Giannis Kiliaras ( gr, Γιάννης Κοιλιάρας; born 9 June 1988) is a Greek professional footballer who plays 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 ...

for Super League 2 club Irodotos.

Club career

Born in Nea Alikarnassos, Kiliaras began playing football for local Cretan side Irodotos, with whom he made his senior debut in the Delta Ethniki, before making a leap in his career and signing with

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

side

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

. Following a one-year loan to fellow Cretan Delta Ethniki side PANOM, Kiliaras signed his first professional contract with the club in the summer of 2007. After a brief loan spell to Gamma Ethniki side Trikala in the winter of 2010, Kiliaras left

in the summer of 2010 having made a total of 11 appearances and having scored 1 goal. In August, he signed a contract with

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-based club Panachaiki. with whom he played in both the

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and Second Division. He returned to

and the

in 2013, but left in September 2014, after a falling out with the club's board of directors following a loan deal refusal. After releasing himself from his contract, Kiliaras rejoined his childhood club Irodotos in the Gamma Ethniki. After one season with Irodotos, Kiliaras signed with Cretan former renowned club OFI, who had been relegated to the Gamma Ethniki following its withdrawal from professional competitions. In the years following, Kiliaras was named among the team's captains, won promotion 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 ...

and eventually helped reclaim the team's spot in the

, winning the Second Division title in 2018. Being one of the last players in OFI's

roster still remaining from the club's years in the third Division, Kiliaras received substantially less playing time in top-flight, and was eventually released from his contract in the winter of 2019. Having been in talks with

' new administration, Kiliaras rejoined the club on the same day after his release from OFI, thus starting his third tenure with the Cretan club.

Personal life

Born in Heraklion, Kiliaras began playing football at a young age, when his father, a retired Irodotos footballer, signed him up at the infrastructure segments of his former club. His older brother

Dimitris Dimitris (Δημήτρης) is the Modern Greek form of the older forms Demetrios, Dimitrios (Δημήτριος, usually Latinized as Demetrius) and may refer to: *Dimitris Arvanitis (born 1980), Greek professional football defender who plays for ...

is also a professional footballer. They played together for

in the Superleague during the 2007–08 season.

Honours

Panachaiki

Football League 2 The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

OFI

* Gamma Ethniki: 2015–16 *

: 2017–18

References

External links

*
Myplayer.gr ProfileProfile at epae.orgGuardian FootballProfile
at Onsports.gr {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiliaras, Giannis 1988 births Living people Greek men's footballers Football League (Greece) players Ergotelis F.C. players Trikala F.C. players Panachaiki F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players People from Heraklion (regional unit) Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from Crete