Ernie Tapai

Ernie Tapai (born 14 February 1967) is a former Australian soccer player who spent the majority of his career in the Australian National Soccer League (NSL). He also had stints in England, Portugal and Singapore. Tapai played 52 times for Australia, including 37 times in full international matches.

Ernie Tapai

Personal information
Full name	Ernest Tapai
Date of birth	14 February 1967
Place of birth	Subotica, Yugoslavia
Height	168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–1989	Footscray JUST	100	(10)
1989–1990	Sunshine George Cross	15	(0)
1990–1992	Adelaide City	35	(6)
1992–1993	Stoke City	0	(0)
1993–1994	Estoril	13	(1)
1994–1996	Gippsland Falcons	48	(8)
1996–1997	Collingwood Warriors	24	(1)
1997–1998	Perth Glory	15	(2)
1999–2000	Home United	?	(?)
2001	Clementi Khalsa	16	(3)
2002	Westgate
National team
1990–1998	Australia	37	(6)
Teams managed
2007	Corio
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Tapai was born in Subotica, Yugoslavia (now in Serbia). He migrated to Australia with his parents as a young child.[1][2][3]

Playing career

Club career

After playing as a junior for Melbourne Hungaria, Tapai signed for Footscray JUST ahead of the 1985 National Soccer League season.[4] He made at age 18 in the National Soccer League. After playing with Sunshine George Cross and Adelaide City Tapai moved to Europe to play for English side Stoke City.Stoke City.[5] He never got much of a chance at Stoke making just once appearance for the club which came as a substitute in a 2–2 with Crewe Alexandra in the Football League Trophy on 6 January 1993.[5]

Tapai then signed with Portuguese club Estoril, participating in the 1993–94 Primeira Divisão season, where he scored his only goal against Benfica, but moved back to play in Australia. He went on to play for Gippsland Falcons and Perth Glory before playing for three years in Singapore with Home United and Clementi Khalsa and retired after the 2002 season with Westgate.[6]

After ending his playing career Tapai went into coaching.[7]

International career

Tapai played 52 games (37 'A' games) for the Australian national team between 1986 and 1998. He was part of the Australia squad that claimed 2nd place at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup. Australian manager Terry Venables received criticism for bringing on Tapai in the 1997 World Cup Qualifier against Iran. Australia needed a goal and Tapai was not the man many viewed as being a viable attacking option.[8][9][10]

Career statistics

Club

Source:[11][12]

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Footscray JUST	1985	National Soccer League	22	3	—		—		—		22	3
	1986	National Soccer League	26	4	—		—		—		26	4
	1987	National Soccer League	21	2	—		—		—		21	2
	1988	National Soccer League	17	0	—		—		—		17	0
	1989	National Soccer League	14	0	—		—		—		14	0
	Total		100	10	—		—		—		100	10
Sunshine George Cross	1989–90	National Soccer League	15	0	—		—		—		15	0
Adelaide City	1990–91	National Soccer League	9	4	—		—		—		9	4
	1991–92	National Soccer League	26	2	—		—		—		26	2
	Total		35	6	—		—		—		35	6
Stoke City	1992–93	Second Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Estoril	1993–94	Primeira Divisão	13	1	—		—		—		13	1
Gippsland Falcons	1994–95	National Soccer League	20	5	—		—		—		20	5
	1995–96	National Soccer League	28	3	—		—		—		28	3
	Total		48	8	—		—		—		48	8
Collingwood Warriors	1996–97	National Soccer League	24	1	—		—		—		24	1
Perth Glory	1997–98	National Soccer League	15	2	—		—		—		15	2
Career total			250	28	0	0	0	0	1	0	251	28

International

Source:[13]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Australia	1990	3	0
	1991	2	0
	1992	11	1
	1996	6	1
	1997	10	3
	1998	4	1
Total		36	6

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 July 1992	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia	Croatia	1–0	3–1	Friendly
2	27 October 1996	Olympic Stadium, Papeete, Tahiti	Tahiti	0–1	0–6	1996 OFC Nations Cup
3	11 June 1997	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia	Solomon Islands	8–0	13–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	17 June 1997	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia	Solomon Islands	4–0	6–2	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
5				5–0
6	11 February 1998	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia	South Korea	1–0	1–0	Friendly

References

1. "2009 Football Hall of Fame". MyFootball. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
2. Kent, Paul (29 November 1997). "The modern, dinky-di face of Australian soccer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Tapai, Ernie (7 March 2019). "Ernie Tapai on The Pioneers FNR" (Interview). The Pioneers. Interviewed by Donikian, George; Cotsanis, George. Football Nation Radio – via YouTube.
4. Schwab, Laurie (16 January 1985). "Gully loses Wade to Juventus". The Age. Retrieved 25 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City The Modern Era - A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.
6. "2002 State League Division One Results". Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
7. "Corio challenged to make the point". geelongadvertiser. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
8. "FIFA Player Statistics: Ernest Tapai". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
9. "Ernie Tapai". OzFootball. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
10. Howe, Andrew (2018). "Australian National Team History" (PDF). Football Federation Australia. p. 94.
11. Ernie Tapai at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
12. "Aussie Footballers - Ernie Tapai". OzFootball. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
13. Tapai, Ernie at National-Football-Teams.com