Christos Sielis (; born 2 February 2000) is a Cypriot 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

Greek Super League 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 ...

club

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club (), or with its full name officially romanized as Panaitolikós Gymnastikós Filekpaideftikós Sýllogos (''; Pan- Aetolian Gymnastic and Educational Club''), is a Greek professional football club. It is based in Agrini ...

and the Cyprus national team.

Early career

Sielis was born in

Paphos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: #Old Paphos, Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and #New Paphos, New Paphos. It i ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. He joined the

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

academy in

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 youngster, before moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and subsequently joining the youth set-up at

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. He was signed to the

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

youth academy towards the end of the 2016–17 season on the recommendation of former Grimsby manager

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he was a left back from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, bar a brief loan spell with Burton Albion i ...

Club career

Shrewsbury Town

Sielis travelled with the Shrewsbury Town first-team squad to a training camp in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and featured regularly during the 2017–18 pre-season. Whilst still a second year scholar, he signed a two-year professional contract with the club on 3 October 2017, and made his professional debut on the same day against West Bromwich Albion U21s in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

group-stage match. In the same competition on 7 November at home to local rivals

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, he made a last-minute error that allowed the opponents to score the only goal of the game. He was supported by captain

Mat Sadler Mathew John Sadler (born 26 February 1985) is an English former professional footballer who is currently head coach of Walsall. He played as a left-footed defender, capable of playing either at full-back or as a centre-back. Sadler played in ...

in the aftermath.

Halesowen Town

On 21 September 2018, Sielis was loaned for a month to

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...

in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

Premier Division Central. He played five total games during his time in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, and scored his first career goal from a long-distance run in a 3–0 win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

in the

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a regional Association football, football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest County Football Association, count ...

APOEL

Sielis was released by Shrewsbury in May 2019. On 5 June, he signed for

APOEL APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

back in his native Cyprus, on a three-year contract.

Levski Sofia

After rescinding his contract with APOEL, Sielis signed a two-year deal with Bulgarian powerhouse

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

Volos

Following a managerial change at Levski Sofia, Sielis rescinded his contract with the Bulgarian club in January 2022. He then joined the Greek side

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

International career

Sielis has represented

at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. He made his senior debut in a friendly against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

on 7 October 2020.

Personal life

Sielis has two older brothers,

Giorgos Giorgos, Yiorgos or Yorgos () is a common abbreviation of the given name Georgios. Notable people with the name include: Persons Giorgos * Giorgos Aftias, Greek journalist and politician * Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer * Giorgos Alka ...

and

Valentinos Valentinos () is a Greek male given name, equivalent to the English name Valentine. People with this given name include: * Valentinos Sielis (born 1990; ), Cypriot soccer player * Valentinos Vlachos (born 1992; ), Greek soccer player See als ...

, who are also footballers.

Career statistics

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelis, Christos 2000 births Living people Cypriot men's footballers Cyprus men's youth international footballers Cyprus men's under-21 international footballers Cyprus men's international footballers Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players APOEL FC players PFC Levski Sofia players Volos F.C. players Southern Football League players Cypriot First Division players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Super League Greece players Men's association football defenders Expatriate men's footballers in England Cypriot expatriate men's footballers 21st-century Cypriot sportsmen Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Greece Sportspeople from Paphos Panetolikos F.C. players