Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Nikola Hrvatsko Tavares[1] | ||
Date of birth | 17 January 1999 | ||
Place of birth | Cape Town, South Africa[2] | ||
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Central defender | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Dagenham & Redbridge | ||
Number | 4 | ||
Youth career | |||
Table View | |||
AOB | |||
Old Mutual Academy | |||
–2013 | Hellenic | ||
2013–2016 | Brentford | ||
2016–2019 | Crystal Palace | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2019–2021 | Crystal Palace | 0 | (0) |
2021–2022 | Wealdstone | 27 | (1) |
2022– | Dagenham & Redbridge | 31 | (0) |
International career | |||
2017 | Croatia U18 | 2 | (0) |
2017 | Croatia U19 | 1 | (0) |
2018–2019 | Croatia U20 | 3 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:51, 24 February 2024 (UTC) |
Nikola Hrvatsko Tavares (born 17 January 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender for National League club Dagenham & Redbridge.
Tavares is a product of the Crystal Palace and Brentford academies and began his senior career in non-League football with Wealdstone in 2021. He transferred to Dagenham & Redbridge in 2022. Born in South Africa, Tavares was capped by Croatia at youth level.
A central defender, Tavares began his career in youth football in Cape Town,[3][4] before moving into the academy at English club Brentford.[5] He was a part of the U15 team which won the Junior Globe at the 2014 Milk Cup and he progressed to sign a scholarship deal in 2015.[6][7] The Brentford academy was closed at the end of the 2015–16 season and Tavares trialled unsuccessfully with the U18 teams at Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion during the early months of the 2016–17 season.[8] His Brentford registration was cancelled in February 2017.[1]
Tavares joined the academy at Premier League club Crystal Palace in late 2016 and by February 2017 he had progressed to sign a professional contract to be a part of the Eagles' U23 team.[5] In what remained of the 2016–17 season, he made 19 U23 and U18 appearances.[9] Despite suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury,[10] he signed a new contract at the end of the 2017–18 season.[11] He progressed to captain the U23 team during the 2018–19 season and was an unused substitute during the first team's final match of the campaign.[12][13] Tavares signed a new one-year contract in July 2019 and was an unused substitute on four occasions during the 2019–20 season,[13][14] before suffering a quadriceps injury late in the campaign.[15] Entering the 2020–21 season injured and out of contract, Tavares signed one-month rolling contracts in order to remain at Selhurst Park during his rehabilitation.[15] He was released in early 2021.[15]
On 29 March 2021, Tavares joined National League club Wealdstone on a contract running until the end of the 2020–21 season.[15][16] He made his debut in a league match versus Solihull Moors the following day and suffered a season-ending thigh injury 62 minutes into the 3–0 defeat.[13][15] Tavares signed a new contract in July 2021 and made 27 appearances,[17] scoring one goal,[13] during a mid-table 2021–22 season.[18] He turned down a new contract and departed Grosvenor Vale in June 2022.[19]
On 10 June 2022, Tavares signed a two-year contract with National League club Dagenham & Redbridge for a compensation fee.[20] The transfer made him a full-time player.[19] After making six appearances during the opening month of the 2022–23 season,[13] Tavares suffered a season-ending injury.[21] He returned to match play in July 2023.[22]
Tavares won six caps for Croatia between U18 and U20 level.[23] Passport issues prevented Tavares from being included in the South Africa U23 squad for two 2019 Africa U23 Cup of Nations qualifiers versus Angola in March 2019.[24] He was named as "passport pending player" for South Africa's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations squad,[25] but was not named in the final selection.[26] In February 2020, Tavares was named in South Africa's preliminary squad for the 2020 Olympic Games.[27]
Tavares was born in South Africa to a Portuguese father and a Croatian mother.[8][28] His brother Marco is also a footballer.[8][29]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Crystal Palace | 2018–19[30] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | |
2019–20[31] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | ||
Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | |||
Wealdstone | 2020–21[13] | National League | 1 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 1 | 0 | |||
2021–22[13] | National League | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | ||
Total | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | 28 | 1 | |||
Dagenham & Redbridge | 2022–23[13] | National League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
2023–24[13] | National League | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 1[a] | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
Total | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 1 | 0 | 32 | 0 | |||
Career total | 58 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 1 |