Aris Papadopoulos started his professional career with
Aris in 2003 after stepping up from the Aris Youth with another promising attacking youngster, his friend Ethimios Pantelidis. Before, he had been with Digenis Lakkomatos Chalkidiki youth. At the beginning of his career, he started as a striker or attacking midfielder. In the period between 2003 and summer 2006, Aris lived some darker days of their history in Greek football also tangled with a defensive philosophy of football, financial problems in the club, Papadopoulos experienced some gradual "demotions" into the more defensive positions by his coaches. Firstly into defensive midfielder, then also right back and finally central defender. He is quite tall, with very tough body constitution, but not slow for his physical appearance, with pretty good awareness and tackling, sometimes reckless which leads him to getting yellow cards, but also this can be partially explained by more attacking football of the post-2006 Aris that can expose a defender like Papadopoulos to the situations of must-break the opponents' attacks. The scorer of several goals through his career generally by his strong headers and penalties. The best example is his only goal/header in the final qualifiers with
Zaragoza in the
UEFA Cup group stage at the
Kleanthis Vikelidis stadium, which, at the end of the day, turned out to be the crucial and historic goal after Aris' loss 2–1 in Spain that ensured Aris the progression to the group stage. Yet he has been sent up in front, whenever Aris needed an extra striker in the dying minutes of matches. As an "Aris kid" playing for his beloved club, but also with the fact that he experienced dark days as well as lighter, he was one of the fans' favourites logically, also one of the "last Mohicans" in the club ("Mohicans"- figuratively related to the players as
Giorgios Koltsidas,
Kostas Nebegleras, Papadopoulos,
Georgios Gougoulias,
Ronald Nacho Garcia,
Efthimios Kouloucheris,
Kristi Vangjeli,
Petros Passalis,
Spyros Gogolos, that were with this team in the
second division, season 2005/06, as well as the season's after that, when the club experienced its promotion and then a total rebirth in the first division with good football and higher standing positions). Aris' number 4 was also known for his passion. For many years' transfer windows he used to be linked to Athenian giants (especially
Olympiacos) by media/usually the sports news-papers, but yet had never changed his club, by then. Also as stories were circulating during the season (2006/07), he had been watched closely by some bigger clubs' scouts like
Benfica or
Chelsea, and
Zenit of Russia as well. In last season of his residence in
Thessaloniki before moving into
Piraeus, he was considered one of the Aris top stars along with
Sergio Koke, Ronald Nacho Garcia and experienced ex-super star and big
Marcio Amoroso. At the end of the 2007–08 season, after three offers, he refused to renew his contract up to 2013, although he had previously expressed a likelihood to renew. That act, which took its culmination right after he accepted to join
Olympiacos, caused many Aris fans to rage at him pronouncing the same as a traitor to them.
Olympiacos On 4 July 2008 the player was transferred to
Olympiacos for 2.5 million euros on a four-year contract. Avraam stated this during a press conference, "
I came to Olympiacos, and not Panathinaikos, because it was the best choice for me. The ideal choice. I would not like to say anything else and it does not make sense to talk about the past. I will work as hard as I can to make the team reach its goals and objectives in both Europe and Greece". Papadopoulos made his debut against
Anorthosis Famagusta FC in a 3–0 away loss. He finished 2008–09 season with 22 league matches. He started the next season by scoring against
ŠK Slovan Bratislava in a 0–2 away win. This was his first goal for Olympiacos. He managed to score a crucial goal against
PAOK in a 1–2 away win. He also scored against
AEK Athens F.C. in a 1–2 home loss. He completed 28 league appearances and he scored 2 goals. His partnership with
Olof Mellberg at the centre of defence played a vital role for Olympiacos as they won back-to-back championships in the
2010–11 and
2011–12 seasons. On 24 June 2011 he was accused by the Athens prosecutor for his alleged involvement in match-fixing, as the list of those implicated in the scandal that has rocked Greek football grew. Papadopoulos, who played for champions Olympiacos, was also included in the list along with another high profile player,
Kostas Mendrinos, who is on the books of Aris. Finally, he was acquitted by these allegations by the Five Member Court of Appeal of Athens. Following his injury in the
Euro 2012 tournament, it was revealed that Papadopoulos had torn his
ACL. After an eight-month absence, Papadopoulos returned to play by entering as a substitute for
Kostas Manolas on the 46th minute of a 1–0 victory over
Kavala on 30 January 2013. On 10 March 2013 he managed to score 2 goals against
AEK Athens F.C. in a 3–0 home win. With that win Olympiacos claimed the 40th champion in his history. He also scored in the final match of the season, against
Panionios in a 2–1 home win after an assist of
Ariel Ibagaza. Papadopoulos' injury issues were a constant companion during the 2013/14 season. That year, the club's captain was mired by various mishaps, but even so, he managed to show off what "metal" is made of.
Trabzonspor Avraam Papadopoulos took a swipe at coach
Michel after sealing a free transfer to
Trabzonspor. The 29-year-old was club captain for the Greek champions and had been a pivotal figure since joining in 2008. However, his last season saw
Dimitris Siovas break into the first-team and Papadopoulos became a somewhat peripheral figure at the Karaiskakis Stadium. The Greece international took the time to praise Olympiacos president Evangelos Marinakis, but revealed that his relationship with Spanish coach Michel was beyond repair after completing his move to Turkey.
"I want to thank wholeheartedly the president of Olympiacos, Mr Marinakis, and the management who respected my desire, despite strong disagreement, to leave the club for a new challenge," said Papadopoulos in an open letter on the club's official website. On 1 September 2014 Trabzonspor landed the former Greek international from Olympiacos. Papadopoulos was set to be the center of fans attention, with the veteran midfielder becoming only the second Greek player to play in Turkey's top-flight, following
Theofanis Gekas.
Shanghai Shenhua On 23 January 2015 Trabzonspor transferred Papadopoulos to
Shanghai Shenhua for €285,000, he signed a contract until 30 December 2016. He became the first ever
Greek footballer to play in the
Chinese Super League. On 15 August 2015, in an away 2–2 draw against the champions
Guangzhou Evergrande, he managed to score the second goal, helping his club to avoid defeat. On 20 February 2016, due to the reorganization of the team and the acquisitions of
Demba Ba and
Obafemi Martins in combination with the limitation of foreign players, forced the Greek international to dissolve his contract with the club. On 23 February 2016 it was rumoured that
Atromitos were interested in signing the central defender who was recently released by
Shanghai Greenland Shenhua.
Júbilo Iwata On 18 May 2016 Papadopoulos continued his career at
J1 League club
Júbilo Iwata, for an undisclosed fee. He became the first Greek footballer to play in the
J1 League. On 18 June 2016 he made his debut with the club in a 1–0 away loss against
Shonan Bellmare. On 24 August 2016, he scored his first goal with the club, sealing a 3–2 away win against rivals
Avispa Fukuoka. On 5 November 2016, after six months, they mutually terminated their contract.
Brisbane Roar On 14 February 2017 Papadopoulos joined Australian
A-League club
Brisbane Roar until the end of the season, as an injury replacement for
Daniel Bowles, who was sidelined for at least 10 months with a serious knee injury. Despite representing Greece, the central defender has an Australian passport and is therefore not counted as a visa player. On 5 March 2017 he made his debut with the club in a 3–1 away win against
Newcastle Jets. On 22 June 2017, the club has retained the ex-international defender's services for another 12 months after his midseason arrival early this year. Melbourne-born Papadopoulos played seven games at centre-back during the semi-finalists' 2016–17 season, providing cover for
Luke De Vere and
Jade North. On 28 October 2017,
Wellingthon's keeper
Smith failed to properly deal with a
Fahid Ben Khalfallah free-kick, with defender Papadopoulos taking the rebound on the spot to score his first A-League goal, in a 3–3 away draw. On 17 November 2017, Papadopoulos scored the opener and the clincher for the
Brisbane Roar as they climbed off the bottom of the ladder in a 3–1 home win game against
Melbourne City FC. He could have had a hat-trick from another goal-bound header before half-time but
Stefan Mauk managed to clear it off the line. On 25 November 2017, in the last quarter of the game, Papadopoulos spat at Sydney FC striker
Matt Simon, who retaliated, Avraam went to ground covering his face, resulting in Matt Simon's dismissal. The incident saw the Roar make a statement shortly after the game panning the actions of Avraam that marred the club's 3–1 A-League loss, against
Sydney FC. On 8 December 2017, Papadopoulos was given a seven-match ban by the A-League judiciary for spitting on Sydney FC's Matt Simon. The defender's ban included the one match he had already served, when he sat out the Roar's 2–0 win over
Western Sydney Wanderers FC. On 12 January 2018, he returned to the squad in a 1–0 away loss against
Newcastle Jets FC. A week later, Papadopoulos scored, he put the hosts ahead and kept their slim A-League finals hopes alive with a 3–2 win over fellow battlers
Perth Glory. On 6 March 2018, he suffered a very serious left ankle injury during team training. He underwent surgery in Brisbane and was out of action for four months. On 27 January 2019, Papadopoulos is reportedly close to sealing a fairytale return to Greek giants Olympiacos. The 34 year old has not played in the A-League since matchday 9, through an ankle injury and may not play for Brisbane again if reports are to be believed.
Return to Olympiacos On 28 January 2019, Olympiacos revealed that veteran defender Avraam Papadopoulos has returned to the club for a six-month contract. On 17 July 2022 Olympiacos renewned the contract with Papadopoulos for another 3 years.
Retirement On 1 August 2022, Papadopoulos officially announced his retirement from professional football. ==International career==