Christos Shelis ( el, Χρίστος Σιέλης, born 2 February 2000) is a Cypriot 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 plays 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 ...

for Greek Super League club

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

and the Cyprus national team.

Early career

Shelis was born in

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. He joined the Arsenal academy 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 ...

as a youngster, before moving to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and subsequently joining the youth set-up at

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

. He was signed to the

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

youth academy towards the end of the 2016–17 season on the recommendation of former Grimsby manager

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...

Club career

Shrewsbury Town

Shelis travelled with the Shrewsbury Town first-team squad to a training camp in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and featured regularly during the 2017–18 pre-season. Whilst still a second year scholar, he signed a two-year professional contract with the club on 3 October 2017, and made his professional debut on the same day against West Bromwich Albion U21s in an EFL Trophy group-stage match. In the same competition on 7 November at home to local rivals

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, he made a last-minute error that allowed the opponents to score the only goal of the game. He was supported by captain

Mat Sadler Mathew John Sadler (born 26 February 1985) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a left-footed defender capable of playing either at full-back or as a centre-back. Sadler played in the Premier League and the Football Leag ...

in the aftermath.

Halesowen Town

On 21 September 2018, Shelis was loaned for a month to

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...

in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central. He played five total games during his time in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, and scored his first career goal from a long-distance run in a 3–0 win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in the

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest county cup competition still active. The Birmingham Senior Cup is ...

APOEL

Shelis was released by Shrewsbury in May 2019. On 5 June, he signed for

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") ...

back in his native Cyprus, on a three-year contract.

Levski Sofia

After rescinding his contract with APOEL, Shelis signed a two-year deal with Bulgarian powerhouse

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...

Volos

Following a managerial change at Levski Sofia, Shelis rescinded his contract with the Bulgarian club in January 2022. He then joined the Greek side

International career

Shelis has represented

at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. He made his senior debut in a friendly against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

on 7 October 2020.

Personal life

Shelis has two older brothers,

Giorgos Giorgos, Yiorgos or Yorgos ( el, Γιώργος) is a common abbreviation of the given name Georgios. Notable people with the name include: Persons Giorgos * Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer * Giorgos Alkaios, pop musician and singer * Gio ...

and

Valentinos Valentinos ( el, Βαλεντίνος) is a Greek male given name, equivalent to the English name Valentine. People with this given name include: * Valentinos Sielis (born 1990; el, link=no, Βαλεντίνος Σιέλης), Cypriot soccer p ...

, who are also footballers.

Career statistics

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelis, Christos 2000 births Living people Cypriot footballers Cyprus youth international footballers Cyprus under-21 international footballers Cyprus international footballers Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players APOEL FC players PFC Levski Sofia players Volos F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Cypriot First Division players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Super League Greece players Association football defenders Expatriate footballers in England Cypriot expatriate footballers Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Greece Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Greece