James Tarkowski

James Alan Tarkowski (born 19 November 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Everton.

Tarkowski began his professional career at Oldham Athletic of League One, where he made 89 appearances across all competitions. In January 2014, he moved to Brentford for an undisclosed fee, winning promotion to the Championship in his first season. Two years later he signed for Burnley. He made his debut for England in March 2018.

James Alan Tarkowski was born on 19 November 1992 in Manchester and grew up in New Moston. He attended New Moston Primary School and Failsworth High School, which he left in 2009. His grandfather was from Poland.

Tarkowski began his career in the youth system at Blackburn Rovers, before being released at the age of 14. After his spell at Blackburn, Tarkowski had a stint playing senior football at Maine Road in the North West Counties League.

He was a Manchester United fan as a boy and admired David Beckham and Paul Scholes while growing up.

Tarkowski joined League One club Oldham Athletic on a two-year scholarship in May 2009. He made his reserve-team debut in October 2009. A centre-back, Tarkowski was called up to the first team for the first time for a league match versus Plymouth Argyle on 15 January 2011. His senior debut came on 22 January, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for the injured Neal Trotman in a 2–1 home win over Brentford. Tarkowski made his first Latics start in a 1–0 defeat to Leyton Orient on 12 March and played the full 90 minutes. He was awarded a two-year professional contract by the club in May 2011. He made 9 appearances during the second half of the 2010–11 season.

Tarkowski had to wait until 10 December 2011 to make his first appearance of the 2011–12 season, when he came on as a 61st-minute substitute for Jean-Yves Mvoto in a 2–0 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. A half time substitute appearance in Oldham's 2–1 Football League Trophy Northern Area final first leg defeat to Chesterfield on 30 January 2012 kicked off a run which saw Tarkowski included in almost all of Oldham's first-team squads until the end of the season. Tarkowski crowned his run of appearances by scoring his first senior goal for the club on the final day of the season in a 2–1 win over Carlisle United. He made 18 appearances during the 2011–12 season and scored one goal.

Tarkowski began the 2012–13 season as a first-choice centre-back alongside Jean-Yves Mvoto and started Oldham's first six games of the season. He scored his first goal of the season in a 2–0 league win over Crewe Alexandra on 2 October 2012. Tarkowski played a part in Oldham's run to the fifth round of the FA Cup, playing in the first round win over Conference Premier team Kidderminster Harriers and starting in the home draw and away replay defeat to Premier League team Everton in the fifth round. He scored his second goal of the season in a 2–1 league win over Stevenage on 19 February 2013. Tarkowski made 26 appearances and scored two goals during the 2012–13 season. He signed a new two-year contract in the summer of 2013.