.

Stylianos "Stelios" Giannakopoulos (Greek: Στυλιανός "Στέλιος" Γιαννακόπουλος; born 12 July 1974), popularly known as Stelios, is a Greek football manager and former footballer. During his playing career, Giannakopoulos played as an right winger or attacking midfielder and was one of the best known Greek footballers internationally, due to his successful spells with Olympiacos and Bolton Wanderers as well as his appearances with the 2004 European championship-winning Greek national team.

Club career
Early career

Born in Athens, Stelios is the second son of Alekos Giannakopoulos, a retired football player who had enjoyed Division A football in the 1960s. He joined Ethnikos Asteras (the semi-professional club of his neighbourhood Kaisariani) when he was seven years old, later moved for one year to Doxa Vyronas, and finally made his first-team debut for Ethnikos Asteras in the autumn of 1991,[1] in a season which ended with the club gaining promotion to the professional Third Division. Next year, in his opening season as a professional, the young striker found himself scoring six goals and impressing the scouters of clubs that participated in higher divisions. In the summer of 1993 he moved to Paniliakos; he stayed there for three years, scoring 26 goals in 84 games and establishing himself as a member of the national U21 team.
Olympiacos

Stelios Giannakopoulos
Personal information
Stelios playing for Greece in 2008
Full name	Stylianos Giannakopoulos
Date of birth	12 July 1974 (age 46)
Place of birth	Athens, Greece
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Right winger
Youth career
1991	Fostiras Kesarianis
1991–1992	Ethnikos Asteras
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1993	Ethnikos Asteras	32	(6)
1993–1996	Paniliakos	84	(26)
1996–2003	Olympiacos	190	(64)
2003–2008	Bolton Wanderers	137	(20)
2008–2009	Hull City	2	(0)
2009–2010	AEL	19	(3)
Total		464	(119)
National team
1997–2008	Greece	77	(12)
Teams managed
2012–2013	Paniliakos
2016–2018	Kifisia
2019	Greece (assistant)

Honours
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Having attracted the attention of the top clubs, in the summer of 1996 Stelios signed for Olympiacos F.C. at the age of 21. One of Stelios' career highlights came in only his second season with the club when he prestigiously scored Olympiacos' first ever Champions League goal against Porto.[2] The stunning 40-meter lob was voted as the goal of the competition by fans[3] and also led to Olympiacos' first ever win in the competition. Olympiacos won the Greek championship in every single season while Stelios was with them and reached the quarter finals of the Champions League during the 1998–99 season. His reputation as a player was cemented in his last and most successful season with the club when he scored 15 goals, including 2 goals in the title deciding 3–0 win over arch rivals Panathinaikos in May 2003. Stelios spent a total of seven successful seasons there as a regular player, making a total of 189 appearances and scoring 63 goals in all competitions. To this day Giannakopoulos regularly attends special events at his former club and is considered a legend by the fans, notably for the determination he put into every match including the derbies against arch-rivals Panathinaikos and AEK Athens where he scored many of his finest goals.
Bolton Wanderers

However, on 28 May 2003, after ten years of professional football in Greece he was snapped up by English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers. The manager at the time Sam Allardyce described Stelios as "...an attacking midfielder who knows how to score goals. His main attribute remains his ability to make late runs into the penalty area and his flair to shoot accurately from range."[4] It was at this point that the popular name 'Stelios' came about as the player unconventionally chose for his first name to be printed on his shirt instead of his very long (and difficult for the English journalists) surname. He made his Bolton début against Manchester United and helped Bolton reach the 2004 Football League Cup Final and their highest ever Premier League finish in his first season. Stelios' first two seasons with the club were successful, demonstrated by the fact that both Manchester City and Liverpool openly attempted to sign him before he signed a new contract with Bolton in August 2005.[5]

His fine form continued into the 2005–06 season which was Stelios' most successful as he was top scorer for Bolton with 12 goals, an impressive tally for a midfielder. One of the highlights of that season was the winning goal he scored against Arsenal in an FA Cup Fourth round match played at the Reebok Stadium on 28 January 2006. His form dipped slightly in the 2006–07 season where he missed several games through injury and failed to score any goals although he was still a regular player for the club with 28 games.

On 17 March 2006 he was chosen to play in a 50th anniversary game for the pact of Rome and for the participation of Manchester United in UEFA competitions, in a match that took place in Old Trafford. Giannakopoulos played in the second half alongside players such as Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler, Andrea Pirlo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson, Gennaro Gattuso and others against Manchester United in a 4–3 loss.[6]

With Sam Allardyce leaving the club at the start of the 2007–08 season and only a year left on his contract, there were rumours of Stelios moving to another Premier League club or returning to Greece. However Stelios stayed at Bolton and although he was not as regular a player as previous seasons (due to injury and managerial changes) he was able to help Bolton with a string of late goals. The first one during injury time in the League Cup 3rd round tie against Fulham at Craven Cottage, the second one in the UEFA Cup, when Stelios scored in the 3rd minute of injury time to salvage a 1–1 draw against Aris Salonica and the third one in a Premier League game versus Derby when Stelios again scored in injury time to earn Bolton a much needed 3 points in what was a poor season for the team. His last ever goal for Bolton was a crucial one and came on 26 April 2008 when he scored in the 1–1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur helping Bolton avoid relegation.

At the end of the season Stelios was not offered a new contract and was released by the club[7] fuelling speculation that he would be returning to his native Greece and finishing off his career at Olympiacos. However the player confirmed that he would prefer to stay in the Premier League, and was subsequently linked with a move to newly promoted Premier League club Hull City, after interest from their new manager Phil Brown who worked with Stelios at Bolton.[8]
Hull City

On 22 September 2008 it was confirmed by Hull that they had signed Stelios on a one-year deal.[9] Stelios is another player who arrived at Hull City with an impressive track record, having spent 5 years in the Premier League with Bolton and winning Euro 2004 with Greece. He joined the Tigers in 2008, for the club's first ever season in the top flight under Phil Brown.

He made his debut for Hull against Portsmouth exactly 2 months after joining them on 22 November 2008, coming on as a sub in the 82nd minute. Stelios would make one more substitute appearance in the league as well as a full game in the FA cup before he decided to make a further move having been frustrated by his lack of games at Hull.
AEL

On 22 January 2009, six years after his first move to the UK, Stelios returned to Greece by signing for Greek side AEL on a one-and-a-half-year deal.[10] Stelios' impact was instant as the Greek press labeled him the 'most important transfer of the winter period'[11] as he scored 3 crucial goals in his first 4 games to propel Larissa to a top 5 position in the Greek Super League. Larissa were able to maintain this position until the end of the season which qualified them for European competition, something which Stelios admitted was a great achievement and totally unexpected for a smaller team like Larissa and compared it to his time with Bolton.[12] The following season however was not as successful as Stelios struggled with injuries and even courted controversy with some comments he made to the Greek press that were seen as being disloyal his team. He parted company amicably with Larissa on 12 December 2009, six months before his contract would have officially ended.
International career

Stelios made his international debut on 12 March 1997 in a friendly game against Cyprus. His first international goal came almost two years later on 5 February 1999 in a friendly game against Belgium. He fell out of favour slightly in 2000 and 2001 featuring in only 3 games in 2 years however cemented his place in the team from 2002 onwards, featuring in every single game of the EURO 2004 qualifiers. One of his most important and memorable goals with the Greek national team was during those qualifiers; Stelios scoring the only goal in a 1–0 away victory against Spain in Zaragoza, in a game which ensured automatic qualification for Greece. He was also one of the key players in the victorious team at the 2004 European Football Championship playing in 4 out of 6 games including the final. Following this success, Giannakopoulos would remain a key part of the national team, becoming Greece's top scorer in their failed 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. He was also amongst the squad that unsuccessfully defended their title at the Euro 2008 competition. His last game for the national team came during that competition, in the 2–1 defeat against Spain on 18 June 2008. Stelios had scored a total of 12 goals for the national team; an interesting statistic being that Greece had won all but one of the games in which Stelios had scored in.
Managerial career and life after football

On 25 May 2010 Stelios was voted as president of the Greek Professional Footballers Association, taking over from his former teammate Antonios Nikopolidis.[13] He started his managerial career on 13 August 2012 after taking charge of his old team Paniliakos F.C.[14] in Football League 2 (Greece). Paniliakos fired Stelios Giannakopoulos on 20 January 2013. Other managerial stints followed including a short spell with A.E._Kifisia_F.C. in 2016[15] and assisting the national team manager Angelos Anastasiadis during his position as the Greek national team coach in 2018/19.[16]

There were some well publicised but short-lived rumours in 2015 that Stelios was leading a consortium in order to take over the financially troubled Bolton Wanderers but they did not materialise.[17]

Stelios has been a vocal critic of how football is run in Greece, in March 2015 he said in an interview with BBC sport that he feared continued violence at games threatened the future of the sport in his country. The Greek government had suspended professional football play three times that season because of violence at matches. "Football people like myself, we are little bit concerned about football in Greece in the future," said Stelios. He also added: "We need support from UEFA, from [world players' union] FIFPro and of course we need support from the Greek government, which is completely new. All these [should] sit down together at the same table and take some decisions."[18]
Career statistics
Club
Club League Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other* Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ethnikos Asteras Football League 2 Greece 1992–93 32 6 32 6
Total 32 6 32 6
Paniliakos F.C. Football League Greece 1993–94 26 9 26 9
1994–95 31 10 31 10
Superleague Greece 1995–96 27 7 27 7
Total 84 26 84 26
Olympiacos F.C. 1996–97 31 7 31 7
1997–98 31 3 7 1 38 4
1998–99 23 7 10 3 33 10
1999–00 29 10 6 2 35 12
2000–01 26 11 6 0 32 11
2001–02 21 11 5 2 26 12
2002–03 29 15 6 1 35 16
Total 190 64 40 9 230 72
Bolton Wanderers Premier League 2003–04 31 2 2 0 6 2 39 4
2004–05 34 7 2 1 2 0 38 8
2005–06 34 9 4 2 2 0 6 1 46 12
2006–07 23 0 3 0 2 0 28 0
2007–08 15 2 1 0 2 1 8 1 26 4
Total 137 20 12 3 14 3 14 2 177 28
Hull City 2008–09 2 0 1 0 3 0
AEL Superleague Greece 2008–09 9 3 6 0 15 3
2009–10 10 0 10 0
Total 19 3 6 0 25 3
Career total 464 119 13 3 14 3 54 11 6 0 551 136

*Other includes European qualifying rounds and league play-offs

Statistics accurate as of 12 December 2009
International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 5 February 1999 GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus Belgium 1–0 Win Friendly
2 10 March 1999 Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece Croatia 3–2 Win Friendly
3 10 March 1999 Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece Croatia 3–2 Win Friendly
4 12 May 2002 Fotis Kosmas Stadium, Alexandroupolis, Greece Romania 3–2 Win Unofficial Friendly[19]
5 21 August 2002 Farul Stadium, Constanța, Romania Romania 0–1 Win Friendly
6 7 June 2003 La Romareda, Zaragoza, Spain Spain 0–1 Win UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
7 20 August 2003 Idrottsparken, Norrköping, Sweden Sweden 1–2 Win Friendly
8 4 September 2004 Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania Albania 2–1 Loss World Cup 2006 qualifying
9 26 March 2005 Lokomotivi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia Georgia 1–3 Win World Cup 2006 qualifying
10 7 September 2005 Tsentralny Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 1–2 Win World Cup 2006 qualifying
11 16 November 2005 Karaiskaki Stadium, Athens, Greece Hungary 2–1 Win Friendly
12 1 March 2006 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Kazakhstan 2–0 Win Friendly
Honours
Club

Paniliakos

Beta Ethniki: 1994-1995

Olympiacos

Super League Greece: 1996-1997, 1997-1998, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003
Greek Cup: 1998-1999 | runner-up: 2000-2001, 2001-2002

Bolton Wanderers F.C

Football League Cup runners-up: 2003–04

International

Greece

UEFA Euro 2004: Champions

Individual

Greek Footballer of the Year: 2003
Greek Second Division best player: 1995

Awards
Preceded by
Demis Nikolaidis Best Greek player
2003 Succeeded by
Dimitris Papadopoulos
Preceded by
– Greek Second Division best player
1995 Succeeded by
Mohammad Afash
References

"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2008. Official site of Doxa Vyrona
Olympiacos beat Porto Athens News Agency
Giannakopoulos profile Archived 11 September 2012 at Archive.today redplanet.gr
Stelios Giannakopoulos profile Archived 22 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine 4THEGAME.com
Stelios commits future to Bolton BBC article, August 2005
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
Bolton to release trio
Hull keen on Greek international BBC article, June 2008
Hull agree to sign Giannakopoulos BBC article, September 2008
"Stelios joins Larissa". Sky Sports. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
Stelios Giannakopoulos MVP on match day 22 in.gr article, February 2009
Stelios end of season interview[permanent dead link] sportgate.gr, May 2009
Stelios appointed as president contra.gr, May 2010
Giannakopoulos new coach at Paniliakos Archived 16 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine Greek sports news article, August 2012
[1]
[2]
[3]
Football in Greece: Stelios 'concerned for future' BBC Sport, 28 March 2015

Alexander Mastrogiannopoulos (4 July 2006). "Greece – International Matches 2001–2006 (Note: Romania used the "B" Team)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved March 2008. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

External links

Stelios Giannakopoulos at Soccerbase Edit this at Wikidata

Awards

vte

Football League Greece Footballer of the Year

1993: Kyzeridis 1994: Niniadis 1995: Giannakopoulos 1996: Kyparissis 1997: Martineos 1998: Krunić 1999: Chatzinikolaou 2000: Sourlis 2001: Andriadakis 2002: Angelopoulos 2003: Zacharopoulos 2004: Pappas 2005: Sentementes 2006: Ogunsoto 2007: Solakis 2008: Anastasakos 2009: Soultanidis 2010: Theodoridis 2011: Theodoridis 2012: Kadi 2013: Romano 2014: Neofytos & Pourtoulidis 2015: Aravidis & Pourtoulidis 2016: Kouskounas 2017: Vasilogiannis 2018: Manos 2019: Mantzis

vte

Super League Greece Greek Footballer of the Year

1995: Georgiadis 1996: Tsiartas 1997: Nikolaidis 1998: Nikolaidis 1999: Georgatos 2000: Liberopoulos 2001: Alexandris 2002: Nikolaidis 2003: Giannakopoulos 2004: D. Papadopoulos 2005: Katsouranis 2006: Liberopoulos 2007: Liberopoulos 2008: Salpingidis 2009: Salpingidis 2010: Torosidis 2011: A. Papadopoulos 2012: Mitroglou 2013: D. Papadopoulos 2014: D. Papadopoulos 2015: Kaltsas 2016: Fortounis 2017: Mantalos 2018: Christodoulopoulos 2019: Fortounis 2020: Tsimikas

vte

Greek Footballer of the Year

Greece squads

vte

Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2004 winners (1st title)

1 Nikopolidis 2 Seitaridis 3 Venetidis 4 Dabizas 5 Dellas 6 Basinas 7 Zagorakis (c) 8 Giannakopoulos 9 Charisteas 10 Tsiartas 11 Nikolaidis 12 Chalkias 13 Katergiannakis 14 Fyssas 15 Vryzas 16 Kafes 17 Georgiadis 18 Goumas 19 Kapsis 20 Karagounis 21 Katsouranis 22 Papadopoulos 23 Lakis Coach: Rehhagel

Greece

vte

Greece squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup

1 Nikopolidis 2 Seitaridis 3 Vyntra 4 Tavlaridis 5 Kyrgiakos 6 Basinas 7 Zagorakis (c) 8 Giannakopoulos 9 Charisteas 10 Tsiartas 11 Papadopoulos 12 Chalkias 13 Sifakis 14 Fyssas 15 Vryzas 16 Kafes 17 Amanatidis 18 Goumas 19 Kapsis 20 Karagounis 21 Katsouranis 22 Gekas 23 Lakis Coach: Rehhagel

Greece

vte

Greece squad – UEFA Euro 2008

1 Nikopolidis 2 Seitaridis 3 Patsatzoglou 4 Spyropoulos 5 Dellas 6 Basinas (c) 7 Samaras 8 Giannakopoulos 9 Charisteas 10 Karagounis 11 Vyntra 12 Chalkias 13 Tzorvas 14 Salpingidis 15 Torosidis 16 Kyrgiakos 17 Gekas 18 Goumas 19 Antzas 20 Amanatidis 21 Katsouranis 22 Tziolis 23 Liberopoulos Coach: Rehhagel

Greece

vte

Paniliakos F.C. – managers

Rocha (1989–90) Georgiadis (1994–96) Argyroulisc (1996) Kyrastas (1996) Daniil (1996–97) Ravousis (1997) Raptisc (1997) Kyrastas (1997–99) Tennes (1999–2000) Raptisc (2000) Haan (2000) Katsavakis (2000) Tsiolis (2000) Krmpotić (2000–01) Paraschos (2001) Raptisc (2001) Polychroniou (2001) Papachristou (2001) Tsiolis (2001–04) Papachristou (2004) Vangopoulos (2004–05) Papadopoulos (2005) Pavlopoulosc (2005) Dalakouras (2005) Mavromatis (2005–06) Christoudisc (2006) Vangopoulos (2006–07) Ilić (2007) Vlastos (2010) Antoniou (2011–12) Giannakopoulos (2012–13) Vangopoulosc (2013) Gofas (2013) Vangopoulosc (2013) Antoniou (2013) Dimitriou (2013) Vangopoulosc (2013) Vouzas (2013–14) Pantelis (2014) Cavallo (2014) Perillic (2014) Fyntanis (2014–15) Kourbanas (2017) Koutsis (2017–18) Lagos (2018) Digozis (2018–19) Louskos (2019–20) Theodorakopoulos (2020–)

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