Kostas Vasiliou ( el, Κώστας Βασιλείου; 1914 – 1 May 2003), was a Cypriot

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 Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

and later a manager.

Career

Vasiliou started his football career at EPA Larnaca in 1934. In 1935 he continued at

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

with which he won the championship of the 1935–36 season. In 1936 he was transferred to AEK Athens. He was the first Cypriot to play for AEK. With AEK he won the

Panhellenic 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 ...

and the Greek Cup in 1938–39, as well as the Panhellenic Championship 1939–40. During his stay in Greece, Vasiliou participated in three friendly matches of

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 ...

. He returned to Cyprus in 1945 and joined APOEL until 1947. He won the championship and the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

in 1946–47. In the period 1947–48 he took over as a player-coach of AEL Limassol with which he won the Cup 1947–48. In the period 1949–50 he took over as a player-coach at Anorthosis Famagusta, leading them to the winning the league for the first time in their history. He again managed Anorthosis from 1951 to 1953. He then took over as coach of Nea Salamina in the 1954–55 season, leading the team to win the Cypriot Second Division and to be promoted to the first division for the first time in their history.

Personal life

Vasiliou was the first husband of

Rena Vlahopoulou Irene "Rena" Vlahopoulou (Greek: Ειρήνη (Ρένα) Βλαχοπούλου; 28 July 1917 – 29 July 2004) was a Greeks, Greek actress and singer. She starred in theatre, musical, and Greek cinema productions, including ''The Gambler'' an ...

, whom he met in 1938 and married a year later. He was a photographer by profession. His great-grandson,

Nikos Englezou Nikos Englezou ( el, Νίκος Εγγλέζου; born July 11, 1993) is a Cypriot professional footballer who plays for AEK Larnaca . He is also a member of the youth national teams of Cyprus. His natural position is the left back position. Cl ...

was also a football player of AEK Athens for a short time. Vasiliou died on 1 May 2003.

Honours

As a player

APOEL * Cypriot First Division: 1935–36, 1946–47 *

: 1946–47 AEK Athens *

: 1938–39, 1939–40 * Greek Cup: 1938–39 Individual *Panhellenic Championship top scorer: 1938–39

Player-coach

AEL Limassol *

: 1947–48 Anorthosis Famagusta * Cypriot First Division: 1949–50

Coach

Nea Salamina * Cypriot Second Division: 1954–55

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasiliou, Kostas 1914 births Cypriot men's footballers EPA Larnaca FC players APOEL FC players AEK Athens F.C. players AEL Limassol players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players AEL Limassol managers Anorthosis Famagusta FC managers Nea Salamis Famagusta FC managers 2003 deaths Men's association football forwards Greece men's international footballers People from Limassol