 3–2 defeat to Southend United at Victoria Road on 19 November. 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."
Montaño again joined Notts County on loan in February 2012. However he played only four games in his second spell and the loan was not extended and he returned to West Ham in March. On 16 March, Montaño returned to League Two when he joined Oxford United on loan as a replacement for ex-loanee Lee Holmes. His first goal for the "U's" came on 7 April in a 2–1 away defeat to Northampton Town. 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. In total he scored ten goals in 39 appearances for four different clubs across five separate loan spells during the 2011–12 season.
Oldham Athletic
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). 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." He scored two goals in 33 games in the 2012–13 campaign after missing two months with a tore thigh muscle. He scored twice in 15 games in the first half of the 2013–14 season.