Christos Karipidis (; born 2 December 1982) 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 lea ...

who played as a

centre 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 ...

. Managerial career from

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

(

Technical director A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. They are responsible for overseeing and coordinating all of the technical aspect ...

)

Club career

Early Career (PAOK, Kerkyra and Kavala)

Karipidis started his career in U20 PAOK in 2000 to be promoted the next season in the first team.

has given him 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 ...

(2001–2002) and to

Kerkyra Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is admin ...

(2002–2003). He returned to PAOK, where he stayed until 2006 (69 appearances, 3 goals in all competitions) when he made the big step to play abroad accepting the proposal of Hearts.

Hearts

He joined Hearts from

on 3 August 2006 for a fee of around £200,000. Karipidis made his Hearts debut against

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 ...

in a third-round

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifier at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

on 9 August 2006 in a defensive midfield role, Hearts lost the game 2–1. In August 2008 Karipidis looked set for a return to his former club

following an indifferent start to his Hearts career and the birth of his daughter. Hearts negotiated a fee in the region of £200,000 as they looked to recoup the fee they paid to sign him from the Greek club 2 years earlier and he was offered a four-year deal by PAOK. However, newly appointed manager Csaba László convinced Karipidis to stay and decided to use him as a holding midfielder, an idea which was initially met with a negative reaction by Hearts fans. Karipidis himself insisted he was happy to play anywhere László decided. Despite having played most of his career as either a central defender or occasionally a right-back Karipidis performed well in his new role, prompting László to say "Karipidis, at the moment, is the discovery of the year in the number six position." In February 2009, captain Christophe Berra signed for

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

and Karipidis was made Hearts'

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the re ...

after teammate Robbie Neilson was given the captaincy. On 27 April 2009 Hearts announced that Karipidis had a pre-contract agreement with

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia (; ''Athlitikós Sýllogos Omónoia Lefkosías''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (also transliterated as Omonoia), is a Cypriot professional multi-sport club, established on 4 June 1948 in Nico ...

which would see him join the Cypriot side on a three-year deal at the end of the season. He stated that although he had enjoyed his time in Scotland, the move was motivated by his desire to be closer to his home and relatives in Greece. His final appearance at Tynecastle came in a 3–0 victory over

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

which confirmed Hearts' place in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

for the following season and third place in the SPL. He was replaced by Jason Thomson in the closing stages of the match and received a standing ovation from the Hearts fans.

Cyprus (Omonia / APOEL / Apollon)

Omonia announced the signing of Karipidis on 1 June 2009. His first season wasn't good enough with Christos having problems to settle, but he had a solid second season and he became the defensive leader of the team. After the end of the season he was named new season's vice captain. On 22 August 2012, his contract at Omonia terminated by mutual consent. On 26 August 2012, Karipidis signed a two-year contract with APOEL. At the end of the season, he became a champion after helping APOEL to win the

2012–13 Cypriot First Division The 2012–13 Cypriot First Division was the 74th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. It began on 1 September 2012 and ended on 19 May 2013. AEL Limassol were the defending champions. APOEL won the championship two matchweeks before ...

. On 10 July 2013, his contract with APOEL was mutually terminated. On 11 July 2013, Karipidis signed a one-year contract with the option of a further season 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 ...

Rerurn to Greece

After five years playing among the top clubs in Cyprus, Karipidis returned to Greece signing a two years' contract with

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

. After two years he mutually settled his contract with the club. On 4 June 2016, he signed a year contract with

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platani ...

for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Karipidis was a part of the Greece football squad at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, but he did not play a single minute in the competition. Karipidis had a good start with the 2008-09 season former Hearts player and current technical director of the

Hellenic Football Federation The Hellenic Football Federation (HFF), (), is the governing body of football in Greece. It contributes in the organisation of Super League Greece 2. It is also responsible for the organization of the Greek Cup, Gamma Ethniki (3rd ranked men's f ...

, when

Takis Fyssas Takis Fyssas (, born 12 June 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left back. After his retirement he served as the sporting director of the Greece national team. From 1999 to 2007, he earned 60 caps for the Greece n ...

announced that Karipidis was in the plans of the Greece national team.

Personal life

He hails from Anagennisi,

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

Honours

; Omonia *

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 ...

: 1 :: 2009–10 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

: 2 ::

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12 *

LTV Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 1 ::2010 ; APOEL *

: 1 :: 2012–13

References

External links

APOEL official profile
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karipidis, Hristos 1982 births Living people Men's association football defenders Footballers from Thessaloniki Olympic footballers for Greece Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Greek men's footballers Greek expatriate men's footballers Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus PAOK FC players Kavala F.C. players A.O. Kerkyra players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players AC Omonia players APOEL FC players Apollon Limassol FC players Xanthi F.C. players Platanias F.C. players PAS Lamia 1964 players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Scottish Premier League players PAOK FC non-playing staff 21st-century Greek sportsmen