Grigoris Georgatos ( el, Γρηγόρης Γεωργάτος; born 31 October 1972) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

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

left-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 s ...

. His nickname was ''"the Crazy bald"'' ''( el, "ο Τρελός φαλακρός")'' due to his attitude on the pitch and his shaved hairstyle.

Club career

Early career

He began his career in 1991 at

Panachaiki Panachaiki G.E. (Greek: Παναχαϊκή Γυμναστική Ένωση, ''Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi'', "Pan- Achaean Gymnastic Union") is a Greek multi-sport club based in the city of Patras, Greece. The history of Panachaiki began in 1891, ...

when his skills were first noticed in the

Alpha Ethniki 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 ...

. After four and a half seasons in December 1995, he was transferred to

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 ...

. He came to the club playing as an attacking midfielder. He had to "fit" in the same line-up as

Predrag Đorđević Predrag Đorđević ( sr-cyr, Предраг Ђорђевић; also transliterated Predrag Djordjević; born 4 August 1972) is a Serbian former professional footballer. Known for his set pieces, Đorđević played as a left midfielder for Gree ...

, so

Dušan Bajević Dušan "Duško" Bajević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Бајевић, ; gr, Ντούσαν Μπάγεβιτς, ''Doúsan Báyevits''; born 10 December 1948) is a Bosnian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player. H ...

had he return to left-back. He gradually impressed with his performances lifting three consecutive championships with them from 1996 to 1997, when he finished as the side's top scorer despite his defensive role.

Internazionalle

In the 1998–1999 season, while playing in a

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 competit ...

match against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, Georgatos caught the eye of Italian club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

, signing him in the 1999–2000 season for €7 million. He settled well in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, playing 28 matches and scoring 2 goals for Inter. Despite that, the following season he returned to Olympiacos for a season-long loan, as he was sad and missed his family, house and Athens city. After his loan was over, he returned to the

, with Georgatos choosing to rejoin Inter after losing his first-team place at the club from

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

. Although he returned to Inter, he could not get back into the first-team because of an injury that kept him out for a while, playing only 10 matches and scoring 1 goal that season. With his second spell in Italy being unsuccessful, Georgatos quickly returned to Greece.

Return to Greece

He asked to return to Olympiacos, but the red-whites refused as they had just signed

Stylianos Venetidis Stelios Venetidis ( el, Στέλιος Βενετίδης; born 19 November 1976 in Orestiada) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defender. He used to play in the left-back position, but could be also used on the left sid ...

who also played in the same position. Makis Psomiadis, took the opportunity and brought him to

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 ...

for €3 million, where he was called to work with Bajević again. Due to the presence of

Michalis Kasapis Michalis Kasapis ( el, Μιχάλης Κασάπης; born 6 June 1971) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left back and a later manager. In 1995 he was voted as the second best Greek footballer and as one of the 22 best E ...

in the team, Georgatos played in AEK in the position of the left midfielder. In the 2002–03 season he played 23 games as AEK finished third and also featured in four of the club's six

matches. His great performances at the club gained the favour of the fans, who forgot his red and white past. The next season, he scored six goals in six games but was unsettled at AEK and in the January transfer window his third spell at Olympiacos began, helping them finish second. In 2006 Georgatos expressed his intention to end his career at

when he signed a one-year contract until July 2007, retiring at the end of the season.

International career

He first appeared for

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 a

Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

qualifier against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

in September 1995. He prematurely retired from international football in September 2001, following a reported dispute with coach

Otto Rehhagel Otto Rehhagel (; born 9 August 1938) is a German former football coach and player. Rehhagel is one of only two people who, as player and manager combined, has participated in over 1,000 Bundesliga matches (the other being Jupp Heynckes). In t ...

. Georgatos played 35 times and scored 3 goals in total for Greece.

After football

After the end of his career, Georgatos initially enacted with the administration of Panachaki, while since 2013 he was one of the heads of the Olympiacos academies. From the summer of 2015 to the summer of 2016, he worked as the sports director of the Olympiacos with responsibility for the first team's competitive department.

Style of play

Georgatos was known as an offensive fullback with an excellent crossing ability; his combative style at left back earned him the nickname, "the Greek

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Olympiacos *

Super League 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 ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 1998–99, 2004–05, 2005–06 Individual *

Greek footballer of the year The Greek football PSAP awards are a number of awards given annually by the Greek Union of Professional Football Players (PSAP). These awards are given annually to players playing in the Superleague Greece, Football League and Football League 2. M ...

: 1998–99

References

External links

Inter Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Georgatos, Grigoris 1973 births AEK Athens F.C. players Association football central defenders Association football fullbacks Footballers from Piraeus Greek expatriate footballers Inter Milan players Serie A players Olympiacos F.C. players Panachaiki F.C. players Greece international footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Living people Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy Greek footballers