Kostas Nikolaidis (; born 10 September 1944) is a former

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 ...

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 striker. During his presence in

Greek championship 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 repl ...

he scored 100 goals, which ranks him amongst the top scorers in the history of the institution.

Early life

Born in Safrabolis a district of

Nea Ionia Nea Ionia (, meaning New Ionia) is a town and a northern suburb of the Athens agglomeration, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region. It was named after Ionia, the region in Anatolia from which many Greeks migrated in the 1920s as a part ...

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 ...

, Nikolaidis had also descent from

North Epirus Northern Epirus (, ; ) is a term used for specific parts of southern Albania which were first claimed by the Kingdom of Greece in the Balkan Wars and later were associated with the Greek minority in Albania and Greece-Albania diplomatic relation ...

, where his father, Ilias left in 1918 during the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His love for football brought him at the door of the local PAO Safrabolis' youth team, in 1958, where at the age of 14 made his first tryout in order to join the club. The tryout was unsuccessful as he has turned down by the team's coach Krassas, but eventually, a year later Nikolaidis managed to join PAO Safrabolis after a second tryout.

Club career

Early career

Nikolaidis made his first steps in youth team of PAO Safrabolis in 1959, where at the age of 15 established himself quickly in the youth departments of the club, making it into the first team a year later. After a very successful 6-year spell, he managed to promote the club from the local divisions of

to the second national division and caught the interest 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 ...

AEK Athens

In 1965 Nikolaidis, alongside other players from his club, after a recommendation from

Georgios Magiras Georgios Simos or Charalampous (; 1919 – 12 February 1994), commonly known as "Magiras" (which meant "Cook" in Greek), was a Greek professional footballer who played as a midfielder for AEK Athens and a later manager. Throughout his career he ...

, was transferred at AEK at the age of 21 and became a regular after his impressive performances in the friendlies. There he formed a deadly attacking duo with the legendary

Mimis Papaioannou Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou (; 23 August 1942 – 15 March 2023) was a Greek professional footballer, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a manager. Widely regarded as the greatest Greek footballer of his generation and one ...

, which helped in the club's later success. In his first derby against Panathinakos, on 19 December 1965, he scored a brace in their 3–2 win at

Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium (), commonly known as Leoforos Alexandras Stadium or Leoforos Stadium, is a football stadium and multi-sport center in Athens, Greece. It was inaugurated in 1922 and is the oldest currently active football stadium in ...

. On 20 December 1967 he scored a hat-trick in the imposing 5–0 at home over

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia (, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a Cypriot football club based in Nicosia and competes in the . The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cyprus Football Association. The club colors are black and green. ...

. His 2 goals against

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, ...

on 31 March 1968, won the derby for the club and gave them to a high extend the title at the end of the season. He was a member of the team that reached 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 ...

quarter-finals in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

. On 29 September 1972 his goal at the 89th minute gave the AEK the victory over

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

with 3–2 for the European Cup, in

Nea Filadelfeia Nea Filadelfeia (, meaning ''New Philadelphia'') is a suburban town in the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of Nea Filadelfeia-Nea Chalkidona municipality of Central Athens regional unit, o ...

. During his spell at AEK he won 2 league titles and 1

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 ...

Later career

In 1973 after he was released from AEK, Nikolaidis signed for

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club (), or with its full name Panipirotikós Athlitikós Síllogos Giánnina (, ''Panepirotic Athletic Club Giannina'') is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ioannina, the capita ...

, where he played for a season, winning the second division championship, helping the club to be promoted to the first division. The following season Nikolaidis was transferred to

Apollon Athens Apollon Smyrnis Football Club () is a professional football club based in Athens, Greece, which competes in the Athens FCA first division. It is part of GS Apollon Smyrnis (Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης), ...

, where he played 2 seasons, winning again the second division championship and playing his final season at the highest tear of Greece. Except his impressive 100 goals in total for the Greek Championship, Nikolaidis managed to score in 8 consecutive league games being one of 4 players that ever achieve that alongside

Giorgos Sideris Giorgos Sideris (; born 5 April 1938) is a Greek former footballer, who played as striker. Club career Sideris began his youth career at Atromitos Piraeus playing in the centre of midfield but his coaches soon became aware of his goalscoring ...

Demis Nikolaidis Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis (; born 17 September 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was the forty second president of AEK Athens, and is considered one of the greatest forwards Greece has produced. I ...

and

Kostas Mitroglou Konstantinos "Kostas" Mitroglou (, ; born 12 March 1988) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is nicknamed "Mitrogoal" and "Pistolero" by fans due to his goalscoring abilities. Raised in Germany, Mitroglou star ...

. In 1976 he joined

Olympiakos Neon Liosion Olympiakos Neon Liosion is a Greek football club based in Ilion, Greece. The team was founded in 1952, when the city was named Nea Liosia. The home stadium of the team is the National Sports Center Of Ilion. They team participated seven times i ...

, where he played for a season before finishing his career as a footballer.

International career

Nikolaidis played in 1962 with Greece U19, under

, making 10 appearances. Nikolaidis played with

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 ...

four times between 1971 and 1973. He made his debut on 17 November 1971, in a friendly match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

which ended in a 2–2 draw.

Club statistics

: a. Does not include 2nd division stats for Apollon Athens.

Honours

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 ...

: 1967–68, 1970–71 *

: 1965–66 PAS Giannina *

Beta Ethniki The Football League () was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super League 2 as the new second tier ...

: 1973–74 Apollon Athens *Beta Ethniki: 1974–75 Individual *Greek Cup top scorer: 1966–67

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolaidis, Kostas 1944 births Living people AEK Athens F.C. players PAS Giannina F.C. players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Greece men's international footballers Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers 20th-century Greek sportsmen