Georgios Donis ( el, Γεώργιος Δώνης; born 22 October 1969) is a Greek former professional footballer 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 ...

and currently a manager. He is the current manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Fateh. He was the first ever Greek to play in the English Premier League. In England, he was also known as George Donis.

Early years

Donis was born and raised in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

until he was six years old and the family moved back to their native

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 ...

. His parents had lived in Frankfurt for "many years" and he has still family ties there.

Club career

Donis started his senior career with PAS Giannina in 1990, and after one successful year he moved to Panathinaikos. The fans of Panathinaikos, known for their love for nicknames, named him ''the Train'' for his remarkable acceleration. On 5 June 1996, after helping the Greek club 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 competi ...

semi-finals against Ajax FC, Donis moved to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on a free transfer, making use of the then recent Bosman ruling signing for 1.1 billion drachmas, a record amount for Greek players at the time. He had an erratic season with Blackburn, scoring against Everton and Coventry City. He returned home to play 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 Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

, before returning to England, playing for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

where he ended his career.

International career

Donis made his debut for 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 ...

on 22 December 1991, in a 1–1 draw against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

for the UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying round. He appeared in 24 matches and scored five goals during his international career with Greece.

Managerial career

AEL

After the end of his playing career, he turned to coaching. Starting in 2002, he led Zografou-based Ilisiakos in two consecutive promotions from 4th to 2nd Greek football level. He then made the move to AEL, where after one season he managed to bring the team to the

Greek Superleague 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 ...

from the second division and finished them in 8th place the following year. In 2007, Larissa finished only 10th in the league but he managed to bring them the

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 ...

after defeating Panathinaikos 2–1 in the final. In his first taste of European football management, his team AE Larissa defeated his former team

to reach the 2007–08 UEFA Cup group stages. He finished a great year in 6th place in the league, missing out on the season play-off's on goal difference.

AEK Athens

On 25 April 2008, Donis stepped down as manager of AEL and on 14 May he was appointed as head coach of

. On 17 November 2008, due to a string of poor performances and early knock out from the UEFA Cup, AEK parted company with him just six months after his appointment.

Atromitos

In 2009, Donis was appointed by Atromitos and in the 2010–11 season he again reached the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

only to lose 0–3 to his former team

. In the next year, Atromitos enjoyed another successful spell under his guidance, reaching the

for a second consecutive time (losing 1–2 to Olympiacos at extra time), as well as participating at the Greek Superleague play-offs.

PAOK

On 31 May 2012, PAOK appointed Donis as the new manager of the club, on a two-year contract, with immediate effect. On 28 April 2013, after a crucial defeat 0–2 and the elimination in the semi-final of

by Asteras Tripolis, he was sacked by chairman Ivan Savvidis.

APOEL

On 11 October 2013, Donis signed a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season with the reigning Cypriot champions APOEL, replacing Paulo Sérgio who had been fired on 4 October 2013. In his first season at APOEL, Donis achieved to win the double. He won his first title with APOEL on 21 May 2014, when he led his team to a 2–0 victory over

Ermis Aradippou Ermis Aradippou () is a Cypriot professional football club based in Aradippou, a settlement on the outskirts of the city of Larnaca. The club was formed in 1958, and currently plays in the Cypriot Second Division. Ermis' greatest success came ...

in the Cypriot Cup final. Ten days later, Donis won also the

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 ...

after APOEL's 1–0 away victory against

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintai ...

in the title deciding match and won his first league title in his managerial career. Following a successful first season in the club, Giorgos Donis signed a one-year contract extension with APOEL on 26 June 2014. In August 2014, Donis led APOEL into the group stages of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, after eliminating

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history i ...

(4–2 on aggregate) in the third qualifying round and trashing Aalborg BK 5–1 on aggregate in the play-off round of the competition. APOEL were drawn in Group F alongside

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

and

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 Gree ...

. Donis led his team to some great performances in the group stage, but APOEL managed to collect only one point after drawing 1–1 with Ajax at home. In their other five Group F matches, APOEL lost twice to Barcelona (0–4 at home, 0–1 away), lost twice to Paris Saint-Germain (0–1 at home, 0–1 away) and also lost to Ajax 0–4 away. On 6 January 2015, APOEL and Giorgos Donis parted company by mutual agreement after a poor run of performances and results, culminating in a 1–1 home draw against the last-placed Ayia Napa.

Al-Hilal

On 25 February 2015, he was appointed as the new manager of Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, signing a contract until the end of the season. He helped Al-Hilal to qualify in the semi-final of the

2015 AFC Champions League The 2015 AFC Champions League was the 34th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 13th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande won the tournament ...

. On 6 June, Donis won the first title with Al-Hilal after defeating Al-Nassr in the final of the 2015 King Cup of Champions.

Al-Sharjah

On 28 July 2016, he was appointed as the new manager of Al-Sharjah in UAE, signing a contract until the summer of 2018.

Second spell in APOEL

On 28 July 2017, Donis signed a contract until the end of the 2017–18 season with the reigning Cypriot champions APOEL, replacing Mario Been who had been sacked by APOEL following a 1–0 away European defeat to Viitorul Constanta. On 23 March 2018, APOEL have sacked Donis, and have replaced him with 40-year-old Portuguese manager Bruno Baltazar. The last straw seemed to be APOEL's recent 4–2 away defeat against Apollon Limassol, which saw APOEL fall out of first place in the Cypriot First Division. Expectations have become quite high at APOEL in recent years. The Nicosia giants have won the

the last 5 seasons, and 7 of the last 9 campaigns. With that domestic run now in jeopardy, APOEL have made the move to replace Donis with the Portuguese coach.

Panathinaikos

Donis was appointed on 3 July 2018 as the new manager of his former club as a player, Panathinaikos, signing a three-year contract. On 19 July 2020, after the end of the Superleague playoffs, he left the club by mutual consent, mainly as a result of his strenuous relationship with the Panathinaikos board and chairman

Giannis Alafouzos Giannis Alafouzos ( el, Γιάννης Αλαφούζος, born 2 July 1957) is a Greek businessman, shipowner, and member of the Alafouzos family from Santorini. Early life Giannis Alafouzos was born in 1957 and is the son of businessman, sh ...

Μaccabi Tel Aviv

Donis signed a contract with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. He led the team to the Play Offs of the

where he was eliminated by Red Bull Salzburg while in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

he managed to lead the team to the round of 32. He was fired on December 22, 2020 as the team was in 5th place in the league.

Al-Wehda

In March 2021, he became the manager of Saudi club Al Wehda.

Al-Fateh

On 16 January 2022, Donis was appointed as the manager of Saudi club Al-Fateh.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

; Panathinaikos * Greek League: 1994–95, 1995–96 *

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 1993–94, 1994–95 * Greek Super Cup: 1993, 1994

Manager

; Ilisiakos * Gamma Ethniki: 2003–04 *

Delta Ethniki Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also r ...

: 2002–03 ; AEL *

: 2006–07 * Greek Second Division: 2004–05 ; Atromitos *

: Runner-up

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12 ; APOEL * Cypriot League: 2013–14, 2017–18 * Cypriot Cup: 2013–14 ; Al-Hilal *

King Cup of Champions The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup ( ar, كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition, run by the Saudi Arabian Footb ...

: 2015 * Saudi Super Cup: 2015 *

Saudi Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

: 2015–16 ;

* Toto Cup Al: 2020–21

Individual

*Top Scorer of

: 1994–95 (11 goals) * Best Manager in Greece: 2011–12 (with

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donis, Georgios 1969 births Living people German footballers Greek footballers PAS Giannina F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Super League Greece players Premier League players English Football League players Footballers from Frankfurt Greece international footballers Greek football managers Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. managers AEK Athens F.C. managers Atromitos F.C. managers PAOK FC managers APOEL FC managers Panathinaikos F.C. managers Greek expatriate footballers Super League Greece managers Al Hilal SFC managers Al-Sharjah SCC managers UAE Pro League managers Expatriate footballers in England Greek expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. managers Al-Wehda Club (Mecca) managers Al-Fateh SC managers Association football midfielders Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Saudi Professional League managers German people of Greek descent Greek expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Greek expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Greek expatriate sportspeople in Israel Greek expatriate football managers