Kostas Nikolaidis ( el, Κώστας Νικολαΐδης; born 10 September 1944) is a former

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 ...

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 a striker. During his presence in

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 ...

he scored 100 goals, which ranks him amongst the top scorers in the history of the institution.

Early life

Born in Safrabolis a district of

Nea Ionia Nea Ionia ( el, Νέα Ιωνία, meaning New Ionia) is a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region. It was named after Ionia, the region in Anatolia from which many Greeks migrated in the 1920s as a part of the ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Nikolaidis had also descent from

North Epirus sq, Epiri i Veriut rup, Epiru di Nsusu , type = Part of the wider historic region of Epirus , image_blank_emblem = , blank_emblem_type = , image_map = Epirus across Greece Albania4.svg , map_caption ...

, where his father, Ilias left in 1918 during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His love for football brought him at the door of the local PAO Safrabolis' youth team, in 1958, where at the age of 14 made his first tryout in order to join the club. The tryout was unsuccessful as he has turned down by the team's coach Krassas, but eventually, a year later Nikolaidis managed to join PAO Safrabolis after a second tryout.

Club career

Early career

Nikolaidis made his first steps in youth team of PAO Safrabolis in 1959, where at the age of 15 established himself quickly in the youth departments of the club, making it into the first team a year later. After a very successful 6-year spell, he managed to promote the club from the local divisions of

to the second national division and caught the interest of

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 Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

AEK Athens

In 1965 Nikolaidis, alongside other players from his club, after a recommendation from Georgios Magiras, was transferred at AEK at the age of 21 and became a regular after his impressive performances in the friendlies. There he formed a deadly attacking duo with the legendary

Mimis Papaioannou Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou ( el, Δημήτριος "Μίμης" Παπαϊωάννου; born 23 August 1942) is a Greek former professional football player, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a former manager. His nickname wa ...

, which helped in the club's later success. In his first derby against Panathinakos, on 19 December 1965, he scored a brace in their 3–2 win at

Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium ( el, Γήπεδο Απόστολος Νικολαΐδης), commonly known as Leoforos Alexandras Stadium or Leoforos Stadium, is a football stadium and multi-sport center in Athens, Greece. It was inaugurated in 19 ...

. On 20 December 1967 he scored a hat-trick in the imposing 5–0 at home over

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia ( el, Ολυμπιακός Λευκωσίας, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus and competes in the Cypriot First Division. The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cy ...

. His 2 goals 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 ...

on 31 March 1968, won the derby for the club and gave them to a high extend the title at the end of the season. He was a member of the team that reached 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 ...

quarter-finals in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. On 29 September 1972 his goal at the 89th minute gave the AEK the victory over

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

with 3–2 for the European Cup, in

Nea Filadelfeia Nea Filadelfeia ( el, Νέα Φιλαδέλφεια, meaning ''New Philadelphia'') is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filadelfeia-Chalkidona, of which it is the seat and a municip ...

. During his spell at AEK he won 2 league titles and 1

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 im ...

Later career

In 1973 after he was released from AEK, Nikolaidis signed for

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

, where he played for a season, winning the second division championship, helping the club to be promoted to the first division. The following season Nikolaidis was transferred to

Apollon Athens Apollon Smyrnis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Απόλλων Σμύρνης), or in its full name Gymnasticos Syllogos Apollon Smyrnis ( el, links=no, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης, ''Gymnastics Club Apollon o ...

, where he played 2 seasons, winning again the second division championship and playing his final season at the highest tear of Greece. Except his impressive 100 goals in total for the Greek Championship, Nikolaidis managed to score in 8 consecutive league games being one of 4 players that ever achieve that alongside

Giorgos Sideris Giorgos Sideris ( el, Γιώργος Σιδέρης, born 5 April 1938-) is a Greek former Association football, footballer, who played as striker (association football), striker. Club career Sideris began his youth career at Atromitos Piraeus ...

Demis Nikolaidis Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis ( el, Ντέμης Νικολαΐδης; born 17 September 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was the forty second president of AEK Athens, and is considered one of the fi ...

and

Kostas Mitroglou Konstantinos "Kostas" Mitroglou ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μήτρογλου, ; born 12 March 1988) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a striker. He is nicknamed "Mitrogoal" and "Pistolero" by fans due to his go ...

. In 1976 he joined

Olympiakos Neon Liosion Olympiakos Neon Liosion is a Greek football club based in Ilion, Greece. The team was founded in 1952, when the city was named Nea Liosia. The home stadium of the team is the National Sports Center Of Ilion. They team participated seven times i ...

, where he played for a season before finishing his career as a footballer.

International career

Nikolaidis played in 1962 with Greece U19, under Georgios Magiras, making 10 appearances. Nikolaidis played 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 ...

four times between 1971 and 1973. He made his debut on 17 November 1971, in a friendly match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

which ended in a 2–2 draw.

Club statistics

: a. Does not include 2nd division stats for Apollon Athens.

Honours

AEK Athens *

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 ...

: 1967–68, 1970–71 *

: 1965–66 PAS Giannina *

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 ...

: 1973–74 Apollon Athens *Beta Ethniki: 1974–75 Individual *Greek Cup top scorer: 1966–67

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolaidis, Kostas 1944 births Living people AEK Athens F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Greece men's international footballers Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers