Nikola Tavares

Nikola Tavares
Tavares after a Barnet match in 2026
Personal information
Full name Nikola Hrvatsko Tavares[1]
Date of birth (1999-01-17) 17 January 1999
Place of birth Cape Town, South Africa[2]
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position Central defender
Team information
Current team
 Barnet
Number 25
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)
2022–2024 Dagenham & Redbridge 37 (0)
2024– Barnet 75 (1)
International career
2017 Croatia U18 2 (0)
2017 Croatia U19 1 (0)
2018–2019 Croatia U20 3 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13:07, 9 August 2026 (UTC)

Nikola Hrvatsko Tavares (born 17 January 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender for EFL League Two club Barnet. Born in South Africa, he is a former Croatia youth international.

Tavares is a product of the Crystal Palace and Brentford academies and began his senior career in non-League football with National League clubs Wealdstone and Dagenham & Redbridge. He transferred to Barnet in 2024.

Club career

Youth years

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]

Crystal Palace

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]

Wealdstone

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]

Dagenham & Redbridge

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 entered the 2023–24 season fit and ended a mid-table campaign with 32 appearances.[13][22][23] In May 2024, the club entered discussions with Tavares over a new contract,[24] but he elected to transfer away later that month.[25] During two seasons at Victoria Road, Tavares made 38 appearances.[13]

Barnet

On 17 May 2024, Tavares signed a two-year contract with National League club Barnet.[25] He made 39 appearances and scored one goal during the National League championship-winning 2024–25 season.[13][26] Tavares signed an undisclosed-length contract extension in May 2025.[27] He made 39 appearances during the 2025–26 season,[28] in which the club narrowly missed the League Two playoffs.[26] Tavares signed a new two-year contract in July 2026.[29]

International career

Tavares won six caps for Croatia between U18 and U20 level.[30] 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.[31] He was named as "passport pending player" for South Africa's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations squad,[32] but was not named in the final selection.[33] In February 2020, Tavares was named in South Africa's preliminary squad for the 2020 Olympic Games.[34]

Personal life

Tavares was born in Cape Town, South Africa to a Portuguese father and a Croatian mother.[8][35] His brother Marco is also a footballer.[8][36]

Career statistics

As of match played 8 August 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoals
Crystal Palace 2018–19[37] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 ― 0 0
2019–20[38] 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[39] National League 31000―3[a]0340
Total 37000―30400
Barnet 2024–25[13] National League 38 1 1 0 ― 0 0 39 1
2025–26[28] League Two 37 0 1 0 0 0 1[b] 0 39 0
2026–27[40] League Two 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 75 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 79 0
Career total 13923010401472
  1. ↑ 2 appearances in Essex Senior Cup, 1 appearance in FA Trophy
  2. ↑ Appearance in EFL Trophy

Honours

Barnet

References

  1. 1 2 "List of Players under Written Contract Whose Registrations have been Cancelled by Mutual Consent Between 01/02/2017 and 28/02/2017". The Football Association. p. 8. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 Nikola Tavares at WorldFootball.net
  3. ↑ "The journey: Nikola Tavares". FarPost. 9 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "Ready to roll with the Stones – Getting to know Wealdstone's Nikola Tavares". Non League Daily. 30 July 2021. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Kirby and Tavares Sign Development Deals". Crystal Palace FC. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "Milk Cup: Brentford U15s 4 Southampton U15s 0". Brentford FC. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "Brentford offer 12 Academy scholarships for 2015/16". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 "South African-born youngster joins Crystal Palace". Goal.com. 11 February 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "Nikola Tavares – Defender – Under-23 Team". Crystal Palace FC. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "U23s' Nikola Tavares On Returning From Injury With Scott Dann". Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Nikola Tavares Has Signed A New Contract With Crystal Palace". www.soccerladuma.co.za. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "Nikola Tavares – We Improved A Lot This Game". www.cpfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Nikola Tavares at Soccerway. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  14. ↑ "Pair of Palace Development players sign new contracts". www.cpfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Fifield, Dominic. "Nikola Tavares on 'special' Anfield experience, release from Palace and struggles of finding a new club in a pandemic". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  16. ↑ Woods, Chris (29 March 2021). "Stones sign Tavares". Wealdstone FC. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  17. ↑ "Triple signing at the Stones". Wealdstone FC. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  18. ↑ Wealdstone F.C. at the Football Club History Database
  19. 1 2 Woods, Chris (20 June 2022). "Player News | Tavares departs Stones". Wealdstone FC. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  20. ↑ "Nikola Tavares Signs For Daggers!". Dagenham & Redbridge FC. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  21. ↑ "Confident Dagenham & Redbridge aware of Woking strengths says McMahon". East London Advertiser. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  22. ↑ "Tavares: There is just a good spirit, and everyone gets along really well". Dagenham & Redbridge FC. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  23. ↑ Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. at the Football Club History Database
  24. ↑ "Retained List 2024". Dagenham & Redbridge FC. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  25. 1 2 "Nik Tavares is a Bee". Barnet Football Club. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  26. 1 2 Barnet F.C. at the Football Club History Database
  27. ↑ "Tavares Extends Contract With The Bees". Barnet Football Club. 23 May 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  28. 1 2 "Games played by Nikola Tavares in 2025/2026". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  29. ↑ "Nik Tavares Signs New Deal". Barnet Football Club. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
  30. ↑ "Nikola Tavares". Hrvatski nogometni savez (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  31. ↑ Mothowagae, Daniel (19 March 2019). "Life goes on as usual for Notoane's team despite Tavares' passport glitch". CityPress. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  32. ↑ "Bafana Bafana squads for Afcon 2019 and Cosafa tournaments announced". Goal.com. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  33. ↑ "Baxter names final 23-man squad". SAFA. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  34. ↑ "Bafana stars included in preliminary U23 squad for Tokyo Olympics". Sport. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  35. ↑ "Hrvatski reprezentativac U-18 potpisao za Crystal Palace!". Germanijak. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  36. ↑ "Marco Tavares | Soccer Scholarships". ASM Scholarships. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  37. ↑ "Games played by Nikola Tavares in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  38. ↑ "Games played by Nikola Tavares in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  39. ↑ "Nikola Tavares | Player Profile". Aylesbury United Archive. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  40. ↑ "Games played by Nikola Tavares in 2026/2027". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
  41. ↑ "National League: 2024/25: Current table". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
    "Barnet: Squad details: 2024/25". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
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