Frank Talia

Francesco "Frank" Talia (born 20 July 1972 in Melbourne) is an Australian former professional soccer goalkeeper, who last played for Wycombe Wanderers in Football League Two.

Frank Talia
Personal information
Full name Francesco Talia
Date of birth (1972-07-20) 20 July 1972
Place of birth Melbourne, Australia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1988–1990 Sunshine George Cross
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1992 Sunshine George Cross 11 (0)
1992–1995 Blackburn Rovers 0 (0)
1992 → Hartlepool United (loan) 14 (0)
1995–2000 Swindon Town 107 (0)
2000 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 (0)
2000–2001 Sheffield United 6 (0)
2001–2002 Royal Antwerp 3 (0)
2002 Reading 0 (0)
2002–2007 Wycombe Wanderers 132 (0)
Total 273 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Early career

He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder from 1989 to 1990.[1] Talia began his career at Australian club Sunshine Georgies before moving to Blackburn Rovers in August 1992.

Although he was at the club for three years, Talia did not make any first-team appearances for Blackburn and following this he moved to Swindon Town in September 1995 after a loan spell at Hartlepool United.

For a while, he was Blackburn's second choice goalkeeper behind Bobby Mimms before the arrival of Tim Flowers in November 1993, and had been issued with the number 13 shirt with the introduction of squad numbers for the 1993-94 season in the FA Premier League. He made several appearances as a non-playing substitute, the last at Wembley Stadium in August 1995 when he watched from the bench as Blackburn (Premier League champions) were beaten 1-0 by Everton in the FA Charity Shield. FootballSquads - Blackburn Rovers - 1993/94

Talia made over 100 appearances in five years at Swindon winning the player of the year award in 2000 before moving to Sheffield United in September 2000, where he made six appearances.

In March 2002, Talia signed a short-term contract with English Division 2 side Reading,[2] sitting on the bench for the final six games of the season.[3]

Wycombe

Lawrie Sanchez signed Talia for Wycombe in August 2002 on a free transfer as cover for regular Wycombe goalkeeper Martin Taylor. His chance came against Bristol City after Taylor developed a back problem and he continued in goal after Taylor gashed his knee at the Wycombe's training ground. Talia then made over 100 appearances for the club, despite being sidelined when he sliced his toe with a lawn-mower in 2004 [4] and a knee injury that side-lined him for six months in August 2006,.[5]

References
  1. Excellence : the Australian Institute of Sport. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. 2002. ISBN 1-74013-060-X.
  2. "Royals make keeper swoop". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  3. "So Close But So Far - Reading FC's Unused Unused Subs". thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/. The Tilehurst End. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  4. "Soccer's Talia slashes toe with lawnmower". UPI. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  5. "Wycombe rocked by injury to Talia". BBC. 4 August 2006. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
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