Anastasios 'Tasos' Avlonitis (; born 1 January 1990) is 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 plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Super League 2 Stones Bitter Super League II was the official name for the year 1997's Super League championship season, the 103rd season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the second to be played in summer. Teams Twelve teams were ...

club

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''), ...

Club career

Early career

Avlonitis started as an amateur in his hometown team Chalkineo Evias in which he played in the local league. In 2007, he was signed to

Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( ) is a town and a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens urban area, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo, whose name comes from the words αίγα/a ...

, which for three seasons played in

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. In the 2008–09 season he was loaned to

Ilisiakos Ilisiakos Football Club () is an Athens-based Association football, football club that was founded in 1927 by Michalis Xydis, Lambropoulos, Evgenopoulos, Nikolaos Plessas, ''et al.''. They played in Delta Ethiniki until 2003. Ilisiakos spent the ma ...

. In 2010, he signed to

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

, where he played the 2010–11 season. After the involvement of the club President Psomiadis in a match-fixing scandal, Avlonitis was released and signed a contract with

Olympiacos

In July 2014,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

announced the transfer of Avlonitis from former club

for a fee of around €670,000. On his first derby game against

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

, on 26 October 2014, Avlonitis scored the winning goal for Olympiacos, as they beat Panathinaikos 1–0 at home. His next goal came against

Panthrakikos Panthrakikos Football Club () is a Greek football club based in Komotini, Thrace in North Eastern Greece founded in 1963. The club competed in Super League Greece during the 2008–09 season for the first time. History Early years (1963–2001) ...

in a 5–1 home win. On 30 January 2015, the Austrian club

Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian professional association football club, based in Graz, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austr ...

have expressed an interest to sign

defender on loan. The Greek defender is not in

Marco Silva Marco Alexandre Saraiva da Silva (; born 12 July 1977) is a Portuguese Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a right-back. He is the manager of club Fulham F.C., Fulham. He played fo ...

's plans and Sturm Graz are moving towards to clinch a loan deal until the end of the season. Eventually, the central defender will continue his career in Austria for

, on loan until the end of 2015–16 season. On 6 February 2016, he made his debut with the club in a 2–2 away draw against

Altach Altach is a municipality in the district of Feldkirch, in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Neighboring municipalities Five other municipalities surround Altach: Hohenems in the district of Dornbirn, Götzis and Mäder in the dist ...

. On 1 September 2016, he mutually solved his contract with

Heart of Midlothian

On 30 January 2017, Avlonitis signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club, Heart of Midlothian on a six-month deal running until the end of the 2016–17 season. On 22 May 2017, Avlonitis was released by the club, following the end of the Premiership season.

Panathinaikos

On 11 September 2017, Avlonitis signed a two years contract with

Superleague Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

club

for an undisclosed fee. In the first half of the 2016–17 season, the central defender was bright in for defensive cover and has found first team minutes hard to come by since arriving but when called upon he has demonstrated he can be trusted. Given his lack of playing time it is hard to judge but he is expected to feature more often in the second half of the season after the probable departure of Rodrigo Moledo.

Sturm Graz

In April 2018, Avlonitis signed a two-year contract with his former club

, in which he played on loan from Olympiacos in the second half of the 2015–16 season. He had previously terminated his contract with

at his own request. On 9 August 2018, he played his first international game as a starter in a 2–0 home loss for UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round, 1st leg game against

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC (, "Athletic Union Kition (ancient state), Kition of Larnaca") is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional association football, football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EP ...

. On 21 September 2019, he scored his first goal with the club with a kick after a

Kiril Despodov Kiril Vasilev Despodov (; born 11 November 1996) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays primarily as a winger for Super League Greece club PAOK and the Bulgaria national team, which he captains. Despodov made his way through the you ...

's corner in an away 3–3 draw against

SV Mattersburg SV Mattersburg was an Austrian association football club from Mattersburg, Burgenland. History The club was formed in 1922 and played its home games at the 17,100 capacity Pappelstadion. The club played in the Bundesliga The Bunde ...

. The Greek defender, who has been irreplaceable this season in Sturm Graz's backline, produced a cheeky back-heel assist to register his second assist of the season. As a result of his excellent form, was included in the Best XI for matchday 18 in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. On 28 December 2019,

revealed their Team of the Decade, with Avlonitis and Charalampos Lykogiannis both included in the starting 11.

Ascoli

On 21 September 2020, he joined Italian club Ascoli on a 2-year contract.

Apollon Limassol

On 27 January 2022, he signed a 1.5-year contract with

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

in Cyprus.

Panserraikos

In January 2023, Avlonitis signed for Panserraikos to help the team return to the

International career

He was also a former Greece under-19 and Greece under-21 international.

Career statistics

Honours

Olympiacos *

Super League Greece 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 ...

: 2014–15 *

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 ...

: 2014–15 Apollon Limassol *

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

: 2021–22

Individual

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

Team of the Year: 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avlonitis, Anastasios 1990 births Living people Greek men's footballers Greece men's youth international footballers Egaleo F.C. players Ilisiakos F.C. players Kavala F.C. players Panionios F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players SK Sturm Graz players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players Apollon Limassol FC players Panserraikos F.C. players Super League Greece players Scottish Professional Football League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Serie B players Footballers from Chalcis Men's association football central defenders Greek expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Greek expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Greek expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Greek expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 21st-century Greek sportsmen