Spyros Dimopoulos ( el, Σπύρος Δημόπουλος, born 2 March 1969) is a retired

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Spyros, alongside his brothers Thanasis Dimopoulos and Christos, holds the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...

for the largest number of siblings scoring on the same day, on 2 February 1992 in the Greek first division. He is also one of the youngest player to score a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

in Greek football. His nickname was "Foukos".

Career

Early years

He started his career from local sixth-division club Aris Xylokeras at the age of 14, where his father Nikos was the chairman. He immediately impressed with his skills scoring 12 goals, becoming one of the youngest players in Greece to play first-team football. In the summer of 1984 he was signed by Ampelonas, another local club whose president was Thanasis Karagounis, father of Greece's legendary captain,

Giorgos Karagounis Georgios Karagkounis ( el, Γεώργιος Καραγκούνης; born 6 March 1977), known as Giorgos Karagounis ( el, Γιώργος Καραγκούνης), is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. In his cl ...

. Dimopoulos scored 27 goals helping his team win promotion to the fifth tier. He was transferred to ambitious club Aias Gastounis in 1985, winning the Ileia county championship two years later and also promotion to

Delta Ethniki Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

.
In 1987 he signed for third-division club

Paniliakos Paniliakos Football Club ( el, Πανηλειακός Α.Ο. Πύργου) is a Greek association football club based in Pyrgos, Elis, Greece. The club plays in Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of Greek football. It plays its home matches at the Pyrg ...

under coach Giannis Koronellos and also assistant

Kostas Davourlis Kostas Davourlis ( el, Κώστας Δαβουρλής, 4 January 1948 – 23 May 1992) born in Agyia, Patras, popularly nicknamed The Black Prince, was a former Greek footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A gifted and talented pl ...

Panachaiki Panachaiki G.E. (Greek: Παναχαϊκή Γυμναστική Ένωση, ''Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi'', "Pan- Achaean Gymnastic Union") is a Greek multi-sport club based in the city of Patras, Greece. The history of Panachaiki began in 1891 ...

's greatest ever player.

Later years

After a fruitful season and 14 goals with Paniliakos he was recommended to Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos where his brother Christos and Argentine midfielder Juan Ramón Rocha were playing. Panathinaikos did not sign the player but instead Rocha recommended him to his fellow countryman Gomez de Faria, Olympiakos Volos' coach at the time. Dimopoulos was not a regular for Olympiakos Volos, but he helped them win promotion to

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

in 1989. He was subsequently transferred to Iraklis Thessaloniki in the 1989-90 season, and he became teammate

Vasilis Hatzipanagis Vasilis Hatzipanagis ( el, link=no, Βασίλης Χατζηπαναγής, , born 26 October 1954) is a Greek former professional footballer. He played for Iraklis in the Greek Alpha Ethniki and Pakhtakor in the Soviet Supreme League. He al ...

, Greece's Golden player. His limited playing team with Iraklis prompted him to ask for a transfer. Dimopoulos returned to Beta Ethniki and signed for

P.A.S. Korinthos P.A.S. Korinthos ( el, Π.Α.Σ. Κόρινθος), also known simply as Korinthos ( el, links=no, Κόρινθος ) or with its full name Pagkorinthiakos Athlitikos Syllogos Korinthos ( el, Παγκορινθιακός Αθλητικός Σύλ ...

in the summer of 1990, coached again by Gomez de Faria. He later played for first-division club

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμιλ ...

and also Panargiakos (coached by late

Giannis Kyrastas Giannis Kyrastas ( el, Γιάννης Κυράστας; 25 October 1952 – 1 April 2004) was a Greek footballer and football manager. Club career Born in Piraeus, Kyrastas started his football career in Olympiacos, where he played his first ...

, Panegialios, AO Pyrgos and Thesprotos. During his last year with Thesprotos he scored 30 goals and the team was promoted to

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki ( el, Γ΄ Εθνική Ερασιτεχνική Κατηγορία, C National Amateur Division) is the third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 198 ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

's coach Antonis Georgiadis had expressed his interest to call him up in 1989, but Dimopoulos eventually did not appear for the national team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimopoulos, Spyros 1969 births Living people Footballers from Pyrgos, Elis Greek men's footballers Super League Greece players Olympiacos Volos F.C. players Paniliakos F.C. players Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players Men's association football forwards