Emilios Theofanidis (Greek: Αιμίλιος Θεοφανίδης; 30 November 1939 – 7 February 1999) was a Greek professional footballer who played as midfielder and a later manager.

Club career

Theofanidis started football from Aris Ptolemaidas where he distinguished himself competing in the second division,^[1] while in 1963 he emerged as the top scorer in his respective group.^[2]

In the summer of 1963, he took the big step of his career by transferring to the then Greek champion, AEK Athens.^[3] With the yellow-blacks, he played for 2 years, making his debut in the first division and remarkably, participated in both matches against Monaco for the qualifying phase of the European Cup,^[4][5] even scoring and 1 goal in the second leg in Athens on 2 October 1963 which ended 1–1.^[6] During his spell in the club he won a Greek Cup in 1964.^[7]

In the summer of 1965, he transferred to PAOK, where he played for 5 seasons^[8] and played in the first 2 European matches in the history of the club against the Wiener Sport-Club for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1965. He was also a finalist of the Greek Cup in the period 1970.^[9]

After football

After the end of his football career Theofanidis worked as a coach and among other things, in the infrastructure departments of PAOK and at Aris Ptolemaidas^[10] He died on 7 February 1999 at the age of 59. The Municipal Stadium of Ptolemaida has been named in his honor.^[11]

Honours

AEK Athens

• Greek Cup: 1963–64

Individual

• Beta Ethniki top scorer: 1962–63 (4th Group)

References