Efstathios "Stathis" Tavlaridis (; born 25 January 1980) 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 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 ...

. His aggressive style of play earned him the nickname "Taureau" (The Bull) among French supporters.

Club career

England

Tavlaridis was born in

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 ...

. He started his career at Iraklis, debuting at the age of 17, and was transferred to

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 ...

in 2001 for £1m. He never fully broke into the first team, unable to displace

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. Widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, he spent 20 years playing in the Premier League and had a ...

and

Kolo Touré Kolo Abib Touré (born 19 March 1981) is an Ivorian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player. He most recently managed then-Championship club Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic. Beginning his career as a ...

, and was loaned to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

as a result. There, he made four appearances as ''Pompey'' won the First Division Championship and promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. He made eight appearances for Arsenal, all but one of them in the League Cup. He made his

debut in 2002–03 season against Southampton, where Arsenal rested many of their players for the upcoming FA Cup Final, also against Southampton.

Lille

On 29 April 2004, Tavlaridis was transferred from

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

on a four-year contract after having been loaned there early in the year. In his spell with the club he continually created a great deal of interest and attention from several other teams. With regard to Tavlaridis's time at Lille, he has regularly featured within both Champions League and

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

games for Les Dogues. His debut was in the first leg of a Champions League tie against AEK at the

Stade Pierre-Mauroy The Stade Pierre-Mauroy (), also known as the Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre-Mauroy for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use retractable roof stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (Métropole Européenne de Lille) in Northern France, that opened in Augus ...

in October 2006, of which eventually finished 3–1 to the hosts. All in all, Tavlaridis in 2011 described his spell with Lille as "the most beautiful page of his career".

Saint-Étienne

Despite being linked with a hosts of

clubs, notably

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, Tavlaridis announced that he was signing with

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

for €2.5m after agreeing to a three-year deal with the club. Tavlaridis was handed the number 4 shirt and quickly inserted into the first eleven forming partnerships with

Moustapha Bayal Sall Moustapha Bayal Sall (born 30 November 1985) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Jordanian club Al Faisaly SC. At international level, he has represented Senegal, earning 29 caps and scoring one goal. Playing ...

. Tavlaridis made his debut against his former club

and was applauded by the Lille home fans. Tavlaridis got off to a great start for the 2007–08 season scoring his first goal with

in a 2–1 victory over

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

the following week. Tavlaridis was contract in the summer of 2009 with

and a number of

clubs were at the time believed to be prepared to offer him a route back to England. With this being so, he was named as the club's permanent captain by manager

Alain Perrin Alain André Christian Perrin (; born 7 October 1956) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. Perrin made his managerial breakthrough at Troyes AC, Troyes, whom he took from t ...

following the first league match of the

2009–10 Ligue 1 The 2009–10 Ligue 1 season was the 72nd since its establishment. Bordeaux were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 5 June 2009, and play commenced on 8 August and ended on 15 May 2010. There were three promoted teams from L ...

season, after having served as vice-captain the previous season. Tavlaridis was removed as captain shortly due to his long-term injury. This move saw his playing time reduced, where he played only six more matches in that season for Saint-Étienne. Tavlaridis in all made 69 appearances for the Ligue 1 team, scoring twice.

AEL

On 30 April 2010, AEL announced that an agreement had been reached with the 29-year-old centre-back who would join the club in the summer on a free transfer, when his contract with les Verts had been finally wound down. Nicknamed 'Taureau' in France because of his bullish style of play, the Greek was initially a success in

with

and then

, though he fell out of favour at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard earlier in the season under head coach

. When the former Lyon boss was axed, Tavlaridis had an immediate chance to impress under

Christophe Galtier Christophe Galtier (; born 23 August 1966) is a French professional football manager and former player who recently was the head coach of Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail. A defender, Galtier spent many of his 15 years as a player at Marseille ...

, though his red card against Marseille ten minutes into Galtier's first game in charge effectively ended his first team career with les Verts. Tavlaridis signed a four-year deal. On 9 August 2011, however, Tavlaridis terminated his contract, following the team's relegation to the

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 ...

OFI

On 24 August 2011, Tavlaridis signed a one-year contract for OFI, who then were newly promoted to the

Greek Superleague 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 ...

. The ex-footballer and president of the club

Nikos Machlas Nikos Machlas (, born 16 June 1973) is a retired Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career OFI Crete Machlas began his career with OFI, where he made his debut in February 1991 against Panionios. He stayed at th ...

wanted to add to the roster a very experienced defender, who could also play the role of the defence leader. The annual salary was fixed to €150,000. However, due to the club's financial difficulties and payment inconsistencies, he decided to leave the club on 24 April 2012, before the 2011–12 campaign for OFI was over.

Atromitos

On 2 June 2012, Tavlaridis agreed to sign for

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou Atromitos Yeroskipou () was a Cy ...

. In February 2014, Tavlaridis agreed to extend his contract till June 2016.

Panathinaikos

In December 2014, Atromitos announced that Tavlaridis was transferred to Panathinaikos. Tavlaridis was delighted to sign with Panathinaikos, the team which he supported in his youth. On 11 January 2015, he scored his first goal in a match against

Ergotelis Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the Heraklion Football Clubs Association, FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, ...

. It was his second appearance with the team and the first in its home ground Leoforos. Tavlaridis with Panathinaikos also scored in the game with

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

in Touba for playoffs brought the club to practically within one point from clinching a spot in next season's

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 ...

qualifiers. Moreover, Tavlaridis has joined a star-studded array of international active and retired players for the 12th Annual Match Against Poverty which will take place on 20 April at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, France. He will play along

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, also prevalent in other Romance countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: Association footballe ...

and

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

all of them UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, for a match against an

All Stars team to help boost Ebola recovery efforts. On 30 December 2015, Tavlaridis verbally agreeing to renew his contract with the Greens until the summer of 2017 and promising that, in January, he would put pen to paper, which he eventually did five days later. On 19 June 2016, Tavlaridis is not considered among Andrea Stramaccioni's plans. Panathinaikos tried to offload him over the summer but the Greek defender did not manage to find a club to continue playing. On 12 January 2017, Tavlaridis was another footballer (after

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian Association football, football coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach at Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland. During his prime he was regarded as on ...

, Rasmus Thelander, Jens Wemmer and Niklas Hult) in eight months to file an appeal against Panathinaikos over delayed payments. In his appeal, Tavlaridis claimed for an amount that covered his compensation during his career an the club. On 11 May 2017, the committee of the Greek Football Federation's financial disputes gave the player the amount of €272,000.

Aris

On 2 February 2017,

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

announced the signing of Tavlaridis, who had been recently released from Panathinaikos, until the summer of 2018.

International career

Tavlaridis managed to play only twice for

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 ...

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

, having fallen out of favor with coach

Otto Rehhagel Otto Rehhagel (; born 9 August 1938) is a German former Association football, football coach and player. Rehhagel is one of only two people who, as player and manager combined, has participated in over 1,000 Bundesliga matches (the other bein ...

as well as

Akis Zikos Andreas Vasilios "Akis" Zikos (; born 1 June 1974) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He was a strong and industrious player, known for his tackling and positioning skills. At international level, he ...

, Ieroklis Stoltidis,

Grigoris Georgatos Grigoris Georgatos (; born 31 October 1972) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He was nicknamed the “''Greek Roberto Carlos”'' and ''"the crazy bald"'' ''()'' due to his highly-aggressive play on the pitch a ...

Nikos Lyberopoulos Nikolaos "Nikos" Liberopoulos (; born on 4 August 1975) is a retired Greek former professional international footballer who played as a forward. He is famous for his aim-to-goal shot, his innate in-play instincts, and his technical attacking ...

and Vasilios Tsartas. After ten years and the amazing 2014-2015 season with

and Panathinaikos he was called up by Markarian for the games against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

for the preliminary round of

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

and the friendly game against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. On 17 June 2015, in a friendly match against

, at the beginning of the second half, he wore the jersey of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

team after almost ten years, by replacing

Sokratis Papastathopoulos Sokratis Papastathopoulos (; born 9 June 1988), also known mononymously as Sokratis, is a Greek former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Club career AEK Athens Papastathopoulos joined AEK Athens from Apo ...

Dispute with Panathinaikos

On 27 February 2018, the administration of financially struggling Panathinaikos managed to agree terms with veteran international central defender, Tavlaridis. The Greens will finally pay €80,000 to the 38-year-old former defender, who was a member of the historic Athens club between January 2015 and January 2017, and therefore avoid a possible three-point deduction from the Hellenic Football Federation.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Lille *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Individual * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2013–14, 2014–15

References

External links

Arsenal F.C. ProfileGuardian Profile
*
LFP Profile & Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavlaridis, Efstathios 1980 births Living people Greek men's footballers Greece men's international footballers Greece men's under-21 international footballers 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Men's association football central defenders Ligue 1 players Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players Arsenal F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Lille OSC players AS Saint-Étienne players OFI Crete F.C. players Atromitos F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players Premier League players Super League Greece players Greek expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France People from Kapetan Mitrousi AEK Athens F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Central Macedonia 21st-century Greek sportsmen