Loukas Barlos ( el, Λουκάς Μπάρλος; 1920 – 20 October 1999) was 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 ...

businessman who served as the twenty third president of

AEK Athens F.C. AEK FC ( el, ΠΑΕ A.E.K. ; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; ''Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos'', meaning ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filade ...

from 1974 until 1981.

Early life

Barlos was born and raised in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, but his place of origin was

Distomo :"Distomo" ''may also refer to a work by Federico García Lorca'' Distomo ( el, Δίστομο) is a town in western Boeotia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra, of which it is t ...

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...

. As a youngster, he was a supporter of

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

and even tried out with the club. He was the owner of

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

factories and other mining enterprises.

President of AEK Athens

In March 1974, after the resignation of the then president Ioannis Theodorakopoulos from the previous December, he became democratically elected as the new president 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 ...

with 58%. The team had won the championship since 1971 and were struggling, with many of their former stars were either retiring or leaving for other clubs. Barlos immediately invested much of his own money and brought coach Frantisek Fadrhonc to the club as well as players such as Christos Ardizoglou, Giorgos Skrekis, Giorgos Dedes, Walter Wagner and

Timo Zahnleiter Hans-Dieter "Timo" Zahnleiter (born 16 December 1948) is a German former professional football player and manager who played as a midfielder. Playing career Zahnleiter started his professional career in 1967 when he played for VfR Mannheim unt ...

. In 1976, he further improved AEK by acquiring

Thomas Mavros Thomas Mavros ( el, Θωμάς Μαύρος, born 31 May 1954) is a Greek former international football player who played as a striker. He was "the flag" of AEK Athens, that led the club to huge success, during the 70's and 80's. Mavros is regar ...

, Takis Nikoloudis and

Nikos Christidis Nikos Christidis (Greek: Νίκος Χρηστίδης; born 18 September 1944) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Christidis started his football career in the youth divisions of Aris. In 1961 he w ...

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 ...

and

Milton Viera Milton Viera Rivero (born May 11, 1946) is a former Uruguayan professional footballer who played as a midfielder. In 1975 he was called to the World XI. Club career Latin America Viera took his first football steps at Nacional. He signed his ...

joined the following year making the team even more powerful. These moved lead to AEK Athens to winning two successive Greek championships, a double in 1978 and an impressive course to the semi-finals of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

in 1977. On 9 June 1981, his dire financial situation that came from his involvement with the club, but also due to his inability to follow the new model of professional football, fearing alienation through the professionalism that was entering into the field of football, Barlos resigned from the presidency of AEK.

Death

Barlos died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

on 20 October 1999. He is buried in his place of origin, Distomo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlos, Loukas 1920 births 1999 deaths Greek football chairmen and investors Businesspeople from Thessaloniki AEK (sports club) AEK Athens F.C. AEK Athens F.C. chairmen Deaths from lung cancer in Greece