Fotis Balopoulos ( el, Φώτης Μπαλόπουλος; 17 December 1943 – 3 November 2012) was a Greek 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 le ...

who played as a center back.

Club career

Balopoulos started playing football in his neighborhood club Enosi Korydallos and in 1958 he was transferred to

Proodeftiki Proodeftiki Football Club, also known as Proodeftiki Piraeus, simply as Proodeftiki, or with its full name as A.O. Proodeftiki Neolea ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Προοδευτική Νεολαία, transliterated "Athlitikós Όmilo ...

, where he had a successful spell, attracting the interest of the

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

and AEK Athens. He played with Proodeftiki until 1964, both

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

national division after their establishment. In the summer of 1964, he made the big transfer to AEK Athens, where he became more widely known and played their jersey for 6 seasons he won a championship and a Greek Cup. In the summer of 1969, when by decision of the Junta regime he was removed, with the accusation of being of left-wing political beliefs and then had to be sidelined from the club for a year. In the summer of 1970 he went to Vyzas Megara, where he played for two years, during which he suffered several punishments and exclusions from the dictatorial regime and he even proceeded to refrain from football. In the summer of 1972 he moved to

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou, a football team curr ...

, who had just been promoted to the first division and played for one year, when in the summer of 1973 ended his career.

International career

Balopoulos played a total of 10 times with the

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 with ...

, between 1965 and 1969. He made his debut on 23 May 1965 in an away match against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, as part of the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

qualifiers, under

Lakis Petropoulos Lakis Petropoulos ( el, Λάκης Πετρόπουλος, 29 August 1932 – 30 June 1996) was a Greece, Greek association football, football player and manager. He played for Panathinaikos F.C., Panathinaikos and capped 3 times for Greece natio ...

Personal life

His brother, Vangelis was also a footballer and they shared a common spell at Proodeftiki. He lived far from the public eye in Porto Rafti, until his death on 3 November 2012, at the age of 69.

Honours

Proodeftiki *

Beta Ethniki The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

: 1963–64 AEK Athens * Alpha Ethniki: 1967–68 * Greek Cup: 1965–66 Greece military *

World Military Cup The World Military Cup is a football competition for national military teams. It is organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). The tournament has been held since 1946 and was originally called the World Military Championship. ...

: 1962, 1963

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balopoulos, Fotis 1943 births 2012 deaths Greece men's international footballers AEK Athens F.C. players Proodeftiki F.C. players Vyzas F.C. players Atromitos F.C. players Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers Men's association football defenders