Diego Maradona, Alan Devonshire and AFC Fylde away: The Dave Tarpey interview

It is not every day that you get to interview Diego Maradona – but then his alter ego Dave Tarpey’s footballing story is no run-of-the-mill tale.

During the 2014/15 season – and in a publicity stunt for sponsors Paddy Power – players and staff at Conference South side Farnborough Town changed their names by deed poll in planning for a fixture with Chelmsford City. Lining up for Jose ‘Spencer Day’ Mourinho’s side would be the likes of George Best, Bobby Moore and Johann Cruyff – with the diminutive Tarpey adopting the moniker ‘Diego Maradona’.

Reading-born Tarps – a bonafide Berkshire Football Icon – recalls: “Some of the lads weren’t keen at first, but we saw what the benefits would be for the club. The idea was we would all change our names back at the end of the season, but the league didn’t like the idea, so it only lasted a few weeks and we didn’t actually play a game under our new names. Paddy Power gave us a list if names they wanted to use, and we got a choice of three of four who played in our position. I chose Maradona because, like me, he was small, quick and tricky.”

Watch: Reading City unleash ‘emergency’ Dave Tarpey

Following the second of two spells with Hampton – where he had previously played under future returning Magpies boss, Alan Devonshire – the former Basingstoke and Boro man Tarpey joined traditional National League South strugglers Maidenhead United in 2014. Johnson Hippolyte’s side endured another undistinguished league season but Tarpey was a rare bright light in the campaign, scoring 22 times. On 4th May 2015 Tarpey and his team-mates picked up Berks & Bucks Cup winners medals against Aylesbury United at Chesham in what had already been announced as Hippolyte’s last match in charge after the best part of nine seasons at York Road.

More significantly that day however, Hippolyte’s successor was watching in the stands. Dev had agreed in principle to return to York Road, and despite the 4-0 victory he only retained five of Hippolyte’s squad – skipper Mark Nisbet, midfielder Ryan Upward, wingers Sam Barratt and Harry Pritchard and a certain D.Tarpey.

Tarpey then really took off. 69 goals followed over the next two seasons, with some shrewd Devonshire second season signings and Tarpey’s goals taking United up to the National League for the first time ever at the end of season 2016/17, their 98 points only enough to beat off Ebbsfleet United on the final day. Tarps feels he owes his former manager, the recently retired Dev a lot: “I feel that Dev’s style of play suited my game a lot, playing with 2 up front and he let me play with a lot of freedom. The (title-winning) season with Marksy (17 goal Sean Marks, who arrived in the summer of 2016 from Devonshire’s old club, Braintree) was obviously the standout season. I owe a lot to Marksy as he made my life very easy on the pitch.”

As for the manager, Tarpey speaks in glowing terms: “I had a good time with Dev at Hampton before he left for Braintree. When he came in at Maidenhead I knew I would enjoy playing under him again. He set up his teams to get the ball forward quick which was good for me. He was always honest and spoke to players on a good level which is a good trait.” Under Devonshire, United – and Tarps in particular – started the new season at a higher level very nicely indeed, and by the middle of August in his first campaign in the National League, Dave had seven goals in just four games. This included a glorious four-goal haul at the end of a punishing midweek trip to newly-promoted AFC Fylde at their opulent Mill Farm venue on a night where he was applauded off the pitch by all sides of the ground with the match having been billed pre-game as a showdown between the two leading scorers in the National League North and South the previous season, Tarpey vs Danny Rowe – the latter hardly getting a kick on the night.

Maidenhead as a part-time team were working miracles, and Tarpey recalled that midweek trip: “I got up early, worked until just after 11am, raced over to our ground and jumped on the team coach. Then we had hours crawling up the motorway before we eventually got up to Fylde in the north-west about 250 miles away. It’s a long old way, I promise you that. But it was good fun.” Tarps added: “We can’t just all travel up the day before, stay in a nice hotel and then bob over to the stadium four hours before kick-off. It’s not like that. We’ve all got work, I think most of the team got the whole day off but I had to do a few hours before we left. Yes, it was a long old day. The coach didn’t pull back in until 3.30am! It’s all part of the experience. That’s the life of a Non-League footballer.”

A matter of days later however, Tarpey was no longer a Non-League footballer. At the age of 28, Tarpey’s dream of becoming a professional footballer came true when EFL strugglers Barnet made an offer Devonshire – and Tarpey – couldn’t refuse. Cruelly, having left his job as a fire and security alarm installer, Tarpey injured his anterior cruciate ligament in only his second appearance for the Bees, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2017/18 season. Barnet were relegated into the National League before Tarps had chance to pull on an amber shirt again.

Happier times followed with a productive spell at Woking and in the summer of 2021 ambitious Bracknell Town under the management of effervescent Bobby Wilkinson came a-calling. The 2021/22 season saw The Robins win the Isthmian League South Central Division by a country mile with Tarpey scoring 19 goals to secure his second divisional title-winning medal. It is another period of his life that Dave looks back fondly on: “I had a good time at Bracknell, winning the league. The players and fans were great there.”

Following a spell with Leatherhead – and a period on loan at Hungerford Town – there was one last promotion season left in Tarpey, as another Isthmian South Central promotion was clinched with Marlow in 2023/24, this time via the play-offs with Tarps notching another 24 goals. Tarpey had achieved more in eight seasons than some players do in a lifetime and he reflects: “Three promotions. All of them meant the same to me, but they were all different situations. At Maidenhead we were never tipped to win the league and we did. At Bracknell we were always favourites, whilst at Marlow winning the playoffs in my first experience of them was great.”

Up to the present day, Tarpey is now enjoying his football as a coach in the dug-out at ambitious Reading City who are having another competitive season at Step 5 under the experienced Simon Johnson whilst also enjoying a fine FA Vase run. Tarpey approaches coaching with the same quiet enthusiasm he displayed during a player career which took him to Soccer AM and to professional football. He speaks highly of the Rivermoor club: “Reading City is brilliant, Simmy is great to work under and has made moving from playing to coaching very easy. All the staff and players have been very welcoming.”