John Tambouras (born 30 January 1979 in Darwin, Australia) is a retired Australian

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 le ...

Club career

Tambouras attracted the attention of

South Melbourne F.C. South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium. ...

who signed him on as a teenager and it was with them that he gained his first experience of playing in a semi professional environment. He then went abroad and played in his parents' country of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

for Kalamata. During his time here, he played against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in the Intertoto Cup which was drawn 1–1. Following his time in Greece he was signed by New Zealand's only professional side, the

Auckland Kingz The Football Kingz were New Zealand's first professional football club. They played in the Australian National Soccer League from 1999 until their disestablishment in 2004, when they were replaced by the New Zealand Knights as an inaugural parti ...

for the 2003–2004 Australian NSL season. That season he won the club's "Player of the Year" award. The following season saw him play in the new

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

with the

New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-League ...

but was let go at the end of the season. After his first season in the A League he joined

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n side

Pahang Pahang (;Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a ...

where he helped the club win the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

which was decided on penalties. With the Malaysian season over he briefly returned to the New Zealand Knights. Post Knights he trialed at Romanian club

FC Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948, commonly known as FC U Craiova 1948 or FC U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I. It is along with CS Universitatea Craiova one of the two entities asserti ...

in January 2007, failing to secure a position with the club, but then was offered a contract from Irish club Drogheda United in July the same year. Whilst at Drogheda he played in the Uefa Cup qualifying rounds and helped the club win the Fai Eircom League of Ireland for the first time in the club's history. After leaving Drogheda, he moved to Azerbaijan for a week-long trial at Neftchi Baku, this resulted in him signing a three-year contract with the club. Following a nomadic period playing in Asia and Europe, John was signed in June 2009 by A League's newest club,

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from t ...

for their debut A League season. On 2 March 2010 Tambouras went on trial, and then accepted a deal, from Chinese second division outfit Guangzhou Evergrande to play in the upcoming season. He made his

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

debut for Guangzhou against

Pudong Zobon Shanghai Zobon F.C. (Simplified Chinese: 上海中邦足球俱乐部) is a defunct football club that predominantly competed in the China League One division. Originally founded by Zhu Jun, the CEO of The9 Limited as an nondescript amateur club, ...

on 10 April. Just playing two matches for Guangzhou, Tambouras was released in June.

Coaching

As of October 2010 Tambouras was appointed as the skills acquisition trainer for the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, a role set up and partly funded by FFA. He is working predominantly with 9- to 13-year-olds, teaching them the National Curriculum.FFNT Welcomes John Tambouras
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Honours

With South Melbourne: * NSL Championship: 1997–1998, 1998–1999 With

Pahang FA Sri Pahang Football Club () is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kuantan, Pahang. Founded in 1959 and has traditionally worn a yellow home kit since. At the beginning, club's home matches were held around the city public fields an ...

: *

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...

: 2005–2006 With

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

: * League of Ireland:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

References

External links

Aussie Footballers
Tabain to Tathem
North Queensland Fury profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tambouras, John 1979 births Living people Soccer players from Melbourne Australian people of Greek descent Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Malaysia A-League Men players League of Ireland players Drogheda United F.C. players Football Kingz F.C. players Kalamata F.C. players New Zealand Knights FC players Northern Fury FC players South Melbourne FC players Caroline Springs George Cross FC players Guangzhou F.C. players China League One players Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan Association football defenders Australian soccer players