Dimitris "Jimmy" Patikas ( Greek: Δημήτρης "Τζίμης" Πατίκας) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. Renowned for his exceptional speed and for being the first established Australian player to be signed by a professional European football club, he was capped 27 times for the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

and played as a forward and midfielder for Sydney City,

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club, based in Belmore, New South Wales, Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan- ...

Sydney Croatia Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

, AEK Athens,

Athinaikos Athinaikos A.C. ( el, Αθηναϊκός Α.Σ., full name Athinaikos Athletic Club) is a Greek multisport-club, founded in 1917. It is based in Vyronas, a suburb east of Athens. Athinaikos has football, basketball, and handball teams. Its achiev ...

and Kastoria.

Career

Patikas represented the

Young Socceroos The Australia national under-20 soccer team, known colloquially as the Young Socceroos, represents Australia in international under-20 soccer. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which ...

in both the 1981 FIFA

World Youth Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and 1983

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Despite being one of the youngest players in the 1981 World Youth Cup, Patikas had already played over two seasons for NSL Champions Sydney City debuting as a 15-year-old in the 1979 season. He was therefore a key part of the Australian squad that reached the Quarter Finals in 1981, losing 1-0 only to eventual winners,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. His performances for the Young Socceroos and Sydney City earned Patikas his first full international cap aged only 17 against Indonesia in 1981 World Cup Qualifying and a contract with a

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

coached

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. In 1983, after five seasons and three NSL Championships with Sydney City, Patikas was signed by

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betwe ...

. In his first season at Olympic, he won the NSL Cup and held the record for most Young Socceroos international appearances after playing in his second FIFA

in Mexico. Against European Youth Champions

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, Patikas scored a goal with 3 minutes remaining to give the Young Socceroos a 2-1 victory elevating them to the top of Group A. In the final round, a 2-1 defeat to

Korea Republic South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

saw the Young Socceroos exit the tournament with only one defeat. However, the performances of Patikas attracted the attention of many international scouts. One including newly appointed

Barcelona F.C. Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded i ...

coach

Cesar Luis Menotti Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

. According to media reports, Patikas was offered a contract by Menotti, but injury forced him to return to Australia. In 1985, Patikas joined Olympics' rivals

and scored two goals against his former club on his way to the Player of the Year and top goal scorer titles. He played 13 of his 27 caps during this season, and was a key member of the Socceroos' 1986 World Cup Qualifying matches against a Scottish national side featuring

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

, Alex McLeish and

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

. Patikas who had experience in Scotland during his time at

was one of the Socceroos' stand-out performers in a 2-0 aggregate loss. Following these games, he was signed by Greek club AEK Athens. In March 1988, Patikas returned to Australia to represent the

in the Olympic qualifiers becoming the first player to turn out for the

while based at a non-Australian club. In his first game back he scored the winner for the

against Chinese Taipei. The next match against New Zealand saw Patikas become the first Australian goal scorer at the

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

when opening the scoring in a 3-1 win. In his fourth season at AEK, Patikas won the league title ending the club's ten year championship drought. He went on to make over 200 appearances for AEK in all competitions (including European Cup / UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup) scoring 58 goals. He won 3 Greek Championships, 1 Greek League Cup, 1

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek Football (soccer), association football one-match ...

and 1 Pre-

1991 Mediterranean Games The XI Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1991 Mediterranean Games, were the 11th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Athens, Greece, from 28 June to 12 July 1991, where 2,762 athletes (2,176 men and 586 women) from 18 countries p ...

Cup. After nearly a decade with AEK Athens, Patikas signed for

during the 1993 season. In his first game back at

Nikos Goumas Stadium Nikos Goumas Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Νίκος Γκούμας) was a multi-purpose stadium in Nea Filadelfeia, a northwestern suburb of Athens, Greece. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of AEK Athens F.C. It is ...

, he scored against his old club, AEK. Despite being man-of-the-match, he ended up on the losing side as the Greek champions won 3-2. In 1995, Patikas signed for Northern Greek outfit Kastoria in

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 ...

. The club was promoted into

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 ...

, and Patikas helped the club gain promotion into the Greek First Division for the first time since 1983. Following a successful period at Kastoria, Patikas returned home to play for Sydney United and Sydney Olympic in the NSL.

Honours

Player

Sydney City * NSL Championship: 1980, 1981, 1982 Sydney Olympic * NSL Cup: 1983 AEK Athens *

Greek Championship 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 ...

: 1989, 1992, 1993 * Greek League Cup: 1990 *

: 1989 * Pre-

Cup: 1991

Individual

* Australian Player of the Year: 1985 with

* Top goal scorer: 1985 with

* NSW Player of the Year: 1985 with

* Greek League MVP Team: 1986/87 & 1989/90 with AEK Athens * 1st Socceroo to play in the

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 ...

( AEK Athens) * 1st player to represent

while based at a non-Australian club * 1st Australian goal scorer at the

* 5th Youngest

debutant ( Sydney City) * 4th Youngest NSL debutant ( Sydney City)

References

External links

Jim Patikas Interview

Patikas: 'I played table tennis with Fergie'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patikas, Jim 1963 births Living people Australian soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Australia international soccer players Australia B international soccer players Association football midfielders Super League Greece players Hakoah Sydney City East FC players AEK Athens F.C. players Kastoria F.C. players Athinaikos F.C. players Australian people of Greek descent Naturalized citizens of Greece