Stelios Skevofilakas (Skevofilax) ( el, Στέλιος Σκευοφύλακας (Σκευοφύλαξ); 6 January 1939 – 10 June 2009) 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 ...

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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

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 ...

and

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou, a football team curr ...

Club career

Skevofilakas was born on 6 January 1939 at

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 ...

. He started his football career at one of his neighborhood teams,

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 ...

, from which he was transferred to

in 1961 at the age of 21. He played in the midfield positions with and especially as a

wide midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. His official debut with the yellow and black jersey was at Rizoupoli Stadium on 9 September 1961, in the victory of AEK over

Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( el, Αιγάλεω ) is a suburban municipality in the western part of Athens, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo. Its population was 69,946 at the 2011 census. Ge ...

by 8–0, where he provided three assists in the two goals of Nestoridis at the 40th and 43th minute and a goal of Stamatiadis at the 65th minute. Skevofilakas won 3 championships and 2 Greek Cups, while he was a member of the team that played in the European Cup quarter finals in 1969 against

Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup on four occasions, and ...

, losing by a margin, the opportunity to face Johan Cruyff's

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

in the semi-finals. The intention of the club's then manager,

Branko Stanković Branko "Stane" Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Бранко "Стане" Станковић, ; 31 October 1921 – 20 February 2002) was a Bosnian Serb footballer and manager, from Sarajevo. Playing career Club He started his career in SK Slavija Sarajevo ...

to renew the club's roster, brought Skevofilakas to leave AEK among other players, in 1972 and move to

. On 21 May 1973, Skevofilakas alongside Balopoulos, Psychogios and Kefalidis, who all had been released from AEK and played for Atromitos, started in the game against their former club in

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek language, Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 139,981 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the seventh-largest municipali ...

, and the match ended with a 1–0 victory for the hosts. It was the first time that they played against AEK, while

Lakis Nikolaou Lakis Nikolaou ( el, Λάκης Νικολάου; born 17 July 1949) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a center back. He is the current medical director of AEK Athens. Early life Nikolaou was born on July 18 of 1949 in Ios ...

, made his maiden participation against his former team, Atromitos, with the yellow-blacks. He retired as a footballer in the summer of 1973, at the age of 34.

International career

Skevofilakas made 11 appearances for the

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 ...

, playing in qualifying matches for the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

and

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

. He made his debut in May 1963 at an away friendly match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, which ended 4–0.

Personal life

After the end of his career Skevofilakas participated in all the events of the Veterans Association of AEK Athens, which he served as president for 8 consecutive years. On 10 June 2009, he died from stomach cancer after a brave struggle of 18 months. A few months earlier in 21 January 2009, he made a deeply emotional and unexpected visit to the gathering for the New Year of Veterans of AEK, in his capacity as their president, to wish all of them health. It was his last public appearance. On 20 January 2016, AEK organized a football tournament in his memory.

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 ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

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 ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

References

External links

*
Εδωσε νέα διάσταση στο παιχνίδι
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skevofilakas, Stelios 1939 births 2009 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer Greek footballers Greece international footballers AEK Athens F.C. players Deaths from cancer in Greece Association football midfielders Footballers from Athens