Andreas Stamatiadis

Stamatiadis was born on 16 August 1935 in the refugee slum of Petralona. Child of a poor family, with an Asia Minor refugee father and mother from Mani, he met and experienced the German Occupation and its aftermath at a young age. Like many children of his generation, he too found a way out of the problems of everyday life by playing football in the abundant playgrounds of the neighborhood. ==Playing career==

Club Stamatiadis started playing football in 1947 at AE Melandias. In 1950, at the age of 15, he signed a sport's card for Sparta Petralona, but a mistake in the signing of the card by the secretary of the club, essentially canceled his card. Then his father, Dimitris with the then manager of Sparta Petralona, Mimis Seltsikas, took him for a trial to the academy of AEK Athens at Nea Filadelfeia. Stamatiadis who was encouraged by his father and was a supporter of the yellow-blacks, eventually became a member of their academies. The experienced manager of the men's team, Jack Beby, immediately recognized his potential and with appropriate advice and guidance helped his development and establishment as a left winger, where he flourished during the rich of his career acquiring the nickname "the Arrow" (''''). Beby's successor, Mario Magnozzi, gave him the opportunity to play for the first time in 1952 in a derby against Olympiacos. Thus, Stamatiadis managed to compete in two matches alongside his childhood idol, Kleanthis Maropoulos, before the latter, retired as a footballer. For the following 15 years, he became one of the main players of the yellow-blacks, taking over the captaincy of the team from Giannis Kanakis and until the moment he passed it to Mimis Papaioannou, becoming the longest serving captain of AEK. Proof of his leadership skills was the respect he enjoyed from his teammates from time to time, as well as the trust shown in his person by the respective administrations and managers for his composure, equanimity and rationality. As a captain, he won 2 championships, as well as the Greek Cup in 1966, while the Cup in 1956 was also to his achievements. He was a regular of the Athens Mixed Team selections during the 1950s. On 3 December 1967 in a 4–1 away victory over Olympiacos, his ultimately fruitless attempt to "admonish" in the middle of the match the young and hyperbole Spyros Pomonis, in order to simplify his way of playing for AEK to reach an even wider dominance, instead of his insistence on ridiculing the personal opponent, Orestis Pavlidis. Pomonis eventually insisted on humiliating his opponent and AEK missed the opportunity for a wider score against the red and whites and Pavlidis took the decision that the role of referee suited him better, by retiring as a footballer. He was one of the main players of the team that won second place in the Balkans Cup in 1967, losing only in the final by Fenerbahçe. In his last season with the club, they reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup. On 18 May 1969, he played for the last time in the 2–1 victory over Veria, where AEK won a penalty and was awarded to him by his teammates. Stamatis, charged by the emotions of the moment missed the penalty. In the summer of 1969, in the context of a general renewal of the club's roster by the manager Branko Stanković, he decided to retire at the age of 34, due to his intention to not compete for any other club. International Stamatiadis had a total of eight appearances with Greece. He made his debut at the age of 19, on 8 March 1954 in a 2–0 away victory over Israel in the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. His last appearance was on 27 November 1963 against Cyprus in an away friendly match. ==Managerial career==

The former manager of Stamatiadis at AEK, Jenő Csaknády, with whom he shared mutual respect and family friendship, having recognized his abilities and high level of perception, encouraged him to get involved in coaching and helped him attend coaching schools and obtain a diploma. The first team he undertook was Rodos in 1969, where he spent one season. The following season, he became the manager of Trikala, where under his instructions they got the promotion to the first division. In the summer of 1971, Stamatiadis took the wheel of Lamia and he guided them semi-finals of the Cup, which is their best campaign in the tournament. In 1973 signed at Anagennisi Karditsa, where he spent a year before joining Chalkida. On 19 June 1975 Stamatiadis returned to AEK and took charge of the club's academies. On 19 July 1976 he was promoted to the assistant of František Fadrhonc. In his first season in his new position, AEK reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. On 23 September 1977, when the Czech was fired, Stamatiadis took charge of the team's bench until a replacement was found, achineving 3 wins in the same number of matches. On 11 October, when Zlatko Čajkovski was hired as the replacement for Fadrhonc, he kept his position as the assistant manager. At the end of the season AEK reached the conquest of the domestic double. In the following season Stamatiadis continued working as his assistant manager next to Ferenc Puskás. When the Hungarian manager was removed from the technical leadership of the club on 17 March 1979, he stepped at again as the head coach until the end of the season with the task of keeping the team at the top of the standings, something that he eventually achieved, while at the same time he reached the Cup final, losing 3–1 to Panionios. In the summer of 1979, after his tenure at AEK was over, Stamatiadis took over as the manager of Atromitos, where he secured the league title in second division, while in 1980 he sat for the first time on the bench of Egaleo in the second division, keeping them in the category. The following season, he claimed the promotion to the first division, which he did not secure in the end, as he was defeated by Rodos of Michalis Bellis in a draw, at the stadium of Heraklion, with 1–0 loss in at the extra time. In 1981 Stamatiadis was the coach of Diagoras for a year and in the summer of 1982 he returned to Egaleo. The team from the western suburbs won the last championship of the South and were promoted to the first division. In 1985 he returned to Atromitos for a season and then coached Acharnaikos. In 1986, he was the manager of Greece U21 for six years. During his years they reached the final of the 1988 European U21 Championship, against France. From 1992 on, he worked time to time the infrastructure departments of AEK, while for several years he was the director of these departments, a position from which he left in 2013, when he was replaced by Akis Zikos. ==After football==

Stamatiadis continuously participated in the events of the Veterans Association of AEK Athens, where he also served as their president, while bequeathing his adoration for the club to his two sons, Dimitris and Kostas, who are actively involved with AEK Amateur sections offering from administrative positions their services to the club. On 28 February 2024 at Agia Sophia Stadium, before the match of AEK against PAS Giannina, he was honoured with the "golden double-headed eagle" by Dimitris Melissanidis for his services to the club. ==Personal life and death==

Stamatiadis was married and had two sons. He died after series of health issues in Athens, on 23 January 2025, at the age of 89. ==Style of play==

Stamatiadis was a fast and technically proficient winger, operated mainly close to the touchline. He was capable of cutting inside and threatening the opposition goal with powerful shots. He was also a key provider of assists for AEK Athens, with many goals scored by the team's main strikers, which came from his passes. Furthermore Stamatiadis was a natural leader, was known for his composure and clear thinking in difficult situations. He inspired confidence in his teammates and earned the respect of his opponents. With strong awareness of the game, he was able to quickly identify mistakes and often guided his teammates on the pitch like a manager. ==Career statistics==

Club International ==Honours==

Player AEK Athens • Alpha Ethniki: 1962–63, 1967–68 • Greek Cup: 1955–56, 1963–64, 1965–66 Individual • Greek Cup top scorer: 1956–57 Manager Trikala • Beta Ethniki: 1970–71 (Group B) AEK Athens • Alpha Ethniki: 1978–79 Atromitos • Beta Ethniki: 1979–80 Egaleo • Beta Ethniki: 1982–83 Greece U21 • UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 1998 ==See also==