Grigoris Athanasiou ( el, Γρηγόρης Αθανασίου; born 9 March 1984) is a 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He is left-handed.

Career

Born in

Eleftherio-Kordelio Eleftherio-Kordelio ( el, Ελευθέριο-Κορδελιό, ''Elefthério-Kordelió'') is a suburb of the Thessaloniki Urban Area and was a former municipality of the regional unit of Thessaloniki, Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...

, Athanasiou began playing football with

Akratitos A.P.O. Akratitos Ano Liosia ( el, Α.Π.Ο. Ακράτητος Άνω Λιοσίων) is a Greek football professional club from Ano Liosia, Athens, Greece. They currently play in the Alpha Division of the Football League championship, which is t ...

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

. He then moved to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki ( el, Γ΄ Εθνική Ερασιτεχνική Κατηγορία, C National Amateur Division) is the third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 198 ...

side

Atsalenios P.O. Atsaleniou, short for Panathlitikos Omililos Atsaleniou ( el, Παναθλητικός Όμιλος Ατσαλένιου, translated ''Pan-athletic Club of Atsalenio'') and also known simply as Atsalenios or POA, is a Greek association foot ...

before signing with Superleague club

Ergotelis The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

in 2007. He stayed with the club for seven seasons, gradually earning his place in the club's starting XI and playing as the starting goalkeeper in his final two seasons with the club. After the club informed Athanasiou of their intent to sign a top-class goalkeeper into their roster at the midst of the 2013−14 season (and signed a contract with

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n goalkeeper

Vladimir Stojković Vladimir Stojković (, ; born 28 July 1983) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Saudi club Al-Fayha as a goalkeeper. During his career he played for the two biggest clubs in his country, Red Star and Partizan, but also represent ...

a few days later), Athanasiou decided not to renew his contract with the club and move to

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 ...

club

Ayia Napa Ayia Napa ( el, Άγια Νάπα tr, Aya Napa, ), officially romanised Agia Napa, is a tourist resort at the far eastern end of the southern coast of Cyprus. Etymology The name Ayia Napa is derived from a Venetian-era monastery of the sam ...

. After one season in

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 ...

, he returned to his former club

, who had been relegated to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

the season before. After a very difficult season in which the club failed to pay players' wages for months and as a result withdrew from professional competitions on 19 January 2016, Athanasiou, who played his final match the day before, was released from his contract. He eventually signed with fellow

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, an ...

competitor

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

in the summer of 2016.

References

External links

Profile
at Onsports.gr
Guardian Football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athanasiou, Grigoris 1984 births Living people Greek footballers Men's association football goalkeepers A.P.O. Akratitos Ano Liosia players Ergotelis F.C. players Ayia Napa FC players Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Footballers from Thessaloniki