Manolis Papadopoulos

Manolis Papadopoulos (Greek: Μανώλης Παπαδόπουλος; 22 April 1968 – 16 May 2025) was a Greek professional football player who played as a defender and manager.^[1]

Manolis Papadopoulos

Personal information
Full name	Emmanouil Papadopoulos
Date of birth	(1968-04-22)22 April 1968
Place of birth	Livadia, Greece
Date of death	16 May 2025(2025-05-16) (aged 57)
Place of death	Livadia, Greece
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1989	Olympiacos	4	(0)
1989–1992	→Ionikos (loan)	61	(0)
1992–1995	AEK Athens	56	(0)
1995–1997	Apollon Athens	30	(0)
1997–1999	Ethnikos Piraeus	47	(0)
1999	PAS Giannina
1999–2001	Kozani
2001–2002	Chaidari
Total		198	(0)
International career
1992	Greece	1	(0)
Managerial career
2005	Kerkyra (caretaker)
2005	Pamisos Messini
2005–2007	AE Giannena
2007–2008	Lamia
2011–2012	AEK Athens U20
2012–2013	AEK Athens (assistant)
2013	Proodeftiki
2014	Egaleo
2015–2016	APO Kanaris Nenita
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Papadopoulos started his career in 1986 at Olympiacos. In the summer of 1989 he was loaned to Ionikos, where he was established as a regular.

His performances earned him a transfer to the Greek champions, AEK Athens, in the summer of 1992. He was used mainly as a substitute, but sometimes he made it to the starting line-up, especially when Dušan Bajević used a formation with three stoppers. In the matches against Rangers for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers in the summer of 1994, he was assigned to mark Mark Hateley, managing to contain him. During his spell with the "double-headed eagle" Papadopoulos won two consecutive championships.

In the summer of 1995 he moved to Apollon Athens for two seasons and then to Ethnikos Piraeus for another two. In 1999 he signed for PAS Giannina for a while and then moved to Kozani where he played until 2001. The following season he moved to Chaidari, where he played for one season before ending his career as a footballer.^[2]

International career

Papadopoulos played once for Greece on 29 January 1992 in an away friendly match against Albania, coming in as a sub at the half time.^[3] He won the gold medal at the 1991 Mediterranean Games.

Managerial career

Papadopoulos started his coaching career in 2002, during which he sat on the benches of various teams, such as Kerkyra, Pamisos Messini, AE Giannena and Lamia. In the summer of 2011, he was hired as the coach of the youth team of AEK Athens, while at the beginning of the following season he assumed the role of assistant to the coach of the first team, Vangelis Vlachos. The club were going through the worst season in their history after Vlachos was sacked he was the first coach for a match at home against Kerkyra, which ended 1–1. Afterwards, Ewald Lienen was hired and Papadopoulos continued his duties as an assistant coach with the German technician until the end of the season. After AEK, he sat on the bench of Proodeftiki for a few days and then at Egaleo, while in 2015 he was at APO Kanaris Nenita for a season.^[4]

Personal life and death

Papadopoulos had a strong participation in the association of veteran football players of AEK.

He died on 16 May 2025, at the age of 57.^[5]

Honours

AEK Athens

• Alpha Ethniki: 1992–93, 1993–94