Demis Nikolaidis
Encyclopedia
Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis (born on 17 September 1973 in Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...

, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

) was the forty second president of AEK Athens F.C., and is considered one of the finest footballers Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 has ever produced. In his early childhood and teenage years he lived in the city of Alexandroupoli
Alexandroupoli
Alexandroupoli , is a city of Greece and the capital of the Evros peripheral unit in Thrace. Named after King Alexander, it is an important port and commercial center of northeastern Greece.-Name:...

, in the north-east part of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. In a sterling career with Ethnikos Alexandroupolis, Apollon Smyrnis
Apollon Smyrnis
Apollon Smyrnis, officially known as GS Apollon Smyrnis , the Gymnastic Club Apollon of Smyrna, is a Greek association football club based in the city of Athens, Greece.The club currently compete in the Football League 2, the 3rd tier of Greek football.- History :Apollon Smyrnis is...

, AEK Athens FC
AEK Athens FC
AEK Athens F.C. , the Athletic Union of Constantinople, is a Greek association football club based in the city of Athens, Greece. Outside Greece, the club is also known as AEK Athens, however, the word Athens is not part of the club's official title.Established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees...

 and Atlético Madrid, Nikolaidis earned his reputation as a "born goalscorer", scoring prolifically for club and country. His power, pace and skill on the ball have been widely praised but it was his work-ethic and enthusiasm, perhaps, that propelled him to his exalted status among Greek footballers.

AEK Athens

In his teenage years he played for Ethnikos Alexandroupolis, the local team of his hometown. The scouts of several teams had seen his progress from these years, earning him a move to Athens. He made his professional debut at the age of 20 at Apollon Smyrnis
Apollon Smyrnis
Apollon Smyrnis, officially known as GS Apollon Smyrnis , the Gymnastic Club Apollon of Smyrna, is a Greek association football club based in the city of Athens, Greece.The club currently compete in the Football League 2, the 3rd tier of Greek football.- History :Apollon Smyrnis is...

. His fine performances sparked a bidding war between Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos FC
Panathinaikos Football Club is a Greek professional football club based in Athens. Founded in 1908, they play in the Super League Greece and are one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Greek football history. They have won 20 Greek Championships and 17 Greek Cups.Panathinaikos is the most...

 and Olympiacos, and the striker's childhood favorite AEK Athens, with Demis refusing to join Olympiakos and forced his club president to sell him to AEK. At AEK, Nikolaidis linked up with some of the great Greek players of his generation, including Vassilis Tsiartas
Vassilis Tsiartas
Vassilios Tsiartas is a retired Greek international football player who played as an attacking midfielder. Although he was famed for his lackadaisical playing style, his ability was never in question and he was in many ways the epitome of a player who wears the number 10 shirt...

, Theodoros Zagorakis
Theodoros Zagorakis
-Kavala:Zagorakis was a defensive midfielder who usually operated on the right hand side of midfield. He started his career with Kavala, the club that also produced Zisis Vryzas, with whom he became close friends...

, Michalis Kapsis
Michalis Kapsis
Michalis Kapsis is a Greek football player who currently plays for Ethnikos Piraeus F.C.. Kapsis played for the Greek national football team at the position of central defender...

, Grigoris Georgatos
Grigorios Georgatos
Grigoris Georgatos , also known as "Trelos Karaflos" , is a retired Greek footballer. He typically played as a defensive midfielder or attacking winger for Greek Championship club Olympiacos...

, Traianos Dellas
Traianos Dellas
Traianos Dellas is a Greek international footballer currently playing as a centre back for AEK Athens in the Greek Super League...

, Vassilis Lakis
Vassilis Lakis
Vasilis Lakis is a Greek footballer and he was named "Turbo" for his speed on the attacking wing and making great cross in the area for the strikers.-FAS Naussa:...

. With his new side, Nikolaidis excelled, scoring on his debut against Ionikos. During his time with AEK, Demis managed to win three Greek cups
Greek football Cup
The Greek Football Cup , commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation....

 and the 1996 Super Cup, he was the topscorer in the 1999
Alpha Ethniki 1998-99
-Standings:' : Cup winner 1998-99' : Title holder' : Promoted from Beta EthnikiPts = Points Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference;-Match table:*Notes-External links:* * * *...

 Greek league and second scorer in the 2001
UEFA Cup 2000-01
In perhaps the most bizarre European final ever, the 2000–01 UEFA Cup was won by Liverpool in a dramatic golden goal final against Deportivo Alavés for their third title in the competition. It completed a unique cup treble for the club, as they also won the FA Cup and the League Cup that season...

 UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 (1 goal behind topscorer Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a forward for Manchester United. He captained the Bulgarian national team from 2006 to 2010, and is its all-time leading goalscorer and has also won the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year a record seven times, surpassing the number of...

). He is the top scorer for Greek teams in European competitions having scored 26 goals in 51 games. He has scored five goals in a match twice and he is the only Greek player to have scored 4 goals in a European match.
Having scored a total of 21 goal in the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 he is one of the competition's all-time topscorers. At AEK he scored an impressive 177 goals in 266 games(including European, cup and domestic league games) making him the fourt highest goalscorer for the club and a legend amongst the fans. On 24 March 2002, the International Committee for Fair Play awarded him with the Fair Play Award, an honorary diploma for his conduct in the Greek Cup
Greek football Cup
The Greek Football Cup , commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation....

 Final on 8 May 2000, between the teams of AEK Athens and Ionikos, when Nikolaidis informed the referee he had used his hand to score a goal that had been allowed as valid.

Atletico Madrid

Although he failed to win the league in his time at AEK, Nikolaidis became arguably one of the most beloved players in the club's history. But after quarrelling with owner Makis Psomiadis, later indicted for forgery, and allegedly being assaulted by his bodyguards, Nikolaidis decided the time had come to leave AEK after the 2002-03
Alpha Ethniki 2002-03
The Alpha Ethiniki 2002–03 season was the 44th in its history and was won by Olympiacos, their 32nd league title. Olympiacos and Panathinaikos finished the League with the same points total but Olympiacos were crowned champions due to more favourable results between the two teams...

 season. He asked and left the team in a mutual consent free transfer, although he was already paid for the rest of his contract. Atlético Madrid beat off several other clubs to land the striker's coveted signature, seen that his number 11 was taken, he wore the number 21 as a tribute to AEK and the Original 21
Original 21
Original 21 is the largest AEK Athens supporters club. The first attempt to organise AEK supporters was Gate 21 , which took its name from the gate in the Nikos Goumas Stadium, Nea Filadelfia, where the most hardcore fans gathered...

 fan club. Nikolaidis' first months at the Vicente Calderón
Vicente Calderón
Vicente Calderón Pérez-Cavada . He was a Businessman and president of Atlético Madrid for twenty years.-Early life:...

 were a tremendous success, he scored six goals and formed a fearsome attacking pair with teenage sensation Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker....

. However, a series of serious injuries kept him out of the first team for nearly the rest of the season and severely effecting his chances of getting picked for Euro 2004.

International career

Demis made his debut for the Greek national football team on 26 April 1995 against Russia
Russia national football team
The Russia national football team represents Russia in association football and is controlled by the Russian Football Union , the governing body for football in Russia. Russia's home grounds are Luzhniki Stadium, Lokomotiv Stadium , and Petrovsky Stadium in St.Petersburg and their head coach is...

, Demis became the Greek national team's main source of goals.
In 1999, however, along with Michalis Kasapis
Michalis Kasapis
Michalis Kasapis is a former Greek football player and currently the football manager of Fokikos which competes in Greek Football League 2.-Club career:...

 and Ilias Atmatsidis, Nikolaidis retired from the national team, protesting for injustice in the Greek League
Super League Greece
The Superleague Greece is the highest professional football league in Greece. It was formed on July 16, 2006 and replaced Alpha Ethniki at the top of the Greek football league system. The league consists of 16 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each...

, Two years later, after the disappointing tenure of coach Vasilis Daniil was brought to an end following a particularly horrendous series of results, he returned to the international fold.
In his first game back, Nikolaidis scored in Greece's 2-2 away draw to England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. New coach Otto Rehhagel
Otto Rehhagel
Otto Rehhagel is a German football coach and former football player. Along with Helmut Schön, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Udo Lattek and Hennes Weisweiler, he is considered one of the most successful German managers....

 focused his offense around the quick striker and was rewarded with direct qualification to the Greek team to represent Greece at Euro 2004.
Even though struggling with injury, Rehhagel nevertheless included him in his Euro 2004 squad. Greece's new strike force, Zisis Vryzas
Zisis Vryzas
Zisis Vryzas is a former football player, and had been the vice president of PAOK FC for the past 3 years. He was born 9 November 1973 in Kavala, city of northern Greece, located in the region of Macedonia . He played as a striker for various teams in Greece and abroad, as well as the Greek...

 and Angelos Charisteas
Angelos Charisteas
Angelos Charisteas was born on 9 February 1980 in Strymoniko, Serres, but originates from Mani. He is a Greek football player who currently plays as a striker for Panetolikos F.C....

, played well enough but Nikolaidis still figured consistently in the team, coming off the bench in all three group games before starting against France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

, and leading Greece to a tremendous shock victory. After that fine performance, however, Nikolaidis succumbed to a serious injury and did not even dress for Greece's last two games.
He amassed 54 caps, netting 17 times for the national team and is amongst the top 6 goalscorers ever for Greece. Without a doubt, he accomplished much during his international career but there are some who wonder if his contribution could have been greater had an injury and a poor run of luck not conspired against him.

Chairman of AEK Athens

With AEK struggling terribly in the wake of Psomiadis' corruption and the prospect of relegation to the fourth division looming, Nikolaidis retired at the relatively young age of 31. His next move, supported by all AEK fans, was to establish a consortium of businessmen and purchase AEK on 27 May 2004, as he had always dreamed. Becoming the club's president, Nikolaidis set a goal that he would remove all debts that AEK owed and make them a force in Europe in the space of 5 years. Himself and technical director Ilija Ivic
Ilija Ivic
Ilija Ivić is a retired Serbian footballer. Ivić works currently as Red Star Belgrade and his last job was the Technical Manager of the Greek side Olympiacos...

, a former teammate, made several clever signings and fought ferociously for the league title, finishing third when many had expected a mid-table performance. In his second year as president, after signing two promising Greece Under-21 players, as well as adding former star Vasilis Lakis, Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 international striker Oleg Venglinskyi and one time Inter centre back Bruno Cirillo
Bruno Cirillo
Bruno "Brunillo" Cirillo is an Italian football player who plays as a centre back for PAOK FC.-Italy:...

, AEK achieved UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 qualification. Apart from the improvement of the economic standards and the athletic performance of AEK, Nikolaidis was determined to decrease the hooligan actions in football, and called on the league to do more to reduce violence.

On 2 November 2008, Demis decided that he would quit as chairman of AEK after continuously poor results, stating that he had not achieved his goal in the 5 years plan. One of the reasons according to Nikolaidis for quitting was that the team didn't sell 30,000 season tickets; he stated "If I had managed to convince the AEK supporters to come to the stadium then I would not be leaving. In my mind we need 30,000 to become a big team". In 2008, AEK gained the most points in the championship, but lost it because of CAS. Next season a lot of changes were made, like Rivaldo and Lyberopoulos, resulting in a bad start of the team. During Nikolaidis's presidency, AEK had their first wins in Champions' League and due to the players sold in other teams (like Katsouranis, Papastathopoulos, Tozser, Kyrgiakos etc.) the club had a profit of 16,000,000 euros.

Club

|-
|1992–93
|rowspan=2|Ethnikos Alexandroupolis
|rowspan=2|
|30||7||?||?||0||0||30||7
|-
|1993–94
|9||7||?||?||0||0||9||7
|-
|1993–94
|rowspan=3|Apollon Smyrnis
|rowspan=10|Alpha Ethniki
Super League Greece
The Superleague Greece is the highest professional football league in Greece. It was formed on July 16, 2006 and replaced Alpha Ethniki at the top of the Greek football league system. The league consists of 16 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each...


|18||5||?||?||0||0||18||5
|-
|1994–95
|33||17||?||?||0||0||33||17
|-
|1995–96
|29||16||?||?||?||?||29||16
|-
|1996–97
|rowspan=7|AEK Athens
|31||19||?||?||6||1||37||20
|-
|1997–98
|26||19||?||?||5||2||31||21
|-
|1998–99
|29||22||0||0||4||6||33||28
|-
|1999–00
|32||22||8||11||8||3||48||36
|-
|2000–01
|25||15||3||4||8||6||36||25
|-
|2001–02
|24||16||7||6||8||5||39||27
|-
|2002–03
|22||12||2||1||12||3||36||16

|-
|2003–04
|Atlético Madrid
|La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...


|22||6||1||0||0||0||23||6
308||177||20||22||51||26||379||225
22||6||1||0||0||0||23||6
330||183||21||22||51||26||402||231

International

| 1995
| 4
| 2
|-
| 1996
| 9
| 6
|-
| 1997
| 7
| 0
|-
| 1998
| 2
| 0
|-
| 1999
| 8
| 3
|-
| 2001
| 3
| 3
|-
| 2002
| 8
| 3
|-
| 2003
| 7
| 0
|-
| 2004
| 6
| 0
|-
! Total
! 54
! 17

Honours

AEK Athens
1996
  • Greek Cup
    Greek football Cup
    The Greek Football Cup , commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation....

    : 3
1997, 2000, 2002

Greece
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...

  • UEFA European Championship
    UEFA European Football Championship
    The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

    : 1
2004

Individual
  • Greek Young Footballer of the year: 1
1995
  • Greek Footballer of the year: 3
1997, 1998, 2002
  • Greek Super League
    Super League Greece
    The Superleague Greece is the highest professional football league in Greece. It was formed on July 16, 2006 and replaced Alpha Ethniki at the top of the Greek football league system. The league consists of 16 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each...

     top scorer: 1
1999
Alpha Ethniki 1998-99
-Standings:' : Cup winner 1998-99' : Title holder' : Promoted from Beta EthnikiPts = Points Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference;-Match table:*Notes-External links:* * * *...

  • FIFA
    FIFA
    The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

     Fair Play Committee Award: 1
2002

Personal life

Demis is married to one of the most successful Greek singers Despina Vandi
Despina Vandi
Despina Malea , known by her stage name Despina Vandi , is a Greek singer. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, West Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six years old and she later enrolled at the University of Thessaloniki, but eventually dropped out to begin a career in...

 who was also born in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and grew up in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. They have a daughter called Melina, and a son called Giorgos. A Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

 documentary entitled Europe's Richest People estimated Nikolaidis and Vandi's combined fortune to be in excess of €30 million euros in 2009.

Records

  • He is the top Greek goalscorer in European competitions scoring a total of 26 goals.
  • He is one of the few player who have scored five goals in a single Greek Super League game. He did so in AEK Athens' 6-1 win against Kalamata during the 1996–97 season.
  • He scored Greece's
    Greece national football team
    The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...

     500th goal on 6 October 2001 in a match against England
    England national football team
    The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

    .
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