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Nikos Sevastopoulos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nikos Sevastopoulos
Personal information
Full name Nikolaos Sevastopoulos
Date of birth (1945-02-26)26 February 1945[1]
Place of birth Tavros, Athens, Greece[1]
Date of death 2 October 2026(2026-10-02) (aged 81)[1]
Place of death Athens, Greece
Positions
Youth career
1956–1957 Panthisaikos
1957–1967 AEK Athens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1969 AEK Athens 20 (4)
1964 → Hellenic (loan)
1967–1968 → Hellenic (loan)
1969 → Hellenic (loan)
1969–1981 Vyzas Megara
1974 → Toronto Homer (loan)
1975–1976 → Windsor Stars (loan) 8 (0)
1976 →Toronto Metros-Croatia (loan) 3 (0)
International career
1963 Greece U19 4 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nikos Sevastopoulos (Greek: Νίκος Σεβαστόπουλος; 26 February 1945 – 2 October 2026) was a Greek professional footballer who played as a forward.[1]

Club career

[edit]

Early career

[edit]

Sevastopoulos was involved in football from a young age, playing with his peers in the arenas of Tavros. At the age of 11 in 1956, he joined the local Panthisaikos, where he played for a season. Afterwards, he went for a trial in the youth departments of AEK Athens with the people in charge there, Christos Ribas and Georgios Daispangos. Both were impressed by the potential and abilities of the 12-year-old Sevastopoulos and immediately enrolled him in the academies of the club, where he continuously participated as a main player in the youth divisions. In 1963, they won the youth championship, alongside the conquest of the Greek Championship by the senior team, while he was already playing as a key player in the youth national team.[2]

AEK Athens

[edit]

In the summer of 1963, Heinrich Müller promoted him to the senior team, and on 13 October 1963, he made his debut in a 0–0 away draw against Iraklis. However, his refusal of the proposal of Kleanthis Maropoulos to work as an employee in the sporting goods store he maintained alongside Tryfon Tzanetis put him out of favor. Maropoulos, being the selector of the national team and General Captain of AEK, removed him from the senior team and sent him to the youth team, which frustrated Sevastopoulos. His disappointment made him provocative on the pitch, and in a match against Ethnikos Piraeus after a hard tackle, he engaged in a fight with his opponent Chatziioannidis, and he was punished with a four-month ban.[2]

During this period, the president of Hellenic from Cape Town came to Greece with the task of rejoining his club the player of Fostiras, Deimezis. The player refused, and as he was looking for a replacement, he found Sevastopoulos, who was punished and could not compete in Greece, while the absence of the professional South African League from FIFA gave the opportunity for such a move. Sevastopoulos went to Cape Town initially for four months, but his spell eventually reached nine months. During his stay there, the club arranged a friendly against Real Madrid of Ferenc Puskás, Amancio Amaro, Francisco Gento and Pirri. They lost by 4–0, but Sevastopoulos impressed the people of Real Madrid, who arranged through their manager for him to visit Madrid the following year for a trial. However, his trip to Spain never occurred, as in December 1964 he returned to Greece to do his military service.[2][3]

His spell in South Africa increased the spite of Maropoulos towards him, and his sideline from AEK continued for as long as his term in the army. In April 1967, after he was released from military service, he returned to the senior team[4]. The Coup d'état of 21 April and the consolidation of the military dictatorship, which resulted in the removal of Maropoulos as the selector of the national team. Sevastopoulos left for South Africa again, planning for a permanent stay. However, the change of the regime in Greece delayed the process of issuing a green card for his stay in South Africa, and after months of waiting in Zimbabwe and Zambia, he returned to Greece on 9 June 1968.[2][5]

The manager of the yellow-blacks, Branko Stanković, was impressed by his skills and gave him a place in the squad. He quickly became part of the main squad and was one of their main players in their course to the quarter-finals of the European Cup,[6] scoring in the first quarter-final against Spartak Trnava at Spartak Stadium on 26 February 1969, the day he celebrated his 24th birthday.[7] The difficulty in the payment of the players by the then management caused a new reaction by Sevastopoulos, who again sought to leave for Cape Town. The junta commissioner who had been placed by the regime in the club initially withheld his passport, preventing him from leaving until April 1969. Then he managed to leave and remained in South Africa until 15 September of the same year. His return to Nea Filadelfeia was met with closed doors.[8] Stanković had realized that he was dealing with an unprofessional and undisciplined footballer, and despite his stunning performances, he terminated his contract with the club.[2]

Later career

[edit]

On 24 September, Sevastopoulos signed Vyzas Megara alongside his teammates at AEK, Christos Antonopoulos and Dimitris Kyrmizas.[9] In the summer of 1974, he moved to Canada to play for Toronto Homer, under the name "Gus Hatoupis".[2][10][11] In 1975, he was acquired by league rivals Windsor Stars, where he appeared in eight matches.[10] He was shortly released by Windsor as the Ontario Soccer Association notified the club of the confusion of his playing name.[10] In 1976, he signed with Toronto Metros-Croatia of the North American Soccer League, where he had the chance to play alongside Eusébio and made three appearances.[2][12][13] Throughout his short tenure with Toronto, he was deemed an ineligible player by the Canadian Soccer Association as he was registered under his legal name, which caused a problem with the HFF, as he failed to get permission to play abroad.[14][15] After the impeachment of Vyzas to FIFA, he returned back to the club of Megara, where he played until 1981 when he retired, at the age of 36.[16]

International career

[edit]

Sevastopoulos played for Greece U19 4 times in the qualifiers and the group stage of the European Championship in 1963.[17][18][19] He scored his only goal in the 7–2 triumph over West Germany at home, on 13 April.[20]

Personal life and death

[edit]

From 1974, Sevastopoulos started working as a bartender at the Hilton Hotel of Athens, alongside his football obligations at Vyzas Megara. He stayed at the Hilton bar until 1997, without missing a break in between, traveling to Canada or Brazil to compete in 5X5 or 6X6 football tournaments with famous veterans from abroad. He later worked in a cosmetics company with his wife.[2][10]

Sevastopoulos died in Athens on 2 October 2026, at the age of 81.[1][21]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Νίκος Σεβαστόπουλος". football.aek.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Chronopoulos, George (26 February 2019). "Συμπαίκτης του Εουσέμπιο, αντίπαλος του Πελέ. Ο Νίκος Σεβαστόπουλος στο Sport-Retro.gr". sport-retro.gr (in Greek).
  3. ↑ Κουμουρτζής, Δημήτρης (5 March 2019). "Οι βετεράνοι ΑΕΚ και Ένωσης Παραλιμνίου έδωσαν ραντεβού στην "Αγιά Σοφιά"". flogasport.gr (in Greek).
  4. ↑ Αργύρης Κοκκινάκης (9 April 1967). "Γεωργιάδης: Γνωρίζουμε τον σκοπό και αργά ή γρήγορα θα τον πετύχουμε!". Athletic Echo (in Greek). p. 2.
  5. ↑ "Γύρισε πίσω ο «Πελέ» της ΑΕΚ Σεβαστόπουλος". Athletic Echo (in Greek). 14 June 1969. pp. 1, 6.
  6. ↑ Καζαντζόγλου, Σταύρος (15 June 2019). "1968/69: Η πρώτη ελληνική ομάδα σε ευρωπαϊκή οκτάδα, η απογοήτευση εντός συνόρων". enwsi.gr (in Greek).
  7. ↑ "Spartak Trnava-AEK UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.
  8. ↑ Αργύρης Κοκκινάκης (16 September 1969). "Η ΑΕΚ απέστειλε εις την ΕΠΟ τον πίνακα των 26 παικτών". Athletic Echo (in Greek). p. 5.
  9. ↑ Μίμης Βαζογιάννης (25 September 1969). "Οι Σεβαστόπουλος, Κουβάς επέτυχον ανά 3 γκολ στον νικηφόρον αγώνα του Βύζαντος με τον Ορφέα Αιγ. 8-1". Athletic Echo (in Greek). p. 4.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Hall, Dave (17 May 1976). "Growing pains are subsiding". Windsor Star. p. 22.
  11. ↑ "Homer romps over Ukraina". Toronto Star. 29 May 1974. p. D4.
  12. ↑ "NASL-Nick Sevastopoulos". nasljerseys.com. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "Mefros face tough soccer test in match with Glasgow Rangers". The Globe and Mail. 26 May 1976. p. S5.
  14. ↑ "Alias may turn Metros' victory into a defeat". Toronto Star. 30 April 1976. p. C2.
  15. ↑ "Η περιπετειώδης καριέρα του Νίκου Σεβαστόπουλου". koinoniki.gr (in Greek). 21 October 2014.
  16. ↑ "Νίκος Σεβαστόπουλος". aekpedia.com.
  17. ↑ "Macedonia 7 March 1963". efimeris.nlg.gr.
  18. ↑ "Macedonia 14 March 1963". efimeris.nlg.gr.
  19. ↑ "Eleftheria 6 April 1963". efimeris.nlg.gr.
  20. ↑ "Eleftheria 14 April 1963". efimeris.nlg.gr.
  21. ↑ Gotzias, Christos (2 October 2026). "Πέθανε ο Νίκος Σεβαστόπουλος" [Nikos Sevastopoulos died]. sport24.gr. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
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