THE wife of James Tarkowski has launched a staunch defence of the Everton star after he received ‘disgusting’ and vile death threats.
Tarkowski, 32, was the subject of controversy on Wednesday following a controversial tackle on Liverpool‘s Alexis Mac Allister during his sides 1-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday.
The Toffees skipper went in hard to clear a loose ball with a sliding tackle before his follow through caught Argentina international Mac Allister high on the leg in the first half.
Following a VAR review, Tarkowski was only awarded a yellow card by referee Sam Barrott, with the official deeming it to be “reckless” but not warranting a sending off.
PGMOL chiefs later said the foul should have been judged as serious foul play and that VAR Paul Tierney was wrong not to intervene and recommend a review for a red card at the pitch side monitor.
However, the twice-capped Englishman’s wife, Samantha, has revealed he was subjected to death threats.
In an X-rated rant on her Instagram page, she said: “I wasn’t actually going to say anything because we usually just laugh if off but f*** it.
“The level of abuse my husband is receiving – wishing death on him, vile comments about me, about us as a couple, and about him as a person – is beyond disgusting.
“People forget that he is more than just a footballer. He is a husband, a father, a brother, a friend, and most importantly, the father of our two children.
“He goes out there and does his job and does it very f****** well yet he’s subjected to so much hate. For those acting like he deliberately set out to hurt someone – are you serious?!
“Football moves at speed, and tackles are split-second decisions. No player goes out there to injure someone and do you think any player would feel good about it if they did?
“But the pure s*** messages, the threats? That’s intentional. That’s on you. Football is a sport, but the way some so-called ‘fans’ behave is disgraceful.
“The abuse, the threats – it’s not passion, it’s pathetic. We’re real people, and this goes far beyond football.”
Tarkowski revealed he apologised to Mac Allister for the tackle, saying: “It’s not a great challenge. I spoke to him and I apologised because it’s not a great tackle.
“When the ball fell between us, I thought he was just going to come and I was expecting a big old-school 50-50 tackle but he just pulled out the tackle and as I lunged in I followed through and caught him pretty high so I’ve apologised to him and he’s accepted it.
“Yeah, not a great one from me.”
While he was on the end of a favourable decision for his challenge, he bemoaned VAR not intervening for an alleged offside against Luis Diaz before Diogo Jota scored the match winner.
Tarkowski claimed the Colombian standing in an offside position behind him forced him to take action in lunging for the ball, with his loose touch on the ball seeing it fall to Jota before the goal.
He said: “I was unaware he [Diaz] was offside, so he’s made me lunge for the ball. He’s affected my decision. For some reason, whatever that may be, they decided to give them a goal, which is bizarre.”
The former Burnley star and Samantha started dating in 2015 before they tied the knot in 2023.
The couple featured in Amazon Prime Video’s new series, which follows the lives of footballers and their partners.
In the show she gave a very cheeky response after being asked what she enjoys doing with her husband.
In episode three of the show, the couple host a wedding party for friends and family.
Cuddling up on the sofa, they are asked: “What’s your favourite thing to do together?”
Samantha responds by asking: “What time is this show going out?” before Tarkowski adds: “Past the watershed?”
The fitness influencer then shouts “shagging!” as the pair burst out laughing.
She went on to add: “Do you remember when we were younger and we used to get in bed and I was like ‘this is my favourite part of the day’?
“Just getting in bed at the end of the day, just us two. And then shagging. But I do quite like it…”
Later in the episode, Samantha admitted: “I got some that night!” whilst discussing Tarkowski being made Everton captain.
