Kostas Nestoridis

Kostas Nestoridis

Personal information
Full name	Konstantinos Nestoridis
Date of birth	(1930-03-15) 15 March 1930 (age 92)
Place of birth	Drama, Greece
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1945–1946	Enosi Agiou Nikolaou Kallitheas
1946–1948	Ellada Moschatou
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1948–1955	Panionios	3	(0)
1955–1966	AEK Athens	207	(174)
1966–1967	South Melbourne Hellas	41	(33)
1967	Vyzas	2	(0)
1968	Aias Salamina	7	(2)
Total		260	(209)
National team
1951–1956	Greece military	2	(0)
1951–1962	Greece	17	(3)
Teams managed
1966–1967	South Melbourne Hellas
1968	Aias Salamina
1981	Paniliakos
1982–1983	Kallithea
1983	AEK Athens
1984	AEK Athens
Honours Alpha Ethniki 1963 Greek Cup 1964 Victorian State League 1966
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Kostas Nestoridis (Greek: Κώστας Νεστορίδης, born 15 March 1930) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward and later a coach. He is amongst the best players in the history of AEK Athens and one of the greatest ever players and scorers in Greek football.

Early life[]

Κostas Nestoridis was born on March 15, 1930 in Drama and was the youngest of three children of the Pontian Greek parents.,^[2] George and Kyriaki who had arrived in Thrace as refugees after the Asia Minor disaster. His simblings Christos and Nopi, as well as little Kostas, experienced intensely in their childhood the financial misery and the difficulties of the refugee life. The work difficulties that his parents repeatedly faced deeply engraved the soul of little Kostas Nestoridis and were several times the criterion for any moves and decisions during his career. From the dirt roads of Drama to the fields of Kallithea where his family was forced to move in search of work and to the fields of Preveza where they took refuge during "The Occupation", the dazzling talent of the little one dazzled experts in football and not. Of course, dealing with his favorite football always took second place as the need for assistance in the family finances prevailed, something that forced Nestoridis to work from a young age as a polisher, cigarette seller, shoemaker assistant and shepherd in Preveza. After the end of the war, the return and resettlement of the family in Kallithea marked his most active involvement with football. In his neighborhood there was an independent club, PAO Kallitheas. It was not a recognizable team but it had for its players a football uniform and lemonade at half time, things that reached the limits of luxury for the then data of little Kostas. His amazing debut and scoring five goals in the match began to weave the legend around his name. The legend did not take long to cross the narrow borders of post-war Kallithea and reach the ears of Kostas Negrepontis, who was looking for his partner Kleanthis Maropoulos in the attack of AEK Athens. One Sunday afternoon in Kallithea, Negrepontis was enchanted to see for himself an air dribbler overcoming everyone and scoring at will, and without hesitation he invited Nestoridis to Nea Filadelfeia. AEK's officials were impressed by his talent but did not ask him to sign a sport's card and responded to Nestoridis' persistent calls for work with some vague promises of appointment to the Water Company. After about a month and after nothing had finalized the appointment, Nestoridis left AEK and training, giving priority to his intense livelihood problem and finding a solution to it.

Club career[]

Early career[]

Nestoridis made his next step a night in 1946, when his neighbor and friend Kostas Sotiriadis, who was playing for Panionios, met him in Kallithea Square and suggested that he visit Nea Smyrni. There, coach Roussopoulos, having received information from "Kostaras" -as was Sotiriadis's nickname- and impressed by Nestoridis' abilities, made him sign a sport's card, including him in the roaster of Panionios. Nestoridis' urgent need for daily work as a cigarette retailer did not allow him to continue training with Panionios. He occasionally played football in his neighborhood until the owner of the "Indiana" factory and a member of the Ellada Moschatou team, Karamalegos, heard about him. He offered Nestoridis a steady job in his business and offered him to sign for his team. The young Nestoridis, seeing that his two big dreams, the steady job and football, are being realized at the same time, did not hesitate to sign a fake card in the name "Brinzos" -as was the nickname of Christos's brother- and start playing in Ellada Moschatou. The team became champion in its category in EPS Piraeus with Nestoridis scoring 48 goals and becoming its big star. He played for Ellada Moschatou played until 1948. His career there will end ingloriously, as before the crucial match for the championship against Palia Kokkinia begun, a rival fan would recognize Nestoridis and started shouting at him with his real name. The officials of Ellada Moschatou, fearing the revelation of forgery and punishment, will not use it, resulting in the 2–1 defeat and the loss of the championship. Their subsequent efforts to secure a "free transfer" of Nestoridis from Panionios will also be fruitless.

Nestoridis stayed for the first time in his career -as he would follow another after a few years- out of football competitions for a year and in 1949 he decided to join Panionios. There, he would at last find Negrepontis who was the coach at the time and they would form a strong friendship. He wore the blue and red jersey for 7 years and in 63 appearances he scored 26 goals, 7 of which gave him the 1st place in the scorers of the EPS Athens in the period 1950–51. In the same season he has scored and starred in the victory of Panionios with 1–2 against AEK Athens in Nea Filadelfeia. In 1951 he was called up for the first time to the Greek national team. Nevertheless, Nestoridis did not spend beautiful days at Panionios. The "cliques" of the older players considered him a "foreigner" and did not miss the opportunity to fight him, while from the management side he was treated simply as a golden product that at some point would fill the club's coffers by transferring to one of the big clubs of POK.

AEK Athens[]

In 1955, AEK Athens organized a "Solidarity Cup" with the earnings would complete the projects at their stadium.^[3] Panionios also participated in the games and after their end, their management put unbearable pressure on Nestoridis to transfer to Olympiacos or Panathinaikos. He categorically denied and, faithful to his refugee origins, signed for AEK without the consent of Panionios after actions of the vice-president of AEK, Vassilis Sevastakis. He was punished by the HFF and stayed out of competitive activities for two years. Two years that passed with Nestoridis feeling like the beast in the cage with unique happy moments his marriage to his beloved wife, Eleni and the birth of his son. The end of his punishment and his debut with the yellow and black jersey came in September 1957. His arrival at AEK coincided with a phase of "change of guard". The technical duo of the former players Tryfon Tzanetis-Kostas Negrepontis has undertaken the smooth change of baton in the team from the company of Maropoulos, Delavinias, Arvanitis to that of the younger Serafidis, Stamatiadis, Poulis and others, with the "link" of Giannis Kanakis.

"Kapetan (Captain) Nestoras" would immediately be established in the AEK Athens squad and would grow as a member. He gave a lot to AEK and generously received the adoration and admiration from the fans of the club. The legend of the "charmer of the ball" that followed him, would grow by offering incredible images to those who were lucky enough to watch him. The recognition on his face was universal, exceeding the narrow limits of fanaticism. The admiration and deep bowing of the opponents to the small air ballador was rendered to the maximum degree and hundreds of epic narratives accompanied his achievements. On the eve of a derby with Olympiacos, a photo of Nestoridis was published, showing the up-right corner of Savvas Theodoridis' goalpost and saying that if AEK takes the kick-off he will send the ball there, from the first minute. The next day, immediately with the kick-off, Nestoridis scored a goal in the corner he had indicated in the photo. He used to announce the way he would maneuver and send the ball with the final shot. And it was verified to such an extent that it "forced" the Olympiacos but above all, sports fan and great laïko musician, Vangelis Perpiniadis to write and sing the success of the time: "And like Nestoridis, no one will come out, to say that the ball will be sent.” (Greek:“Και σαν τον Νεστορίδη κανένας δεν θα βγεί,να λέει πως η μπάλα εκεί θα καρφωθεί.”).^[4] In 1960, Nice and the Essen wanted to sign him, but he refused.^[5]

He is the only one who has become the top scorer of the Greek championship 5 times in a row. He was the scorer of the first official European goal of AEK, in the 1963 in a match for the European Cup against Monaco. He is one of only three players in the history of AEK who managed to score 5 goals in a league match which he achieve in 1963 against Iraklis. Until today he remains one of the club's highest scoring players of all time, widely regarded by the club's fans as one of the greatest players to ever wear the AEK shirt. He and another AEK Athens' legend, Mimis Papaioannou, formed one of the club's most formidable goal-scoring partnerships. In the 8 seasons he played for AEK, he was always the top scorer of the team with the exception of 1964 when Mimis Papaioannou surpassed him. He has scored 13 times with a direct corner kick, one of them scoring one of the three goals in the title barrage against Panathinaikos in 1963, which won AEK the title after 23 years and Nestoridis the only Greek Championship he has conquered. He has also won 1 Greek Cup.

Move to Australia and retirement[]

In the summer of 1966, Nestoridis "delivered" the yellow and black baton to the worthy hands of the company of Papaioannou, Skevofylakas, Vassilios, Ventouris, Sofianidis, Pomonis, Balopoulos, Stamatiadis and others, who would lead the team back to the 1968 title and being constantly in search of a better life and a more complete professional rehabilitation is in Australia and in the expatriate South Melbourne Hellas as a player–coach. Although at the age of 36, in 1966 he managed to become the top scorer of the state championship of Victoria (where South Melbourne Hellas played) with 21 goals and helped his team to win the title. In all the stadiums where he played, there was a crowd from the crowds of Greeks of the Greek community but also of Australians who flocked to watch him. The following year he returned to Greece to end his career at AEK, but was rejected by the then administration due to his advanced age. He returned to Australia and Hellas Melbourne and scores another 12 goals with her jersey, this time finishing in 4th place in the league. In Greece he returned permanently to the 1967–68 season and played at Vyzas Megaron. Later in the season, he looked for a club and trained successively in Egaleo, Panionios and Ionikos Nikaia. In February 1968, he signed as a player-coach for Aias Salamina, with whom he played in the Betta Ethniki (Southern group). He debuted in the 21st matchday in a 2–1 away defeat against PAS Giannina on 3 March 1968 and he scored his first goal in the match against AO Chania in 2–1 home win on 31 March 1968. He remained until 20 April, where he resigned thus ending his career.^[6]

International career[]

He wore the jersey of Greece 17 times, 2 as a player of Panionios and 15 as a player of AEK Athens, scoring a total of 3 goals.^[7] The number of his participations is disproportionate to his value and offer as it is said that he did not have the best relations with the respective selectors of the team. He made his debut in the blue and white jersey on October 14, 1951.^[8]

His tenure in the Greek Military Team is also quite episodic. In 1950 he volunteered for the Air Force and started scoring goals without recording how many and in which teams he scored with the National Armed Forces that participated in the CISM Football Cup. At the end of his 2-year term, he declared another four years as retired and remained in the army for a total of 6 years. However, in a match with the in Italy Military Team in 1956, a political issue arose about how an ordinary soldier without being an officer participated in the National Military Team for so many years. He was then offered a job in the Air Force, but Nestoridis refused and withdrew from the Military Team.

Style of play[]

From a young age Nestoridis was gifted with an innate and unrepeatable talent, that of absolute "communication" with the ball. Without being introduced him and taught him anything, the petite and delicate little boy showed from the beginning that there was a magical relationship between the ball and himself, and that her handling of him reached the limits of the metaphysical. Those who saw Nestoridis in action had something to say about his elaborate actions. They talked about a balancing craftsman who acrobatically leaned on one of his legs and with bursts of speed and waist fractures disoriented any opponent who aspired to stop him. When the time came for the execution, he was unbeatable. The ball seemed to obediently follow the course ordered by Nestoridis, drawing tracks inconceivable to the common sense.

When Nestoraridis went to Australia to play for Hellas Melbourne, he instantly provoked the acceptance and worship of his new fans. Two thousand fans are running to see his first training session, some are spoke about a Brazilian with a Greek name, goals from straight corner kicks begun and Nestoridis became an idol again. In 1967 coach of Hellas Melbourne, Ljubiša Broćić, having previously worked at Barcelona, Juventus and Eindhoven, when he took over the club and asked by reporters about Nestoridis, said: "All the great players I saw, including Di Stéfano, Puskás and Pelé, did things humanly. What I saw Nestoridis doing is neither taught or learned.".

Coaching career[]

After his playing career was over, Nestoridis officially begins his coaching career passing through the bench of Paniliakos, Kallithea and other smaller teams. The beginning of the 1981-82 season finds AEK in the midst of stormy changes as the great Loukas Barlos leaves the team, with the ownership passing into the hands of Andreas Zafeiropoulos. At the same time, Miltos Papapostolou is removed from the technical leadership and it is assigned to Hans Tilkowski. The complete ignorance of the German regarding the Greek reality imposes the placement next to an assistant with excellent knowledge and experience around Greek football and AEK that is in the person of Nestoridis. The course of the team is disappointing and after 7 wins, 6 draws and 4 defeats that leave it behind in terms of points, Tilkowski was sacked and is replaced by the winner of the 1977-78 Double Zlatko Čajkovski. Nestoridis remains in the position of assistant and the new coach, being the connecting link with the previous technical leadership and managing, in essence, the situation in the team's locker rooms. The duo Čajkovski-Nestoridis will somewhat exceed the pretexts by bringing AEK at the end of the Championship in 4th place with 45 points, just 5 points behind the champions Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, but of course nothing predicts that Čik's deja vu will be similar of his first term. In the summer of 1982, AEK is being prepared by "Čik-Nestoras" for the upcoming season while the owner Zafeiropoulos places Michalis Arkadis in the presidential chair. The situation in the team is becoming more and more strange, the communication between the technical leadership, the president and the major shareholder looks like a labyrinthine labyrinth and Čajkovski shows that his advanced age has turned him into a bon vivacious fan of his tastes. In all this confusion, Nestoridis tries to do what he can by keeping the necessary balances. On 9/1/1983 the team faces home defeat against OFI with 2-3 while the memory of the 5 goals from PAOK in Toumba before 3 games is still fresh. Everyone's indignation for Čik is obvious and he hurries away with Nestoridis taking over the technical leadership, as a temporary service as it turned out, as after about forty days the Helmut Senekowitsch is hired. Nestoridis, having made 3 wins and 2 draws in the away matches with Iraklis and PAS Giannina, delivers AEK second and a stone's throw away from the champion Olympiacos, while he feels rather reduced from the recruitment of the Austrian and temporarily resigns from the technical staff. Next summer, there where have a series of reshuffles in the long-suffering AEK as the major shareholder Zafeiropoulos assigns the management to the duo Teris Panagidis - Dimitris Roussakis, the leader of the former. The Cypriot businessman, connoisseur and fan of English football immediately hires the British John Barnwell as a coach. Barnwell survives on the yellow and black bench for just 12 games, the recently fired Senekowitsch is called as his replacement and the phrase "changes coaches like shirts" takes on flesh and blood in the tested AEK. The "kingdom" of "Seki" will last only 8 games in which the harvest is 3 defeats, 3 draws and just 2 wins. Thus, after the two consecutive home draws, with the Apollons of Athens and Thessaloniki, the cooperation with the Austrian is terminated and the "lifeline" Nestoridis is called to take action as the technical leader of the club. It will remain on the team's bench until the end of the 1982-83 season and with the results of 5 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats, AEK will finish in 7th place, recording one of its worst appearances in the Championship.^[9]

Stats[]

Club[]

Club performance			League		Regional		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Greece			League		AFCA League		Greek Cup		Europe		Total
1948–49	Panionios	Panhellenic Championship	0	0	4	2	0	0	0	0	4	2
1949–50			0	0	14	4	1	1	0	0	15	5
1950–51			3	0	9	7	2	0	0	0	14	7
1951–52			0	0	10	4	7	1	0	0	17	5
1952–53			0	0	8	5	2	0	0	0	10	5
1953–54			0	0	10	3	4	3	0	0	14	6
1954–55			0	0	5	1	3	3	0	0	8	4
1955–56	AEK Athens		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1956–57			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1957–58			22	12	11	8	4	2	0	0	37	22
1958–59			18	21	8	4	5	1	0	0	31	26
1959–60		Alpha Ethniki	28	33	0	0	6	10	0	0	34	43
1960–61			28	27	0	0	5	13	4	4	37	44
1961–62			29	29	0	0	1	0	0	0	30	29
1962–63			30	24	0	0	3	4	0	0	33	28
1963–64			24	10	0	0	3	4	2	1	29	15
1964–65			26	17	0	0	2	2	2	1	30	20
1965–66			2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
Australia			League				Australia Cup				Total
1966	South Melbourne Hellas	Victorian State League	??	21	—		0	0	—		??	21
1967			??	12	—		0	0	—		??	11
Greece			League		AFCA League		Greek Cup		Europe		Total
1967	Vyzas	Alpha Ethniki	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
1967–68	Aias Salamina	Beta Ethniki	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			260	208	79	38	48	44	8	6	395	296

International[]

National team	Season	Apps	Goals
Greece	1951	1	0
	1955	1	0
	1956	1	0
	1957	6	2
	1958	2	0
	1959	1	0
	1960	3	0
	1962	1	1
Total		17	3

Kostas Nestoridis: International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 October 1957	Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, Athens, Greece	France	2–1	2–1	1958 MC
2	10 November 1957	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia	3–1	4–1	1958 WCQ
3	18 October 1962	Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, Athens, Greece	Ethiopia	2–0	3–2	Friendly

Summary[]

Club	Competition	Apps	Goals
Panionios
	EPSA	60	26
	Panhellenic Championship	3	0
	Greek Cup	19	8
	Total	82	34
AEK Athens
	EPSA	19	12
	Panhellenic Championship	40	33
	Alpha Ethniki	167	141
	Greek Cup	29	36
	European Cup	4	4
	Cup Winners' Cup	4	2
	Total	263	228
South Melbourne Hellas	Total	41	33
Vyzas	Alpha Ethniki	2	0
	Total	2	0
Aias Salamina	Beta Ethniki	7	2
	Total	7	2
Greece	International frendlies	3	1
	Mediterranean Cup	4	1
	FIFA World Cup qualification	5	1
	UEFA European Championship qualifying	5	0
	Pre Olympic tournament	3	0
	Total	17	3
Career Total		412	299

Honours[]

AEK Athens

• Alpha Ethniki: 1962–63
• Greek Cup: 1963–64

South Melbourne

• Victorian State League: 1966

Individual

• Greek Championship top scorer: 1958–59 (21 goals), 1959–60 (33 goals), 1960–61 (27 goals), 1961–62 (29 goals), 1962–63 (23 goals)
• Greek Cup top scorer: 1959–60, 1960–61
• Victorian State League top scorer: 1966

Records[]

• First player who scored 5 goals in a single Greek league match. He did so in AEK Athens' 5–0 win against Iraklis in 1962–63 season.
• Most Greek championship top scorer awards: 5 (from 1959 to 1963, shared with Antonis Antoniadis)
• Most consecutive Greek championship top scorer awards: 5 (from 1959 to 1963)

References[]

• Katsaros, Nikos (2008). Κώστας Νεστορίδης - Ο μάγος της μπάλας: Βιογραφία [Kostas Nestoridis - The magician of the ball: Biography]. Ankara. ISBN 978-960-422-625-2.

External links[]

• Kostas Nestoridis – FIFA competition record (archived)