Kostas Nestoridis ( el, Κώστας Νεστορίδης, born 15 March 1930) is 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 ...

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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and a former manager. He is amongst the best players in the history 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 Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

and one of the greatest ever players and scorers in Greek football.

Early life

Κostas Nestoridis was born on 15 March 1930 in

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

and was the youngest of three children of the Pontian Greek Giorgos and Kyriaki who arrived in

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

as refugees after the

Asia Minor disaster Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Him and his simblings, Christos and Nopi, experienced intensely the financial misery and the struggles of the refugee life during their childhood. The work difficulties that his parents repeatedly faced, affected the young Nestoridis and were several times the criteria for any decisions during his football career. Nestoridis traveled from the dirt roads of Drama, to the fields of

Kallithea Kallithea (Greek: Καλλιθέα, meaning "beautiful view") is a district of Athens and a municipality in south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth largest municipality in Greece (96,118 inhabitants, 2021 census) and the fourth biggest i ...

, where his family was forced to move in search of work and then to the fields of

Preveza Preveza ( el, Πρέβεζα, ) is a city in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located on the northern peninsula at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epiru ...

, where they took refuge during

The Occupation ''The Occupation'' is a single-player adventure video game developed by White Paper Games and released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows on 5 March 2019. The game takes place in a single government building, in real-time over fou ...

. There, his amazing talent in football charmed the crowds. Of course, enacting with football which he loved, always took second place as the need for assistance in the family finances came first, something that forced Nestoridis to work from a young age as a polisher, cigarette seller, shoemaker assistant and shepherd in his days at Preveza. After the end of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the return and resettlement of the family in Kallithea marked his most active involvement with football. In his neighborhood there was an independent club called PAO Kallitheas. They were not a recognizable team, but they provided a football kit and lemonade at the half time for their players, things that almost considered as luxury for the then standards of the young Nestoridis. His debut which was marked by scoring five goals began to weave the legend around his name. The legend did not take long to cross the narrow borders of the post-war Kallithea and reached the ears of

Kostas Negrepontis Kostas Negrepontis ( el, Κώστας Νεγρεπόντης; 31 October 1897 – 19 February 1973) was a Greek footballer who played as a center forward in the 1920's and 1930's and a later manager. He was considered a great virtuoso of the bal ...

, who was looking for a partner to

Kleanthis Maropoulos Kleanthis Maropoulos ( el, Κλεάνθης Μαρόπουλος; 1919 – 3 January 1991) was a Greek footballer who played as a striker for AEK Athens He was a star footballer during the 1930's and 1940's and arguably the greatest Greek playe ...

in the offense of

. One Sunday afternoon in Kallithea, Negrepontis, impressed by his dribbling skills and shooting technique, did not hesitate and invited Nestoridis to

Nea Filadelfeia Nea Filadelfeia ( el, Νέα Φιλαδέλφεια, meaning ''New Philadelphia'') is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filadelfeia-Chalkidona, of which it is the seat and a munici ...

for a tryout. AEK's officials were impressed by his talent, but did not ask him to sign a sport's card and responded to his persistent calls for work with some vague promises of appointment to the Water Company. After about a month, where nothing came out, Nestoridis left AEK and football training, giving priority in finding a solution to his intense livelihood problem.

Club career

Early career

Nestoridis made his next step in his football career on a night in 1946, when his neighbor and friend, Kostas Sotiriadis, who was playing for

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

, met him in Kallithea Square and suggested that he visit

Nea Smyrni Nea Smyrni ( el, Νέα Σμύρνη, ''Néa Smýrni'', "New Smyrna") is a municipality in South Athens, Greece. At the 2011 census, it had 73,076 inhabitants. It was named after İzmir in Turkey, which Greek's called it as Smyrna, whence many ...

for another tryout. There, the coach Roussopoulos, having received information from Sotiriadis and impressed by his abilities, made him sign a sport's card, including him in the roster of Panionios. His urgent need for daily work as a cigarette retailer did not allow him to continue training with Panionios. He occasionally played football in his neighborhood until Karamalengos, the owner of the factory "Indiana" and a member of the Hellas Moschato, heard about him. He offered Nestoridis a steady job in his business and offered him to sign in his team. The young Nestoridis, seeing that his two big dreams, the steady job and football, were being materialized at the same time, did not hesitate to sign a fake sport's card under the name "Brinzos", as was the nickname of his brother, Christos and started playing in Hellas Moschato. The team became champions of their category in

Piraeus Football Clubs Association The Piraeus Football Clubs Association ( el, Ένωση Ποδοσφαιρικών Σωματείων Πειραιώς, abbreviated E.P.S.P. (Ε.Π.Σ.Π.) was founded in 1925 after the termination of E.P.S. Athens-Piraeus. It was the second larg ...

, with Nestoridis scoring 48 goals and becoming their star player. He played for the club from

Moschato Moschato ( el, Μοσχάτο) is a suburb in the southwestern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Moschato-Tavros, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Geograph ...

until 1948. His career there would end ingloriously, as before the crucial match for the championship against Palia Kokkinia begun, a rival fan recognized Nestoridis and started shouting him with his real name. The officials of Hellas, fearing the revelation of forgery and punishment, did not use him, resulting in the 2–1 defeat and the loss of the championship. Their subsequent efforts to secure a free transfer of Nestoridis from Panionios were also fruitless. Nestoridis stayed for the first time in his career out of football competitions for a year and in 1949 he decided to join Panionios. There, at last he got the chance to play under Negrepontis, who was the coach at the time and they formed a strong friendship. He wore the blue-red jersey for 7 years and in 63 appearances he scored 26 goals, winning the top scorer award in

Athens Football Clubs Association :''The first version of this article has been based in the text of the Greek Wikipedia published under GFDL.'' Athens Football Clubs Association ( el, Ένωση Ποδοσφαιρικών Σωματείων Αθηνών) is one of the oldest am ...

with 7 goals in 1951. At the same season, he had scored and starred in the victory of Panionios by 1–2 against

. Nevertheless, Nestoridis did not spend beautiful days at Panionios. The "cliques" of the older players considered him a "foreigner" and did not miss the opportunity to fight him, while from the side of the management he was treated simply as a product, that at some point would fill the club's coffers by transferring to one of the big clubs of

POK POK, PoK, or Pok may refer to: * Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the name used by India for the portion of Kashmir under Pakistani administration * Pantoate kinase or PoK, an enzyme * P.O.K. (''Podosfairikes Omades Kentrou''), a former coalition of foot ...

AEK Athens

In 1955, AEK Athens organized a "Solidarity Cup" with the earnings of the tournament going for the completion of the projects in their stadium. Panionios participated in the tournament and after its end, their management put unbearable pressure on Nestoridis to transfer at

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 ...

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. He categorically denied and faithful to his refugee origins signed for AEK without the consent of Panionios, with the actions of the vice-president of AEK, Vasilis Sevastakis. He was punished by the HFF with a two-year ban from the competitive activities. During that period Nestoridis was boiling, with the unique happy moments being his marriage to his beloved wife, Eleni and the birth of their son. The end of his punishment and his debut with the yellow-black jersey came in September 1957. His arrival at AEK marked a period of renewal for the club. The managerial duo of the former players Tzanetis and Negrepontis took charge of the team's renewal with the likes of Maropoulos, Delavinias, Arvanitis passing the torch to the younger generation of Serafidis, Stamatiadis and Poulis, with Kanakis being the "connecting spot". "Captain Nestoras", as he was called, immediately established himself at the club and it didn't take him long enough to become a star player domestically. On the eve of a derby against Olympiacos, a photo was published, where Nestoridis was showing the up-right corner of the goalposts of

Savvas Theodoridis Savvas Theodoridis ( gr, Σάββας Θεοδωρίδης; 18 February 1935 – 17 August 2020) was a Greek football player who played as a goalkeeper for Olympiacos and the Greece national team. He was also a member of the Olympic team that ...

and saying that if AEK took the kick-off of the match, he would send the ball in that corner, from the first minute. The next day, immediately with the kick-off, Nestoridis scored a goal in the corner he had indicated in the photo. In 1960,

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

and the

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

wanted to sign him, but he refused. He scored the first hat-trick in the history of the first division on 6 December 1959 in an away match against

Panegialios Panegialios ( el, Παναιγιάλειος Γ.Σ. (''Panegialios Gymnastics Club'', referring to Aigialeia, a subprefecture covering the northeastern part of Achaea) is a football club based in Aigio, Greece. Panegialios has a long tradition i ...

. On 7 March 1961, the administration of AEK imposed a one-month ban on him, because in the match against Panionios, he showed unsportsmanlike behavior towards his colleagues and the referee, but eventually took back their decision. He is the only player to become the top scorer of the Greek championship 5 times in a row. He is one of only three players in the history of AEK who managed to score 5 goals in a single league match which he achieved on 2 June 1963 against Iraklis. He was the scorer of the first goal of AEK in the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

competitions, on 18 September 1963 in a heavy 7–2 defeat against

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, for the

European Cup 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 ...

. Until today he remains one of the club's highest scoring players, widely regarded as one of the greatest players to ever play for the yellow-blacks. He and another legend of the AEK,

Mimis Papaioannou Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou ( el, Δημήτριος "Μίμης" Παπαϊωάννου; born 23 August 1942) is a Greek former professional football player, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a former manager. His nickname w ...

, formed one of the club's most formidable goalscoring partnerships. In the 8 seasons he played for AEK, he was always the top scorer of the team with the exception of 1964, when Papaioannou surpassed him. He had scored 13 times with a direct corner kick, one of them being one of the goals the 3–3 in the play-off match against Panathinaikos on 23 June 1963, which won the title for AEK after 23 years and Nestoridis his only Greek Championship of his career. He also won with AEK a

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 ...

in 1964. In the summer of 1965, Nestoridis took the decision to leave the club, but the possible departure of Papaioannou made him reconsider his decision and stayed to the double-headed eagle for one more season, despite his advanced age.

Move to Australia and retirement

In the summer of 1966, Nestoridis left AEK after 11 years of presence and being constantly in search of a better life and a more complete professional rehabilitation he moved in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and signed for the expatriate

South Melbourne Hellas South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium. ...

, as a player–coach. Although being at the age of 36, in 1966 he managed to become the top scorer of the state championship of Victoria with 21 goals and helped his team to win the title. In all the stadiums that he played, there was always a crowd of the people of the Greek community, as well as

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

, who flocked to watch him. The following year he returned to

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 ...

to end his career at AEK, but was rejected by the then administration, due to his advanced age. He returned to Australia and Hellas Melbourne and scored another 12 goals with their jersey, this time finishing in 4th place in the league. He returned permanently in Greece in the 1967 and played for Vyzas Megara. Later in the season, he looked for a club and trained successively in Egaleo, Panionios and Ionikos. In February 1968, he signed as a player-coach for

Aias Salamina Aias Salamina Football Club (''Ajax of Salamis'' in English, el, Αίας Σαλαμίνας) is a Greek football club based in Salamina, Salamis Island. The association was founded in 1931. History In the 1960s and 1970s it played in high lea ...

, where he played in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He debuted in a 2–1 away defeat against

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

on 3 March 1968 and he scored his first goal in the match against AO Chania in 2–1 home win on 31 March 1968. He remained until 20 April, where he resigned, thus ending his great career.

International career

In 1950 Nestoridis volunteered for the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

to play for the Greek Military team, where started scoring a lot of goals and participated in the CISM Football Cup. At the end of his 2-year term, he declared another four years as recalled and remained in the army for a total of 6 years. However, in a match with against the Italian Military team in 1956, a political issue arose about how an ordinary soldier without being an officer participated in the Military team for so many years. He was then offered a job in the Air Force, but he refused and withdrew from the Military team. Nestoridis played with

a total of 17 times: 2 as a player of Panionios and 15 as a player of AEK Athens, scoring 3 goals. The number of his appearances was very little for a player of his level, as he did not have good relations with the respective selectors of the national team. He made his debut in the blue and white jersey on 14 October 1951.

Managerial career

After his playing career was over, Nestoridis officially begun his coaching career passing from the benches of various clubs such as

Paniliakos Paniliakos Football Club ( el, Πανηλειακός Α.Ο. Πύργου) is a Greek association football club based in Pyrgos, Elis, Greece. The club plays in Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of Greek football. It plays its home matches at the Pyr ...

and

, among others. In 1981 AEK Athens were in the midst of radical changes, as the great

Loukas Barlos Loukas Barlos ( el, Λουκάς Μπάρλος; 1920 – 20 October 1999) was a Greek businessman who served as the twenty third president of AEK Athens F.C. from 1974 until 1981. Early life Barlos was born and raised in Thessaloniki, but his p ...

left the club, with the ownership passing onto the hands of Andreas Zafiropoulos. At the same time, Miltos Papapostolou was removed from the technical leadership which was assigned to

Hans Tilkowski Hans Tilkowski (12 July 1935 – 5 January 2020) was a German footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for West Germany, and was a member of the team that lost the 1966 World Cup final to England. Career Born 1935 in Husen, Dortmund, ...

. The complete ignorance of the German regarding the Greek reality required the placement of an assistant next to him, with excellent knowledge and experience from the Greek football as well as the club itself, which AEK found in the person of Nestoridis. The course of the team was disappointing and after 7 wins, 6 draws and 4 defeats that left them behind in the standings, Tilkowski was sacked and replaced by the winner of the 1978 Double

Zlatko Čajkovski Zlatko "Čik" Čajkovski (24 November 1923 – 27 July 1998) was a Croatian and Yugoslavian football player and coach. His brother, Željko Čajkovski, was a footballer as well. Normally a defensive midfielder, Čajkovski was renowned for hi ...

. Nestoridis remained in the position of assistant of the new coach, being the connecting link between the previous and the current technical leadership, while also handling the situation in the team's locker rooms. The Čajkovski-Nestoridis duo somewhat fixed the situation by bringing AEK eventually in 4th place with 45 points, just 5 points from the top, however, the return of Čik at the wheel was nothing similar to his first term. In the summer of 1982, AEK were being prepared by "Čik-Nestoras" duo for the upcoming season, while the owner Zafiropoulos placed Michalis Arkadis as the club's president. The situation in the team was becoming more and more strange, as the communication between the technical leadership, the president and the major shareholder was becoming more confusing and Čajkovski showed that his advanced age made him lose any ambition for the team. In all this confusion, Nestoridis tried to do what he could by maintaining the necessary balances within the team. On 9 January 1983 the team faced a home defeat against OFI by 2–3 while the memory of the 5-goal defeat at the hands of PAOK in

Toumba Stadium Toumba Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Τούμπας) is a football stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is property of AC PAOK. The official name of the stadium is simply PAOK Stadium ( el, Στάδιο ΠΑΟΚ), but through the years it has become ...

3 games ago was still fresh. Everyone's indignation for Čik was obvious and he was removed, with Nestoridis taking over the technical leadership, as an interim as it turned out, since after about forty days

Helmut Senekowitsch Helmut Senekowitsch (; 22 October 1933 – 9 September 2007) was an Austrian football player and later a football manager. Playing career Club career He played for several clubs, including SK Sturm Graz, Real Betis and FC Wacker Innsbruck. I ...

was hired. Nestoridis, having made 3 wins and 2 draws in the away matches against Iraklis and

, delivered the club second with a little distance from the top, while he felt rather sidelined from the hiriging of the Austrian manager and temporarily resigned from the technical staff. The following summer, there were a series of reshuffles in the long-suffering AEK as the major shareholder Zafiropoulos assigned the management to the Teris Panagidis - Dimitris Roussakis duo, with the former being in charge. The Cypriot businessman, connoisseur and fan of English football immediately hired the British

John Barnwell John Barnwell (born 24 December 1938) is an English former football player and manager. He was the chief executive of the League Managers Association. Career Arsenal Born in Newcastle, Barnwell first played as an amateur for Whitley Bay and ...

as a coach. Barnwell stayed on the yellow-black bench for just 12 games and the recently fired Senekowitsch was called as his replacement. The second spell of "Seki" lasted for only 8 games in which the summary was 3 defeats, 3 draws and just 2 wins. Thus, after the two consecutive home draws, with the Apollons of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

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 ...

, the cooperation with the Austrian was terminated and Nestoridis was called to take action in the technical leadership of the club. He remained on the team's bench until the summer of 1983 and achieving 5 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats, AEK finished in 7th place, recording one of their worst appearances in the Championship.

After football

In June 2017 Nestoridis opened his football academies, under the name Nestoras FC. His wax figure is in the new

Agia Sophia Stadium The Agia Sophia Stadium (), also known by its commercial name OPAP Arena, is the home stadium of AEK Athens FC. With an all-seater capacity of 32,500, it is the largest football-only stadium and the second largest football stadium overall in Gr ...

museum with other wax effigies of people who have connected their name with AEK from various positions. His name also is honoured on one of the four pillars of the Stadum, alongside other important figures of the club's history such as Stelios Serafeidis, Mimis Papaioannou and Thomas Mavros.

Personal life

Nestoridis lives in

with his wife, Eleni and their son, Giorgos, maintains a Pro-Po business. He had health problems and now avoids publicity. On 16 March 2022 he was tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and was hospitalized at Sotiria General Hospital, from where he tried to escape, but a few days later he recovered and got out 5 days later.

Style of play

From a young age Nestoridis was gifted with an innate and unrepeatable talent, that of absolute "communication" with the ball. As a little boy, without being introduced or taught anything, Nestoridis showed from the beginning that there was a magical relationship between the ball and himself, with his magic touch. Those who saw Nestoridis in action had something to say about his elaborate actions. They talked about a balancing craftsman who acrobatically leaned on one of his legs and with bursts of speed and waist fractures disoriented any opponent who aspired to stop him. When the time came for the execution, he was unbeatable. The ball seemed to obediently follow the course ordered by Nestoridis, drawing tracks inconceivable to the common sense. He was a specialist in free-kicks and corner kicks, having scored 17 goals from direct corner kicks. He used to announce the way he would maneuver and send the ball with the final shot. And it was verified to such an extent that it "forced" the fan of Olympiacos and great laïko musician, Vangelis Perpiniadis to write and sing the success of the time: ''"And like Nestoridis, no one will be, to say where the ball will be sent.” ( el, “Και σαν τον Νεστορίδη κανένας δεν θα βγεί,να λέει πως η μπάλα εκεί θα καρφωθεί.”)''.

Career statistics

Club

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - ! colspan=3 , Club performance ! colspan=2 , League ! colspan=2 , Regional ! colspan=2 , Cup ! colspan=2 , Continental ! colspan=2 , Total , - ! Season !! Club !! League ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals , - , - ! colspan=3 , Greece ! colspan=2 , League ! colspan=2 , AFCA League ! colspan=2 ,

! colspan=2 ,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

! colspan=2 , Total , - , 1948–49 , rowspan=7,

, rowspan=11,

Panhellenic Championship 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 ...

, 0, , 0, , 4, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 4, , 2 , - , 1949–50 , 0, , 0, , 14, , 4, , 1, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 15, , 5 , - , 1950–51 , 3, , 0, , 9, , 7, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 14, , 7 , - , 1951–52 , 0, , 0, , 10, , 4, , 7, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 17, , 5 , - , 1952–53 , 0, , 0, , 8, , 5, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 10, , 5 , - , 1953–54 , 0, , 0, , 10, , 3, , 4, , 3, , 0, , 0, , 14, , 6 , - , 1954–55 , 0, , 0, , 5, , 1, , 3, , 3, , 0, , 0, , 8, , 4 , - , 1955–56 , rowspan=11,

, 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 1956–57 , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 1957–58 , 22, , 11, , 11, , 8, , 4, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 37, , 22 , - , 1958–59 , 18, , 21, , 8, , 4, , 5, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 31, , 26 , - , 1959–60 , rowspan=7,

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 ...

, 28, , 32, , 0, , 0, , 6, , 10, , 0, , 0, , 34, , 43 , - , 1960–61 , 28, , 27, , 0, , 0, , 5, , 13, , 4, , 4, , 37, , 44 , - , 1961–62 , 29, , 29, , 0, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 30, , 29 , - , 1962–63 , 30, , 24, , 0, , 0, , 3, , 4, , 0, , 0, , 33, , 28 , - , 1963–64 , 24, , 10, , 0, , 0, , 3, , 4, , 2, , 1, , 29, , 15 , - , 1964–65 , 26, , 17, , 0, , 0, , 2, , 2, , 2, , 1, , 30, , 20 , - , 1965–66 , 3, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 3, , 1 , - ! colspan=3 , Australia ! colspan=4 , League ! colspan=4 , Australia Cup ! colspan=2 , Total , - , 1966 , rowspan=2,

, rowspan=2,

Victorian State League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

, ??, , 21, , colspan=2, —, , 0, , 0, , colspan=2, —, , ??, , 21 , - , 1967 , ??, , 12, , colspan=2, —, , 0, , 0, , colspan=2, —, , ??, , 11 , - ! colspan=3 , Greece ! colspan=2 , League ! colspan=2 , AFCA League ! colspan=2 ,

! colspan=2 ,

! colspan=2 , Total , - , 1967–68 , Vyzas ,

, 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 2, , 0 , - , 1967–68 ,

, Beta Ethniki , 7, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - ! colspan=3 , Career total !220, , 207, , 79, , 38, , 48, , 44, , 8, , 6, , 355, , 295 : a. Also includes the games for the Balkans Cup. : b. Also includes the games for the play-off matches.

International

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - ! National team ! Season ! Apps ! Goals , - , rowspan=8,

, 1951 , 1 , 0 , - , 1955 , 1 , 0 , - , 1956 , 1 , 0 , - , 1957 , 6 , 2 , - , 1958 , 2 , 0 , - , 1959 , 1 , 0 , - , 1960 , 3 , 0 , - , 1962 , 1 , 1 , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 17 ! 3

Summary

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" , - ! Club!!Competition!!Apps!!Goals , - , rowspan="5",

, - , EPSA, , 60, , 26 , - ,

, , 3, , 0 , - ,

, , 19, , 8 , - , , Total, , 82, , 34 , - , rowspan="8",

, - , EPSA, , 19, , 12 , - ,

, , 40, , 33 , - ,

, , 167, , 141 , - ,

, , 29, , 36 , - ,

, , 4, , 4 , - ,

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, , 4, , 2 , - , Total, , 263, , 228 , - ,

, Total, , 41, , 33 , - , rowspan="2", Vyzas ,

, , 2, , 0 , - , Total, , 2, , 0 , - , rowspan="2",

, Beta Ethniki, , 7, , 2 , - , Total, , 7, , 2 , - , rowspan="6",

, International friendlies, , 3, , 1 , - ,

Mediterranean Cup On 11 July 1998 the first ever 13 a side rugby league match was played between Italia and Lebanon, which took place at Leichhardt Oval - Sydney - Australia, the match was known as 'The Mediterranean Cup'. A crowd of almost 10,000 watched as these ...

, , 4, , 1 , - ,

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

, , 5, , 1 , - ,

UEFA European Championship qualifying The UEFA European Championship qualifying, branded as the European Qualifiers, is the process that UEFA-affiliated national football teams go through in order to qualify for the UEFA European Championship. In this article, the years represent t ...

, , 5, , 0 , - , Pre Olympic tournament, , 3, , 0 , - , Total, , 17, , 3 , - ! colspan="2", Career Total!!412!!299

Honours

AEK Athens *

: 1962–63 *

: 1963–64 South Melbourne *

: 1966 Individual *Greek Championship top scorer: 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61 1961–62, 1962–63 *Greek Cup top scorer: 1959–60, 1960–61 *Victorian State League top scorer: 1966

Records

*First player to score 5 goals in a single Greek league match. He scored all the goals for his team in the 5–0 at home against Iraklis on 2 June 1963. *Most Greek championship top scorer awards: 5 (from

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

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 ...

, shared with

Antonis Antoniadis Antonis Antoniadis (Greek: Αντώνης Αντωνιάδης, born 25 May 1946) is a former Greek footballer. He scored 243 goals during his 22-years long career. He started his career in 1964 playing for Aspida Xanthi before moving to Pan ...

) *Most consecutive Greek championship top scorer awards: 5 (from

)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nestoridis, Kostas 1930 births Living people Greek footballers Greece international footballers Greek expatriate footballers AEK Athens F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. managers South Melbourne FC players Greek football managers Panionios F.C. players Vyzas F.C. players Super League Greece players Expatriate soccer players in Australia South Melbourne FC managers Association football forwards Footballers from Drama, Greece