South Melbourne Sarkies was born in
Melbourne, Australia. He grew up in
Dingley Village, a suburb in Melbourne's South-East 10 kilometres from his current club in
Beaumaris. After impressing at the VIS in the youth league, he was signed to Australian Football powerhouse
South Melbourne FC at 16-Years old. Sarkies made his league debut in round 5 against the Newcastle Breakers as a 16-Year old. Sarkies performance as a youngster for South led to his first international youth call up for
Australia. In his one and only season with South Melbourne, Sarkies made 17 appearances and scored 1 goal. Following the demise of the NSL, Sarkies was allowed to leave South Melbourne and made the jump to the newly formed A-League. Sarkies played in the
A-league Grand Final with
Melbourne Victory, he scored his third goal for the club in his team's 6–0 thrashing of Adelaide in the 90th minute and scoring from long range. However it was upon collecting his championship medal that he made headlines around the country by kissing
Australian Prime Minister John Howard on his bald head.
Adelaide United On 30 March 2007, Sarkies signed a one-year deal with
Adelaide United, linking up with his Australian U23 teammates
Bruce Djite,
Nathan Burns and
Robert Cornthwaite. Days after his arrival, captain
Ross Aloisi signed with new team
Wellington Phoenix, paving the way for Sarkies to become a key player in the Reds midfield brigade. On 28 December after Adelaide's loss to Sydney 3–1 at
Adelaide Oval in which Sarkies scored a goal; he complained of a sore arm during the game and was later hospitalized then diagnosed with a
deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his arm at the end of December. Sarkies signed a new deal with United in May 2008 that kept him at the club until the end of the
A-League 2009-10 season. Sarkies set up
Sasa Ognenovski from a well taken free kick to score a goal in his 50th
A-League game in Adelaide's 2–0 win over
Sydney FC Despite an inauspicious start to his Adelaide career Sarkies influence on the team began to show with the injury to fellow
playmaker Diego culminating with his first goal of the
2008–09 season which turned out to be the only goal of the round 17 clash against
Perth Glory at
Members Equity Stadium. He followed it up a week later providing assists for both goals in the 2–0 win over Sydney FC at
Adelaide Oval on 3 January 2009.
Melbourne Heart After a mixed year with injuries, and not having cemented himself in Adelaide's first XI, he was heavily linked with a move to the new A-League club Melbourne Heart, coming into the competition in the 2010–11 season. The move was confirmed on 24 November 2009 with Sarkies becoming the club's first signing. On 6 April 2012 it was announced that he would be leaving the club.
Goulburn Valley Suns After spells in the then
Victorian Premier League with
Heidelberg United,
Port Melbourne Sharks, and
Bulleen Lions, Sarkies signed for Shepparton-based
Goulburn Valley Suns' inaugural year in the new state top-level league, the
National Premier Leagues Victoria, as Bulleen Lions had been placed in the lower NPLV1 Division. Sarkies scored on his debut in a 2–3 home loss against fellow regional side
Ballarat Red Devils on 29 March 2014. ==International career==