Christos Karipidis ( el, Χρήστος Καρυπίδης; born 2 December 1982) is a Greek former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

Club career

Early Career (PAOK, Kerkyra and Kavala)

Karipidis started his career in U20 PAOK in 2000 to be promoted the next season in the first team. PAOK has given him to

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia and the capital of Kavala (regional unit), Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across ...

(2001–2002) and to

Kerkyra Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

(2002–2003). He returned to PAOK, where he stayed until 2006 (69 appearances, 3 goals in all competitions) when he made the big step to play abroad accepting the proposal of Hearts.

Hearts

He joined Hearts from PAOK on 3 August 2006 for a fee of around £200,000. Karipidis made his Hearts debut against

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

in a third-round

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

qualifier at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

on 9 August 2006 in a defensive midfield role, Hearts lost the game 2–1. In August 2008 Karipidis looked set for a return to his former club PAOK following an indifferent start to his Hearts career and the birth of his daughter. Hearts negotiated a fee in the region of £200,000 as they looked to recoup the fee they paid to sign him from the Greek club 2 years earlier and he was offered a four-year deal by PAOK. However, newly appointed manager Csaba László convinced Karipidis to stay and decided to use him as a holding midfielder, an idea which was initially met with a negative reaction by Hearts fans. Karipidis himself insisted he was happy to play anywhere László decided. Despite having played most of his career as either a central defender or occasionally a right-back Karipidis performed well in his new role, prompting László to say "Karipidis, at the moment, is the discovery of the year in the number six position." In February 2009, captain

Christophe Berra Christophe Didier Berra (born 31 January 1985) is a Scottish professional football former player and coach, who is currently the first team coach for Livingston. Berra began his professional career with Heart of Midlothian, playing 146 times f ...

signed for

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

and Karipidis was made Hearts'

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the r ...

after teammate

Robbie Neilson Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian. Neilson, who played as a right-back, started his senior career with ...

was given the captaincy. On 27 April 2009 Hearts announced that Karipidis had a pre-contract agreement with

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (" Harmony"; also tran ...

which would see him join the

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

side on a three-year deal at the end of the season. He stated that although he had enjoyed his time in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, the move was motivated by his desire to be closer to his home and relatives in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. His final appearance at Tynecastle came in a 3–0 victory over

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

which confirmed Hearts' place in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

for the following season and third place in the

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

. He was replaced by

Jason Thomson Jason Thomson (born 26 July 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Kelty Hearts. Thomson is a right-back and has previously played for Heart of Midlothian, Livingston, Dunfermline and Raith Rovers. Career Youth career A ...

in the closing stages of the match and received a standing ovation from the Hearts fans.

Cyprus (Omonia / APOEL / Apollon)

Omonia announced the signing of Karipidis on 1 June 2009. His first season wasn't good enough with Christos having problems to settle, but he had a solid second season and he became the defensive leader of the team. After the end of the season he was named new season's vice captain. On 22 August 2012, his contract at Omonia terminated by mutual consent. On 26 August 2012, Karipidis signed a two-year contract with

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

. At the end of the season, he became a champion after helping APOEL to win the

2012–13 Cypriot First Division The 2012–13 Cypriot First Division was the 74th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. It began on 1 September 2012 and ended on 19 May 2013. AEL Limassol were the defending champions. APOEL won the championship two matchweeks before ...

. On 10 July 2013, his contract with APOEL was mutually terminated. On 11 July 2013, Karipidis signed a one-year contract with the option of a further season with Apollon Limassol.

Rerurn to Greece

After five years playing among the top clubs in Cyprus, Karipidis returned to Greece signing a two years' contract with

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xa ...

. After two years he mutually settled his contract with the club. On 4 June 2016, he signed a year contract with Platanias for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Karipidis was a part of the Greece football squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics, but he did not play a single minute in the competition. Karipidis had a good start with the 2008-09 season former Hearts player and current technical director of the

Hellenic Football Federation The Hellenic Football Federation (HFF), also known as the Greek Football Federation ( el, Ελληνική Ποδοσφαιρική Ομοσπονδία; ΕΠΟ, translit=Ellinikí Podosferikí Omospondía; EPO) is the governing body of football ...

, when

Takis Fyssas Takis Fyssas ( el, Τάκης Φύσσας, born 12 June 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left back. He works as the sporting director of the Greece national team. He was previously the technical director of the ...

announced that Karipidis was in the plans of the Greece national team.

Personal life

He hails from Anagennisi,

Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...

Honours

; Omonia *

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

: 1 :: 2009–10 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

: 2 ::

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12 *

LTV Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 1 ::2010 ;

: 1 ::

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

APOEL official profile
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karipidis, Hristos 1982 births Living people Association football defenders Footballers from Thessaloniki Olympic footballers of Greece Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Greek footballers Greek expatriate footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus A.O. Kerkyra players PAOK FC players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players AC Omonia players APOEL FC players Xanthi F.C. players Platanias F.C. players PAS Lamia 1964 players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Scottish Premier League players PAOK FC non-playing staff