Tryfon Tzanetis () was a

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 ...

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 ...

and a later manager. He was best known as a great figure for

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 ...

during the 30's and 40's, partnering

Kleanthis Maropoulos Kleanthis Maropoulos (; 1919 – 3 January 1991) was a Greek footballer who played as a striker for AEK Athens. He was a star footballer during the 1930s and 1940s and arguably the greatest Greek player of his generation. He was affectionately ...

in AEK's front line. Tzanetis also contributed to AEK by coaching the club during the 50's and 60's.

Early life

Tzanetis was born in 1918 in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, from

Naxian Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as a ...

parents. After the

Asia Minor disaster Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, his family moved to

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 ...

and installed at the 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 ...

Club career

Tzanetis started playing football in 1932 at

Eleftheroupoli Eleftheroupoli (, katharevousa: Ελευθερούπολις - ''Eleftheroupolis'', until 1929 Πράβι - ''Pravi'', ; Kanchov, Vasil, , Sofia, 1900, p. 182. (in Bulgarian) ) is a town and a former municipality in the Kavala regional unit, East ...

. In 1933, people of

scouted him and he signed a sport's card with the club. He started from the youth departments of AEK and he was promoted to the men's team in 1935, alongside Maropoulos and participated in an official match. He was a member to the great team of the yellow-blacks in the late 30s, having teammates, such as Kleanthis Maropoulos, Spyros Sklavounos and

Spyros Kontoulis Spyros Kontoulis (; 1915 — 1944) was a Greeks, Greek Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Coming in 1935 from the local Amyna Kokkinia, Kotoulis moved to AEK Athens F.C., AEK Athens and managed to make 83 ...

. He started his career as a striker, but later in his career he became a

central defender 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 ...

, when the then coach,

Jack Beby John Victor Beby (23 August 1907 – 1976) was an English footballer who made 157 appearances in the Football League playing as a goalkeeper for Gillingham, Leicester City, Bristol Rovers, Darlington and Exeter City in the 1920s and 1930s. Aft ...

relocated him, in the WM system that he applied since he came to

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 ...

in 1948. His presence was imposing. He was insightful, extremely fast, creative and team and in addition to being an aggressive midfielder, he was also distinguished by his inhibitions. With AEK he won 4 times the FCA Championship, 2 consecutive Panhellenic Championships and 3 Greek Cups, including the first domestic double by a Greek club in 1939.

International career

He wore once the jersey of

on 25 May 1949, against Italy B in a 2–3 defeat, with Tzanetis coming from the bench on the 46th minute.

Managerial career

In 1950 after his playing days were over, Tzanetis took up coaching

Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( ) is a town and a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens urban area, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo, whose name comes from the words αίγα/a ...

in the first division of Athens for a season before returning to AEK Athens. He assumed the position of the coach of AEK in many periods during the 50s and the 60s (1951, 1954, 1956, 1961 and 1965), winning the Greek Cup in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Tzanetis also coached

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), ...

which was the last club of his career. He was also a selector of the Greece military national football team, where he won the

World Military Cup The World Military Cup is an international association football competition contested by national military teams. Organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM), the tournament was first held in 1946 under the title World Military ...

in 1962. From 1960 to 1964 (in two different periods) he was the coach of Greece with a record of 5 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses.

After football

Tzanetis had a wife named Lela and two kids, Manolis and Mary. He identified on the pitch and in life with Kleanthis Maropoulos, with whom he remained friends and partners in a sporting goods store in the center of Athens, until the end of the latter's life, in 1991. Seven years later, Tzanetis died.

Honours

As a player

AEK Athens *

Panhellenic 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 ...

: 1938–39, 1939–40 *

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 ...

: 1938–39, 1948–49, 1949–50 * Athens FCA Championship: 1940, 1946, 1947, 1950

As a coach

AEK Athens *Greek Cup: 1965–66 Greece military *

: 1962

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tzanetis, Tryfon 1918 births 1998 deaths AEK Athens F.C. players Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece AEK Athens F.C. managers Greece men's international footballers Smyrniote Greeks Men's association football forwards Greek football managers Men's association football central defenders Eleftheroupoli F.C. players Footballers from İzmir Footballers from Athens Greek men's footballers 20th-century Greek sportsmen