Dave Taber 1980, 1981; 1981 (id)

David Taber was born September 26th, 1958 in Droylestown, Pennsylvania. He started his soccer career late for a professional. He first played in his junior year in High School, as a center forward.

In his senior year at Palisades, Dave was named All-State and All-American as well as MVP for the entire league.

In his first year at Philadelphia Textile, he played in midfield. The following year, he moved to right back.

As a junior, the defender played with the Textile team that made it to the NCAA Final Four Championship, held in Tampa Stadium in 1978. The "Philadelphia Bulletin" named Dave as the Annual Philadelphia Scholar Athlete in his senior year.

The Rowdies signed Dave as free agent after seeing him play in the Senior Bowl as a representative from Philadelphia Textile. Although drafted by the New York Arrows, he was overlooked in the NASL draft, so Coach Gordon Jago asked him to stay on for a trial.

1979 marked Dave's fourth year on the varsity squad at perennial powerhouse Textile. He served as captain that year and was honoured with Senior Bowl selection.

1980 was a learning experience for the young American, playing only 13 minutes in the regular season, making his debut in the 5-1 win over Toronto Blizzard on August 20th, and then 13 minutes in the playoffs against the San Diego Sockers in a 6-0 win. But, he produced a strong showing during the 1980-81 indoor season, scoring four goals and assisting on three others in 15 games.

In 1981, Dave saw very limited action, coming off the bench twice and only starting once against the Washington Diplomats, during a 1-4 loss. His last appearance in a Rowdies jersey was on May 3rd, against the Sting in Chicago, coming on a substitute.

In the October of 1981, Dave was released, along with goalkeeper Kevin Keelan and midfielder Billy Sweetzer. The Rowdies arranged a tryout with the Philadelphia fever of the MISL.

Dave began a career in marketing with Hercules Incorporated of Wilmington DE. Following eight years with Hercules, he joined Fresh Western Marketing of Salinas, CA as manager, retail marketing, and increased his division’s revenues by 180% in three years.

He then joined Comcast Cellular, the telecommunications division of Comcast Corporation of Philadelphia PA, where he served in several director roles in marketing, promotions and pricing, retention, and business development. He was recruited by global telecommunications giant Ericsson, Inc., where he spent six and a half years as vice president, key accounts, leading multifunctional teams in achieving $1B in sales.

Today, Dave currently owns and operates Bunker Hill Management Group, a real estate development company. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Philadelphia College of Textile and Science and was an MBA candidate in chemical marketing from Farleigh Dickinson University.

Thanks to Dave for the recent photo.