Giorgos Kefalidis ( gr, Γιώργος Κεφαλίδης; born 21 March 1941) 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 le ...

who played as defender. His nickname was ''"Ruby"'' as of

Jack Ruby Jack Leon Ruby (born Jacob Leon Rubenstein; April 25, 1911January 3, 1967) was an American nightclub owner and alleged associate of the Chicago Outfit who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of th ...

, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald who was the assassin of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

Club career

Kefalidis started his career in his hometown club, at Mega Alexandros Katerinis, before merging with Olympos Katerinis in 1961, and create what would eventually become the big team of the city,

Pierikos S.F.K. Pierikos ( el, Σ.Φ.Κ. Πιερικός) is a Greek football club based in Katerini, Greece, part of the major multi-sport club of the same name. Their name was inspired from the State's name of Pieria. The club recently competed in ...

, competing in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Making excellent performances with the club of

Katerini Katerini ( el, Κατερίνη, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Pieria regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mt. Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, ...

, he helped them get the promotion to the first division in 1962 and he also became an international. In the summer of 1964 he aroused the interest of the Greek giant, AEK Athens. He took the big step in his career at the age of 23 and became a key member of the team, helping mainly at the right end of the defense, but also as a central defender. On 2 July 1965 he scored the only goal of his team in the 3–1 defeat against

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 ...

Karaiskakis Stadium The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη, ), is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the ...

, for the quarter-final of the

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

and thus they were left out of the continuation of the institution. A key member of the team that won second place in the

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being t ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, losing only in the final by Fenerbahçe. He was also one of the main players in the squad that reached the quarter-finals of the

European Cup 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 competit ...

in 1969. He remained at AEK for almost a decade, winning with the team 2

Championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

and a Cup in 1966. In the summer of 1972, as a part of the renewal of the club's roster by the then manager Branko Stanković, he was transferred with other players of AEK, 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 ...

, which played until the end of his career in 1974.

International career

Kefalidis made 2 appearances with

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 ...

in 1963. On 14 April 1963, he played at a friendly match was held in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

for Greece U21 against

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 ...

, but it proved to be a men's team, as players of 25 and 26 years old were competing. He made his official debut alongside his future teammate at AEK, Mimis Papaioannou who played as the captain of Greece, on 27 November 1963 in a friendly away 3–1 loss against

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 geo ...

, under his also future manager at AEK, Tryfon Tzanetis.

Personal life

Kefalidis is an active member of the Veterans Association of AEK Athens. In the early 1990s, he also worked as a staff member of Greece U21. He was married to Anna, until her death in July 2020. They have two children named Rika and Dimitris.

Honours

Pierikos *

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 ...

: 1961–62 (Group C) AEK Athens * Alpha Ethniki: 1967–68, 1970–71 * Greek Cup: 1965–66

References

Notes

: a. Includes only the first division stats. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kefalidis, Giorgos 1941 births Living people Greek men's footballers Greece men's international footballers Super League Greece players Men's association football defenders S.F.K. Pierikos (football) players AEK Athens F.C. players Atromitos F.C. players Footballers from Katerini