Ernie Tapai (born 14 February 1967) is an Australian former professional
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
player who spent the majority of his career in the Australian
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...
(NSL). He also had stints in England, Portugal and Singapore. Tapai played 52 times for
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, including 37 times in full international matches.
Early life
Tapai was born in
Subotica
Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...
,
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
(now in Serbia). He migrated to Australia with his parents as a young child.
Club career
After playing as a junior for
Melbourne Hungaria, Tapai signed for
Footscray JUST
Footscray Jugoslav United Soccer Team, commonly referred to as J.U.S.T, Footscray or simply JUST, was an association football club from Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, Australia. The club was established by Yugoslavs, Yugoslav migrants in 1950, ...
ahead of the 1985 National Soccer League season. He made at age 18 in the
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...
. After playing with
Sunshine George Cross and
Adelaide City
Adelaide City Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakden, a north-eastern suburb of Adelaide. The club was a founding member of the now-defunct National Soccer League (NSL) and currently competes in the National Premier ...
Tapai moved to Europe to play for English side
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system.
Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...
.
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system.
Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...
.
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 draw with
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...
in the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
on
6 January 1993.
Tapai then signed with Portuguese club
Estoril
Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...
, participating in the
1993–94 Primeira Divisão
The 1993–94 Primeira Divisão was the 60th edition of top flight of Portuguese football. It started on 22 August 1993 with a match between Estoril-Praia and Beira-Mar, and ended on 2 June 1994. The league was contested by 18 clubs with Porto ...
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
Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...
before playing for three years in Singapore with
Home United
Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded ...
and
Clementi Khalsa and retired after the 2002 season with
Westgate.
After ending his playing career Tapai went into coaching.
International career
Tapai played 52 games (37 'A' games) for the
Australia national team between 1986 and 1998. He was part of the Australia squad that claimed 2nd place at the
1997 FIFA Confederations Cup
The 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup to be organized by FIFA. The tournament had previously been played in 1992 King Fahd Cup, 1992 and 1995 King Fahd Cup, 1995 as the King Fahd Cup. This editi ...
. 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.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tapai goal.''
Honours
Australia
*
FIFA Confederations Cup
The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...
: runner-up,
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
*
OFC Nations Cup
The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...
:
1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
; runner-up,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapai, Ernie
1967 births
Living people
Australian men's soccer players
Australian expatriate men's soccer players
Australia men's international soccer players
Adelaide City FC players
Footscray JUST players
Perth Glory FC players
Stoke City F.C. players
Caroline Springs George Cross FC players
National Soccer League (Australia) players
Australian people of Hungarian descent
Lion City Sailors FC players
Balestier Khalsa FC players
Singapore Premier League players
Collingwood Warriors SC players
Westgate FC players
G.D. Estoril Praia players
Primeira Liga players
Men's association football midfielders
Falcons 2000 SC players
1996 OFC Nations Cup players
OFC Nations Cup–winning players
1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players
1998 OFC Nations Cup players
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore
Australian expatriate sportspeople in England
Australian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Australian expatriate sportspeople in Singapore
Sportspeople from Subotica
20th-century Australian sportsmen