Alekos Sofianidis (, ; 3 August 1933 – 6 July 2010) was a Greek 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 lea ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

and a later manager. Born in Turkey, he represented Greece internationally.

Club career

Born in the

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

district of

Istanbul Province Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Sofianidis began his career at

Beyoğluspor Beyoğlu Spor Kulübü, also known as the Beyoğlu Sports Club, or by its historic Greek name of Athlitikós Sýllogos Péran (), or Pera Sports Club, is an amateur sports club based in Istanbul, Turkey. It fields teams in football, basketball, ...

, based in the city of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. Fast and dynamic, he played on the left wing of the football team's attack and attracted the interest of the big football teams of Istanbul. He was transferred to

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

in 1948 and in 1950 he won

Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League () was founded as a regional association football, football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empire, ...

. A great sports fan and lover of sports, he also participated in the Besiktas basketball team, but giving priority to his football obligations. The events of the September 1955 and the difficult period that followed for the Hellenism of Istanbul, affected deeply Sofianidis who started thinking of relocating to his

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. As a result, he began to correspond with the agent of

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

, Giorgos Tranopoulos with the exclusive subject of concern, to transfer him to the club of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. With Beşiktaş, he won 3 Istanbul leagues and 2 Federation Cups, competing at boht legs in the first round of the

1958–59 European Cup The 1958–59 European Cup was the fourth season of the European Cup, Europe's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Real Madrid, who beat Reims 2–0 in the final at Neckarstadion, Stuttgart, on 3 June 1959. This was Real ...

, against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. On Saturday 17 January 1959, AEK eventually submitted the sport's card of Sofianidis to the HFF and at the same time started negotiating with the TFF for the release of the player, so he can participate in the matches of the yellow-blacks. Sofianidis played only in friendly matches until the agreement with the Turks was reached and he was integrated into the team's roster in 1959 season, which coincided with the start of the first championship with a national division in Greek football. The arrival of

Jenő Csaknády Jenő Csaknády (20 September 1924 – 7 January 2001) was a Hungarian football manager. Csaknády studied football at the Budapest Sports Academy for 8 semesters, while for 8 years he was the coach of the Hungarian team Czepel. He wrote a boo ...

on the bench of AEK in 1962 also brought about a change of position for Sofianidis, since the Hungarian-German coach relocated him to the position of left wing-back, where Sofianidis spent the rest of his career standing out as one of the best footballers to ever play that position. In 1968, when AEK played against Fenerbahçe in the

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

in 1968, Sofianidis did not accompany his club to Istanbul as he would have been liable for arrest by the Turkish authorities for not fulfill his military obligations. With the shirt of AEK he won 2

Championships 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 sys ...

, as well as the 2 Greek Cups, while he was a key member of the squad that reached the

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

of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

in 1969. In the summer of 1969 he left AEK and played for the

Panachaiki Panachaiki G.E. (Greek: Παναχαϊκή Γυμναστική Ένωση, ''Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi'', "Pan- Achaean Gymnastic Union") is a Greek multi-sport club based in the city of Patras, Greece. The history of Panachaiki began in 1891, ...

for a season, before his retirement.

International career

Sofianidis represented the Turkey B, in a friendly 1–0 win over

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

on 20 May 1957. Sofianidis was capped by

seven times. He played his first national game on 15 November 1959 against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. His last game for Greece was against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

on 10 May 1967.

Managerial career

Sofianidis coached several Greek youth teams following his retirement from football in 1970. He was appointed as the manager of

in 1988. His first game was on 15 November 1988 against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, where Greece won by 3–0. Greece played 7 times with Sofianidis as their manager, winning 3, drawing 1, and losing 3. He was also manager during the infamous friendly match between Greece and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on 29 March 1989, losing 1–0. That was also his last game with the national team.

Personal life

Sofianidis was a gymnastics teacher by profession. He had a pool's agency in Athens on Agios Meletios Street. He died on 6 July 2010 after a long battle with cancer at age 76.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Besiktas *

: 1949–50, 1950–51,

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, 1953–54 *

Turkish Federation Cup The Turkish Federation Cup () was the first professional national football league in Turkey and the predecessor to the Super League. It was organized by the Turkish Football Federation and was held in order to bring forth a national champion that wo ...

: 1956–57, 1957–58 AEK Athens *

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 1962–63, 1967–68 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 1963–64, 1965–66

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sofianidis, Alekos 1933 births 2010 deaths Greek men's footballers Greece men's international footballers Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's B international footballers Turkish people of Greek descent Beyoğluspor footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers AEK Athens F.C. players Panachaiki F.C. players Footballers from Istanbul Super League Greece players Süper Lig players Constantinopolitan Greeks Men's association football defenders Panelefsiniakos F.C. managers Turkish football managers Atromitos F.C. managers Turkish expatriate football managers People from Beyoğlu 20th-century Turkish sportsmen 20th-century Greek sportsmen