Savvas Poursaitidis ( el, Σάββας Πουρσαϊτίδης, born 23 June 1976) is a former 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 ...

who most recently was the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Cypriot First Division 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 ...

club

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") ...

. Poursaitidis played football, mainly as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, in his native Greece from 1994 to 2002 before moving to Cyprus where his playing career continued for a further ten years. In 2009 he received Cypriot citizenship and represented that country at international level. In 2016, he began his senior managerial career, also in Cyprus.

Early life

Savvas Poursaitidis was born in

Eleftheroupoli Eleftheroupoli ( el, Ελευθερούπολη, katharevousa: Ελευθερούπολις - ''Eleftheroupolis'', until 1929 Πράβι - ''Pravi'', bg, Правище; tr, Pravişte) is a town and a former municipality in the Kavala regional u ...

, in the

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

district of Greece. He has a twin brother, Sakis, and his parents kept a

taverna A taverna (Greek: ταβέρνα) is a small Greek restaurant that serves Greek cuisine. The taverna is an integral part of Greek culture and has become familiar to people from other countries who visit Greece, as well as through the establishmen ...

Orfani Orfani ( el, Ορφάνι, formerly Ορφάνιον - Orfanion) is a village and a former municipality in the Kavala regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pangaio ...

Club career

Poursaitidis started his senior career at

Doxa Drama Doxa Drama Football Club ( el, Δόξα Δράμας) is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Drama, Greece, Drama, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Macedonia, Greece. The club currently competes in the Super ...

. He also played for

Veria Veria ( el, Βέροια or Βέρροια), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Berea or Berœa, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of I ...

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 ...

and

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xa ...

in Greece. Later, he moved to Cyprus to play for Digenis Morphou,

Ethnikos Achna Ethnikos Achna Football Club ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Εθνικός Άχνας), commonly known as Ethnikos Achna, or simply Ethnikos, is a Cypriot football club based in the village of Achna. Founded in 1968, the club current ...

Anorthosis Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club fo ...

and

APOEL

signed Poursaitidis in June 2008, after the player was released from

as a result from a failure in negotiations with his former club to renew his contract. In his first year with APOEL he continued to impress Cypriot football fans with his high level performances. In the end, he helped APOEL to be crowned

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

after one unsuccessful season. The next season (2009–10) Poursaitidis helped APOEL to achieve the greatest success in its history and reach 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 ...

group stage. He appeared in five

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

matches with APOEL. After he won the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

again in 2010–11 with APOEL, the Board of Directors renewed his contract, as they recognized that Poursaitidis was one of the key players that contributed greatly towards winning the Championship. In summer 2011, he appeared in nine 2011–12 UEFA Champions League matches for APOEL, in the club's surprising run to the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the competition. In May 2012, Poursaitidis decided to retire from professional football, ending his four-year successful spell with the club.

International career

In August 2009 he gained

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 ...

nationality and made his debut with Cyprus national team in March 2010 in a friendly match against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. He made 12 appearances with the national team.

Scouting career

On 31 July 2012, after retiring from his football career, Poursaitides became Chief Scout in APOEL's newly created Scouting Department. On 7 June 2013, APOEL announced that the club were not renewing his contract.

Managerial career

Poursaitidis started his managerial career on 23 October 2016, when he was appointed as the manager of the

side

Anagennisi Deryneia Anagennisi Deryneia ( el, Αναγέννηση Δερύνειας) is Cypriot football team based in Deryneia, Famagusta. The club was founded in 1920 and they joined the Cyprus Football Association in 1972. The team played in the Cypriot First ...

. On 25 January 2017, after only three months in charge, he left the team to take over as the manager of Doxa Katokopias. On 30 April 2017 he left the team. He later became the manager of

Nea Salamis Famagusta Nea Salamis Famagusta or Nea Salamina Famagusta ( el, Νέα Σαλαμίνα Αμμοχώστου) is a Cypriot sports club based in Ammochostos (also known by its romanized name, Famagusta), Cyprus. The club is named after Salamis (or Sala ...

. He was appointed manager of

in January 2021. He was sacked in August 2021 after losing 4–0 against

Pafos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

in the first match of the 2021-22 season.

Honours

Olympiacos *

Superleague Greece 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 ...

: 1998–99, 1999–2000 *

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 ...

: 1998–99 Anorthosis Famagusta *

: 2004–05, 2007–08 *

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 ...

: 2006–07 *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 2007 APOEL *Cypriot First Division: 2008–09, 2010–11 *Cypriot Super Cup: 2008, 2009, 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poursaitidis, Savvas 1976 births Living people Greek footballers Cypriot footballers Cyprus international footballers Greek Cypriot people Olympiacos F.C. players Veria F.C. players Xanthi F.C. players Digenis Akritas Morphou FC players Ethnikos Achna FC players Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players APOEL FC players Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC managers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Greek football managers People from Kavala (regional unit) Greek expatriate football managers Footballers from Eastern Macedonia and Thrace