Tarkan Mustafa (born 28 August 1973) is a British former footballer who is a coach at Benfleet. A right-back or winger, he previously played in the Football League for both Barnet and Rushden & Diamonds. He represented the England semi-professional side.

Tarkan Mustafa
Personal information
Full name Tarkan Nain Mustafa
Date of birth (1973-08-28) 28 August 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Islington, London, England
Position(s) Right-back, winger
Youth career
Norwich City
Wimbledon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Wimbledon 0 (0)
1996–1997 Kettering Town
1997–1998 Barnet 11 (0)
1998–2000 Kingstonian 39 (3)
2000–2003 Rushden & Diamonds 75 (1)
2002–2003Doncaster Rovers (loan) 5 (1)
2003–2004 Dagenham & Redbridge 52 (2)
2004–2005 Hornchurch 2 (0)
2005–2006 Aldershot Town 20 (0)
2005Billericay Town (loan) 10 (0)
2006 Lewes
2006 Worthing 13 (0)
2006 Thurrock 11 (0)
2006–2007 Eastleigh 25 (0)
2007–2008 Worthing
2008 Redbridge 20 (0)
2008 Canvey Island
2018– Benfleet 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 December 2019

Career

edit

Mustafa was with Norwich City as a schoolboy before joining Wimbledon. He failed to make their first team and was released into non-league football. He joined Kettering Town for the 1996–97 season, leaving to join Barnet 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 in the 2–1 defeat at home to Exeter City.

He struggled to establish himself at Barnet and was released at the end of the season, joining Kingstonian. In 1999, he scored the winning goal in the FA Trophy final for Kingstonian against Forest Green Rovers. Mustafa joined Rushden & Diamonds in June 2000 and was a regular in the Conference 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 before joining Doncaster Rovers on loan in December 2002.[1] He returned to Rushden after his month on loan, despite Doncaster offering a contract until the end of the 2004–05 season,[2] and in February 2003 joined Dagenham & Redbridge, with his most notable goal coming against his former club Doncaster in a 3–2 defeat in the inaugural Conference Play-off Final.[3]

In May 2004, Mustafa followed Dagenham manager Garry Hill to ambitious Conference South side Hornchurch[4][5] 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 before joining Aldershot Town in January 2005.[6]

He was loaned to Billericay Town in October 2005,[7] and was released by Aldershot in February 2006.[8] He then moved to Lewes before soon joining Worthing, moving to Thurrock in September 2006[9] and Eastleigh in November 2006.

He was released by Eastleigh in July 2007[10] and the following month rejoined Worthing.[11]

He has also played for Clapton, Leyton 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, 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.[12]

Personal life

edit

Mustafa is of Turkish Cypriot origin.[13]

Honours

edit

Individual

References

edit
  1. ^ Rovers sign Mustafa[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com (20 December 2002).
  2. ^ Mustafa rejects Rovers[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com (22 January 2003).
  3. ^ Daggers sign Mustafa[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com.
  4. ^ Mustafa leaves Daggers[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com.
  5. ^ No surprise as Mustafa joins Urchins[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com.
  6. ^ Shots confirm Mustafa arrival[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com (26 January 2005).
  7. ^ Billericay borrow Mustafa[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com.
  8. ^ Mustafa leaves shots[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com (24 February 2006).
  9. ^ Essex return for Mustafa[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com.
  10. ^ Four in – two out at Eastleigh[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com (13 July 2007).
  11. ^ Rebel return for Mustafa[usurped]. Nonleaguedaily.com.
  12. ^ "TARKAN MUSTAFA". Canvey Island F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  13. ^ WIAO Fanzine Archived 1 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Desiredeffect.co.uk.
  14. ^ "Conference end of season awards". ConfGuide.com. 14 June 2003. Archived from the original on 2 July 2003. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
edit