Nikolaos "Nikos" Georgeas ( el, Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Γεωργέας, born 27 December 1976) is a Greek 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

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 ...

. He is the current administrative director of AEK Athens Academy.

Club career

Georgeas started his football career at the Mani Platsa club. At the age of 19 he joined the team of Black Storm. Georgeas spent almost his entire career playing 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 ...

. Fans have a lot of respect on him, because of his passion and love in AEK Athens' badge after spending 12 years at the club. On May 26, 2008 Georgeas signed a new 2-year contract which will keep him at the club until 2010. Georgeas is also regarded to be one of the club's most loyal players and was voted in the top 10 legend list of AEK Athens history. In the 2010/11 season, Georgeas scored his first goal for the club after spending 12 years at the club and scored against Ergotelis in a 2-3 away win. Georgeas also scored his second goal for the club just weeks later, against Larissa. Next year, his coach Nikos Kostenoglou wanted to utilize his talent and experience, something that led Kostenoglou to try Georgeas in a new position; as a defensive midfielder. Georgeas, who the previous season did not make AEK's starting eleven, tried to meet the expectations of his team coach and managed to be proved as a tool, as he could play in more than one position. Moreover, he was chosen to be the captain in some games being the oldest player in the team. In July 2012, Georgeas' contract with AEK ended, bringing to a close a 12 years at the club.

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 ...

was the next stop in his career, counting 18 appearances and several of them as team captain. After the end of the one-year contract with Veria, AEK decided to bring back Nikos Georgeas to play in the third division. He was considered one of the leaders in AEK's effort to return to the Super League. At the end of the 2014-15 season, with AEK Athens being promoted to the first division, Georgeas decided to finish his career in his favourite team. He is famous for the chant that AEK fans have dedicated to him, with the lyrics "Georgea, Georgea, ta fyta stin

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...

einai oraia!" ('' el, "Γεωργέα, Γεωργέα, τα φυτά στην Καλαμάτα είναι ωραία!"''), which means "Georgeas, Georgeas, (the) plants in Kalamata are nice!", a reference to the footballer's birthplace, Kalamata, in southern Greece, and to the

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

produced widely in the area. In 2015, Georgeas retired from professional football.

After football

Since September 2019, Georgeas has been heading the administration of the AEK Academy together with Konstantinos Papapostolou.

Controversy

Veria vs Olympiacos

Additional suspects include Veria Director of Football Giorgos Lanaris and former owner Giorgos Arvanitidis, regarding 6 January 2013 match of

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σ.Φ.Π. ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, Attica. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP ('' ...

against

Veria F.C. 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 ...

Veria player Nikolaos Georgeas and club's manager Dimitris Kalaitzidis at the time, testified in March 2015 that Lanaris following Arvanitidis orders demanded from Veria players to lose with a 3–0 score, which eventually happened. According to Andreadis, both Marinakis and Arvanitidis had agreed on the match fixing. Veria player Alexandros Kalogeris confirmed Georgeas' testimony, at the Athens court houses, that he entered the game in the second half after being instructed by the team manager to lose the game 3-0. The scandal has seen revelations about a series of dramatic events including phone tapping by Greece's intelligence agency, the involvement of Interpol, the bombing of a referee's premises, and a row erupting between the new Greek government and

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 ...

and FIFA. Football violence has also spiralled out of control, with riot police regularly seen on the pitch. However, despite the long-running investigation into match-fixing, no one has yet been jailed. Five people have been sentenced to time in prison but were subsequently freed on appeal. Charges against a number of the accused have been dropped and there are fears that, like so many other investigations in Greece, they will fizzle out.

Career statistics

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - ! colspan=3 , Club performance ! colspan=2 , League ! colspan=2 , Cup¹ ! colspan=2 , Continental ! colspan=2 , Total , - ! Season !! Club !! League ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals ! Apps !! Goals , - , - ! colspan=3 , Greece ! colspan=2 , League ! colspan=2 ,

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 ...

! 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 subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

! colspan=2 , Total , - , rowspan=2, 1995–96 ,

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 ...

, 0, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 1, , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, Beta Ethniki , 19, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 21, , 0 , - , 1996–97 , rowspan=5,

, rowspan=2,

, 19, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 21, , 0 , - , 1997–98 , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 1998–99 , Beta Ethniki , 13, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 14, , 0 , - , 1999–00 , rowspan=2,

, 28, , 1, , 8, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 36, , 1 , - , rowspan=2, 2000–01 , 5, , 0, , 9, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 14, , 0 , - , rowspan=12,

, rowspan=6,

, 9, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 9, , 0 , - , 2001–02 , 21, , 0, , 12, , 0, , 8, , 0, , 41, , 0 , - , 2002–03 , 16, , 0, , 8, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 26, , 0 , - , 2003–04 , 12, , 0, , 4, , 0, , 6, , 0, , 22, , 0 , - , 2004–05 , 6, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 9, , 0 , - , 2005–06 , 25, , 0, , 5, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 30, , 0 , - , 2006–07 , rowspan=6, Super League , 12, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 7, , 0, , 20, , 0 , - , 2007–08 , 8, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 8, , 0 , - , 2008–09 , 24, , 0, , 5, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 29, , 0 , - , 2009–10 , 16, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 5, , 0, , 22, , 0 , - ,

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. ...

, 12, , 1, , 4, , 1, , 1, , 0, , 17, , 2 , - , 2011–12 , 27, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 4, , 0, , 33, , 0 , - ,

2012–13 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. I ...

, Super League , 18, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 18, , 0 , - , 2013–14 ,

, Football League 2 , 26, , 0, , 4, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 30, , 1 , - , 2014–15 ,

, Football League , 11, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 11, , 0 , - ! colspan=3 , Career total !327, , 2, , 70, , 2, , 35, , 0, , 432, , 4 ¹ Includes 4 caps and 1 goal in the semi-pro Football League 2 Cup.

Honours

;AEK Athens F.C. *

: 2001–02,

* Football League: 2014–15 * Football League 2: 2013–14 (6th Group) ;Individual *Best Super League Greece Team: 2011–12

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgeas, Nikolaos 1976 births Living people Greek footballers Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players AEK Athens F.C. players Kalamata F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Veria F.C. players AEK F.C. non-playing staff Association football defenders Footballers from Kalamata