Georgios Savva ( el, Γεώργιος Σάββα; 22 October 1933 – 9 August 1992) was a

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

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 ...

striker and was the first foreign footballer ever to play professionally in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He was also the first ever

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

that played in a football championship outside Cyprus. Georgios comes from a working class Greek background mixed with Jewish heritage from one of his grandfathers. He played football during the 1950s and he was one of the best ever Cypriot footballers. Sometimes he could play even as a defender. He began playing football for

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") ...

youth team in 1949 and one year later he became a member of the senior squad. Scoring two goals for his team in 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 ...

final in 1951 against

EPA Larnaca EPA Larnaca (, ''Enosis Pezoporikou Amol'') was a Cypriot football club based in the city of Larnaca. Founded in 1930 with the merge of two local clubs, Pezoporikos and AMOL, the club was a founding member of Cyprus Football Association and part ...

, APOEL won the final 7-0 (a record in a Cypriot Cup final until today) and he won the first trophy in his career. In 1952, he helped his team to win the

Cypriot Championship The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

and then, as the first professional Cypriot player he played

football in England Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of ...

with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

for one year and he also played for the representative team of London.

Arrival to Israel

For the season 1955-56 he played for a year for Maccabi Haifa. Before Georgios, the only foreign players that played in

were British soldiers that were stationed in

during the British Mandate. The Cypriot striker was the first player ever to be brought in from abroad to play professional

football in Israel Football ( he, כַּדוּרֶגֶל, ''Kaduregel'') is the most popular sport in Israel. Football as an organised sport, first developed in the United Kingdom, who controlled Mandatory Palestine during the days of the British Mandate. The ...

. Three offers from Israeli clubs were on the table though Georgios ended up only playing for

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

. Acclimation was difficult but eventually he settled in the port city and scored some goals to go down in the annals of history in Israeli football.

Back to Cyprus

In 1956, he was brought back to Cyprus and he was the most important player of

. In 1959, he beat by himself the

Greece national football team The Greece national football team ( el, Εθνική Ελλάδας, ) represents Greece in men's international football matches and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece play most ...

, playing with a representative team of both

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also tran ...

and

. He died on 9 August 1992.

References

*
Article about Savva by Simerini

External links

*
Profile and biography of Savva Georgiou on Maccabi Haifa's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgiou, Savva 1933 births 1992 deaths Greek Cypriot people Cypriot footballers Cyprus international footballers Association football forwards Sportspeople from Nicosia APOEL FC players Bristol City F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Liga Leumit players Expatriate footballers in Israel Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Israel