Georgios Donis

Georgios Donis
Personal information
Full name	Georgios Donis
Date of birth	22 October 1969 (age 54)
Place of birth	Frankfurt, West Germany
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1986–1987	AO Pavlos Melas
1987–1988	Panathinaikos
Senior career*
Years	Team
1988–1996	Panathinaikos
1988–1989	→ Athinaikos (loan)
1989–1990	→ Panargiakos (loan)
1990–1991	→ PAS Giannina (loan)
1996–1997	Blackburn Rovers
1997–1998	AEK Athens
1999	Sheffield United
1999–2000	Huddersfield Town
Total
International career
1991–1997	Greece
Managerial career
2002–2004	Ilisiakos
2004–2008	AEL
2008	AEK Athens
2009–2012	Atromitos
2012–2013	PAOK
2013–2015	APOEL
2015–2016	Al-Hilal
2016–2017	Sharjah
2017–2018	APOEL
2018–2020	Panathinaikos
2020	Maccabi Tel Aviv
2021	Al-Wehda
2022–2023	Al Fateh
2023–2024	Al-Wehda
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Georgios Donis (Greek: Γεώργιος Δώνης; born 22 October 1969) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and currently a manager. He was the first ever Greek to play in the English Premier League. In England, he was also known as George Donis.

Early years

Donis was born and raised in Frankfurt, West Germany until he was six years old and the family moved back to their native Greece. His parents had lived in Frankfurt for "many years" and he has still family ties there.^[1]

Club career

Donis started his senior career with PAS Giannina in 1990, and after one successful year he moved to Panathinaikos. The fans of Panathinaikos, known for their love for nicknames, named him the Train for his remarkable acceleration.

On 5 June 1996, after helping the Greek club reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals against Ajax FC, Donis moved to Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer, making use of the then recent Bosman ruling signing for 1.1 billion drachmas, a record amount for Greek players at the time. He had an erratic season with Blackburn, scoring against Everton and Coventry City.^[2]^[3] He returned home to play for AEK Athens, before returning to England, playing for Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town where he ended his career. ^[4]

International career

Donis made his debut for Greece on 22 December 1991, in a 1–1 draw against Malta for the UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying round.^[5] He appeared in 24 matches and scored five goals during his international career with Greece.

Managerial career

AEL

After the end of his playing career, he turned to coaching. Starting in 2002, he led Zografou-based Ilisiakos in two consecutive promotions from 4th to 2nd Greek football level. He then made the move to AEL, where after one season he managed to bring the team to the Greek Superleague from the second division and finished them in 8th place the following year. In 2007, Larissa finished only 10th in the league but he managed to bring them the Greek Cup after defeating Panathinaikos 2–1 in the final.^[6] In his first taste of European football management, his team AEL defeated his former team Blackburn Rovers to reach the 2007–08 UEFA Cup group stages.^[7] He finished a great year in 6th place in the league, missing out on the season play-off's on goal difference.

AEK Athens

On 25 April 2008, Donis stepped down as manager of AEL and on 14 May he was appointed as head coach of AEK Athens.^[8] On 17 November 2008, due to a string of poor performances and early knock out from the UEFA Cup, AEK parted company with him just six months after his appointment.^[9]

Atromitos

In 2009, Donis was appointed by Atromitos and in the 2010–11 season he again reached the Greek Cup Final only to lose 0–3 to his former team AEK Athens. In the next year, Atromitos enjoyed another successful spell under his guidance, reaching the Greek Cup Final for a second consecutive time (losing 1–2 to Olympiacos at extra time), as well as participating at the Greek Superleague play-offs.

PAOK

On 31 May 2012, PAOK appointed Donis as the new manager of the club, on a two-year contract, with immediate effect.^[10] On 28 April 2013, after a crucial defeat 0–2 and the elimination in the semi-final of Greek Cup by Asteras Tripolis, he was sacked by chairman Ivan Savvidis.^[11]

APOEL

On 11 October 2013, Donis signed a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season with the reigning Cypriot champions APOEL, replacing Paulo Sérgio who had been fired on 4 October 2013.^[12] In his first season at APOEL, Donis achieved to win the double. He won his first title with APOEL on 21 May 2014, when he led his team to a 2–0 victory over Ermis Aradippou in the Cypriot Cup final.^[13]^[14] Ten days later, Donis won also the Cypriot First Division after APOEL's 1–0 away victory against AEL Limassol in the title deciding match and won his first league title in his managerial career.^[15]^[16]

Following a successful first season in the club, Giorgos Donis signed a one-year contract extension with APOEL on 26 June 2014.^[17] In August 2014, Donis led APOEL into the group stages of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, after eliminating HJK Helsinki (4–2 on aggregate) in the third qualifying round and trashing Aalborg BK 5–1 on aggregate in the play-off round of the competition.^[18] APOEL were drawn in Group F alongside Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax.^[19] Donis led his team to some great performances in the group stage, but APOEL managed to collect only one point after drawing 1–1 with Ajax at home.^[20] In their other five Group F matches, APOEL lost twice to Barcelona (0–4 at home, 0–1 away), lost twice to Paris Saint-Germain (0–1 at home, 0–1 away) and also lost to Ajax 0–4 away.

On 6 January 2015, APOEL and Giorgos Donis parted company by mutual agreement after a poor run of performances and results, culminating in a 1–1 home draw against the last-placed Ayia Napa.^[21]

Al-Hilal

On 25 February 2015, he was appointed as the new manager of Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, signing a contract until the end of the season. He helped Al-Hilal to qualify in the semi-final of the 2015 AFC Champions League. On 6 June, Donis won the first title with Al-Hilal after defeating Al-Nassr in the final of the 2015 King Cup of Champions.

Sharjah

On 28 July 2016, he was appointed as the new manager of Sharjah FC in UAE, signing a contract until the summer of 2018.

Second spell in APOEL

On 28 July 2017, Donis signed a contract until the end of the 2017–18 season with the reigning Cypriot champions APOEL, replacing Mario Been who had been sacked by APOEL following a 1–0 away European defeat to Viitorul Constanta.^[22]^[23] On 23 March 2018, APOEL have sacked Donis, and have replaced him with 40-year-old Portuguese manager Bruno Baltazar. The last straw seemed to be APOEL's recent 4–2 away defeat against Apollon Limassol, which saw APOEL fall out of first place in the Cypriot First Division. Expectations have become quite high at APOEL in recent years. The Nicosia giants have won the Cypriot First Division the last 5 seasons, and 7 of the last 9 campaigns. With that domestic run now in jeopardy, APOEL have made the move to replace Donis with the Portuguese coach.^[24]^[25]

Panathinaikos

Donis was appointed on 3 July 2018 as the new manager of his former club as a player, Panathinaikos, signing a three-year contract.^[26] On 19 July 2020, after the end of the Superleague playoffs, he left the club by mutual consent, mainly as a result of his strenuous relationship with the Panathinaikos board and chairman Giannis Alafouzos.^[27]

Μaccabi Tel Aviv

Donis signed a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He led the team to the Play Offs of the UEFA Champions League where he was eliminated by Red Bull Salzburg while in the UEFA Europa League he managed to lead the team to the round of 32. He was dismissed on 22 December 2020 as the team was in 5th place in the league.^[28]

Al-Wehda

In March 2021, he became the manager of Saudi club Al-Wehda.^[29]

Al Fateh

On 16 January 2022, Donis was appointed as the manager of Saudi club Al Fateh.^[30]

Al-Wehda (return)

On 11 July 2023, Donis returned to manage Al-Wehda for the second time.^[31]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 27 May 2024

Team	Nation	From	To	Record
Team	Nation	From	To	G	W	D	L	Win %
Ilisiakos		1 July 2002	30 June 2004	47	29	11	7	061.7
AEL		1 July 2004	24 April 2008	110	39	32	39	035.5
AEK Athens		14 May 2008	15 November 2008	13	4	7	2	030.8
Atromitos		1 July 2009	30 May 2012	111	41	37	33	036.9
PAOK		1 June 2012	29 April 2013	42	26	9	7	061.9
APOEL		11 October 2013	6 January 2015	61	35	14	12	057.4
Al-Hilal		4 March 2015	18 May 2016	66	45	11	10	068.2
Sharjah		28 July 2016	1 January 2017	13	4	2	7	030.8
APOEL		28 July 2017	23 March 2018	41	25	8	8	061.0
Panathinaikos		3 July 2018	19 July 2020	77	33	22	22	042.9
Maccabi Tel Aviv		20 July 2020	21 December 2020	25	14	7	4	056.0
Al Wehda		23 March 2021	31 May 2021	6	1	3	2	016.7
Al Fateh		16 January 2022	31 May 2023	46	18	8	20	039.1
Al-Wehda		11 July 2023	30 June 2024	37	11	6	20	029.7
Total				697	325	177	195	046.6