Tarkan Mustafa (born 28 August 1973) is a former British football right-sided defender or winger who is currently a coach at Benfleet. He has previously played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for both

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

and

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

. He has represented the England semi-professional side, and is of Turkish Cypriot origin.

Career

Mustafa was with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

as a schoolboy before joining

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. He failed to make their first team and was released into non-league football. He joined

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

for the 1996–97 season, leaving to join

at the end of the season. His league debut came on 16 August 1997 when he played as a second-half substitute for

Sam Stockley Samuel Joshua Stockley (born 5 September 1977) is an English football coach and former professional player who is now the first-team manager and sporting director at USL League One club Lexington SC. A youth player at Southampton, he made his ...

in the 2–1 defeat at home to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. He struggled to establish himself at Barnet and was released at the end of the season, joining

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

. In 1999, he scored the winning goal in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

final for Kingstonian against

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

. Mustafa joined

in June 2000 and was a regular in the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

winning side the following season. He remained a regular in the Football League side the following season, but was transfer-listed in November 2002 after losing his place. He had a trial with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

before joining

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on loan in December 2002. He returned to Rushden after his month on loan, despite Doncaster offering a contract until the end of the 2004–05 season, and in February 2003 joined

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

, with his most notable goal coming against his former club Doncaster in a 3–2 defeat in the inaugural Conference Play-off Final. In May 2004, Mustafa followed Dagenham manager

Garry Hill Garry Hill is an English football manager who was last the manager of National League club Ebbsfleet United. He previously managed Woking, Heybridge Swifts, St Albans City, Dagenham & Redbridge, Hornchurch, Weymouth and Rushden & Diamonds. ...

to ambitious

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed ...

and was part of the side that looked set to run away with the league the following season. However, in November 2004 Hornchurch were in serious financial trouble after the collapse of their main sponsor and placed their entire squad on the transfer list. Mustafa left and trained with

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

before joining

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

in January 2005. He was loaned to

Billericay Town Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...

in October 2005, and was released by Aldershot in February 2006. He then moved to

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

before soon joining

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

, moving to

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

in September 2006 and

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

in November 2006. He was released by Eastleigh in July 2007 and the following month rejoined

. He has also played for Clapton,

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

and Redbridge. For Redbridge he was a consistent performer playing an important role in their run to the Isthmian League Division One North Playoff Final against

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...

, which Canvey won after a tense shootout. Mustafa later joined Canvey ready for the 2008–09 season. In the 2018–19 season, Mustafa made five league appearances for Benfleet whilst working at the club as a coach.

References

External links

*
Profile at Flown from the Nest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafa, Tarkan 1973 births Living people Footballers from Islington (district) English footballers England semi-pro international footballers Association football wingers Wimbledon F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Worthing F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Redbridge F.C. players Canvey Island F.C. players Leyton F.C. players Clapton F.C. players Benfleet F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Sportspeople of Turkish Cypriot descent English people of Turkish Cypriot descent Association football coaches