Constantinous "Tarki" Micallef (born 24 January 1961) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

former professional

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, rugb ...

Career

The son of a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

restaurateur, Micallef was born in the Grangetown area of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

and was a Welsh schoolboy international before joining

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

as a trainee, working his way up to the first team. Micallef made his debut in December 1978 at the age of seventeen against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, which was to be his only appearance for the Bluebirds that year. Eventually, he established himself in the team during the 1981–82 season, but moved to Newport County as part of a five-man swap deal (including

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

and

Linden Jones ''For the Welsh cricketer see Lyndon Jones''. Linden Jones (born 5 March 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer. Club career Jones was born in New Tredegar, Monmouthshire. He began his career at Cardiff City joining them as an appren ...

) in exchange for

Nigel Vaughan Nigel Mark Vaughan (born 20 May 1959 in Caerleon) is a Welsh former professional footballer and Wales international. He gained ten international caps during his football career. Club career Newport County Vaughan started his playing career at ...

and Karl Elsey in September 1983. He remained at Newport for one year before joining Gillingham on a short term non-contract basis, making two appearances before re-joining Cardiff, only playing a handful of games as they were relegated to the Third Division. He spent one year at

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

before moving to non-league football with Barry Town.

After football

After retiring from football after leaving Barry Town, Micallef worked as a technician for the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

. He lives in

Penylan Penylan is a district and community in the east of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, known for its Edwardian era period houses and spacious tree lined roads and avenues. Situated to both the north and south of the A48 dual carriageway, it ...

with his wife Maria and two children, Antonia and Tiago.

References

;General * ;Specific 1961 births Living people Welsh footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Footballers from Cardiff Cardiff City F.C. players Barry Town United F.C. players English Football League players Welsh people of Greek descent Association football midfielders {{Wales-footy-midfielder-stub