David Tarka (born 11 February 1983 in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

) is a retired Australian

association 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 ...

, who played two games for the national team.

Club career

Tarka was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

youth international and was an Australian schoolboy international in 1999. Tarka helped the Australia under 20 team qualify for the 2003 World Youth Championships in the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and played in the Australia under 23 team's 2004

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Qualifiers. Tarka turned down a chance for a trial at

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

in April 2003, instead staying in Australia to help

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

win the NSL championship. In the middle of 2003 Tarka moved to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for a fee of £100,000.

International career

Tarka earned two full international caps against

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

and

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

in 2004.

A-League career statistics

(''Correct as of 2 February 2009'')

Honours

With

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

: *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

With

: * NSL Championship: 2002-2003 Personal honours: *

Most Glorious Player Award: 2006-2007 *

Player's Player of the Year: 2006-2007 *

Young Player of the Year: 2006-2007 * Australian Electrician of the Year 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021

External links

Perth Glory profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarka, David 1983 births Living people Australian people of Polish descent Sportsmen from Western Australia Australian soccer players Australia international soccer players Olympic soccer players of Australia A-League Men players Perth Glory FC players Nottingham Forest F.C. players People educated at John Curtin College of the Arts Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Soccer players from Perth, Western Australia Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2004 OFC Nations Cup players Association football defenders