Kostas Nestoridis

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 goalscorers in Greek football.

Kostas Nestoridis
Personal information
Full name Konstantinos Nestoridis
Date of birth (1930-03-15) 15 March 1930
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
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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 force 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 emerges champion in its category in EPS Piraeus with Nestoridis scoring 48 goals and becoming its big star. In Ellada Moschatou played until 1948. His career there will end ingloriously, as before the match-final for the championship against Palia Kokkinia begins, a rival fan will recognize Nestoridis and start 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 stays for the first time in his career -as he will follow another after a few years- out of football competitions for a year and in 1949 he decides to join Panionios. There, he will at last find Negrepontis who was the coach at the time and they will form a strong friendship. He will wear the blue and red jersey for 7 years and in 63 appearances he will score 26 goals, 7 of which give 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 in Nea Filadelfeia. In 1951 he was called up for the first time to the Greek national team. Nevertheless, Nestoridis does not spend beautiful days at Panionios. The "cliques" of the older ones consider him a "foreigner" and do not miss the opportunity to fight him, while from the management side he is treated simply as a golden product that at some point will fill the club's coffers by transferring to one of the greats of P.O.K..

AEK Athens

In 1955, AEK organizes a "Solidarity Cup" with the proceeds of which it would complete the projects at its stadium.[3] Panionios also participates in the games and after their end, its management puts unbearable pressure on Nestoridis to transfer to Olympiacos or Panathinaikos. He categorically denies and, faithful to his refugee payments, signs for AEK without the consent of Panionios after actions of the vice-president of AEK, Vassilis Sevastakis. He is punished by the HFF and stays out of competitive activities for two years. Two years that pass 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 sentence and his debut with the yellow and black jersey comes in September 1957. His arrival at AEK coincides 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" will be immediately established in the AEK squad and will grow as a member. He will give a lot to AEK and will generously receive the adoration and admiration from the fans of the club. The legend of the "charmer of the ball" that follows him, will grow by offering incredible images to those who were lucky enough to watch him. The recognition on his face will be universal, exceeding the narrow limits of fanaticism. The admiration and deep bowing of the opponents to the small air ballador will be rendered to the maximum degree and hundreds of epic narratives will accompany 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 emerged 5 times in a row as the top scorer of the Greek championship. 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 gives AEK the title after 23 years and Nestoridis the only Greek Championship he has won. He has also won 1 Greek Cup.

Move to Australia and retirement

In the summer of 1966, Nestoridis "delivers" the yellow and black baton to the worthy hands of the company of Papaioannou, Skevofylakas, Vassilios, Ventouris, Sofianidis, Pomonis, Balopoulos, Stamatiadis and others, who will 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 helps his team to win the title. In all the stadiums where he plays, there is a crowd from the crowds of Greeks of the Greek community but also of Australians who flock 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 straigt 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
Zlatko (Tschik) Čajkovski

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 Tschik's deja vu will be similar of his first term. In the summer of 1982, AEK is being prepared by "Tschik-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 knows the defeat at home by 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 Tschik 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
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Greece League AFCA League Greek Cup Europe Total
1948–49 Panionios Panhellenic Championship 0042000042
1949–50 001441100155
1950–51 30972000147
1951–52 001047100175
1952–53 00852000105
1953–54 001034300146
1954–55 0051330084
1955–56 AEK Athens 0000000000
1956–57 0000000000
1957–58 221211842003722
1958–59 18218451003126
1959–60 Alpha Ethniki 283300610003443
1960–61 282700513443744
1961–62 29290010003029
1962–63 30240034003328
1963–64 24100034212915
1964–65 26170022213020
1965–66 2100000021
Australia League Australia Cup Total
1966 South Melbourne Hellas Victorian State League ??21—00—??21
1967 ??12—00—??11
Greece League AFCA League Greek Cup Europe Total
1967 Vyzas Alpha Ethniki 2000000020
1967–68 Aias Salamina Beta Ethniki 7200000000
Career total 2602087938484486395296

Last updated: 2009-08-31
Source: Kostas Nestoridis at National-Football-Teams.com

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

Source: Kostas Nestoridis at National-Football-Teams.com

Kostas Nestoridis: International goals
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
15 October 1957Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, Athens, Greece France2–12–11958 MC
210 November 1957Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia Yugoslavia3–14–11958 WCQ
318 October 1962Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, Athens, Greece Ethiopia2–03–2Friendly

Summary
ClubCompetitionAppsGoals
Panionios
EPSA6026
Panhellenic Championship30
Greek Cup198
Total8234
AEK Athens
EPSA1912
Panhellenic Championship4033
Alpha Ethniki167141
Greek Cup2936
European Cup44
Cup Winners' Cup42
Total263228
South Melbourne Hellas Total4133
Vyzas Alpha Ethniki20
Total20
Aias Salamina Beta Ethniki72
Total72
Greece International frendlies31
Mediterranean Cup41
FIFA World Cup qualification51
UEFA European Championship qualifying50
Pre Olympic tournament30
Total173
Career Total412299

Honours

AEK Athens

South Melbourne

Individual

Records

References
  1. https://football.aek.com/player/kostas_nestoridis/5
  2. Kolokotsios, Lambros (4 May 2009). Αθλητικοί Φάκελοι (Νεστορίδης) [Sporting Capsules (Nestoridis)] (in Greek). Evrytania News. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011.
  3. http://retroballa.blogspot.com/2015/02/blog-post_7.html
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiPiRGMok0c&hd=1
  5. Maraziotis, Giannis (9 March 2008). Ο θρυλικός "Νέστορας" της ΑΕΚ [The legendary "Nestoras" of AEK] (in Greek). Espresso News. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012.
  6. http://www.kitrinomavro.gr/aekpedia/2015/05/24/nestoras/
  7. https://www.epo.gr/Default.aspx?a_id=40737
  8. https://www.epo.gr/media/files/ETHNIKES_OMADES/MATCH_ANDRES_1929-2000/ethniki_andrwn_1951-55.pdf
  9. http://www.kitrinomavro.gr/aekpedia/2015/05/28/%ce%ba%cf%8e%cf%83%cf%84%ce%b1%cf%82-%ce%bd%ce%b5%cf%83%cf%84%ce%bf%cf%81%ce%af%ce%b4%ce%b7%cf%82-2/
  • 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.
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