Spyros Ikonomopoulos

Spyros Ikonomopoulos
Personal information
Full name Spyridon Ikonomopoulos
Date of birth (1959-10-26) 26 October 1959 (age 65)
Place of birth Parramatta, Australia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
–1976 AO Akratas
1976–1978 AEK Athens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1996 AEK Athens 95 (0)
International career
1984–1989 Greece 12 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Spyros Ikonomopoulos (Greek: Σπύρος Οικονομόπουλος; born 26 October 1959) is a Greek former professional Goalkeeper footballer who played as a goalkeeper for AEK Athens.[1] In 1989 was voted Best Player of the Year 1988-89.

Club career

Ikonomopoulos started his football career from the amateur club of his hometown, AO Akratas, from where in 1976,at the age of 18, he joined the youth team of AEK Athens.[2] He played his debut match with the men's team at 26 December 1977, where the professional footballers went on a strike and the clubs had to compete with amateurs.[3] The following year was promoted to the first team, where he played 19 years, until the end of his career. In his first seasons Ikonomopoulos had the "misfortune" to coexist at times with several other great goalkeepers, such as Nikos Christidis, Lakis Stergioudas, Christos Arvanitis and Theologis Papadopoulos, so the competition for the spot was particularly tough. In 1988, however, under Dušan Bajević, he started in all the matches of the season, where he saved three penalties and effectively gave AEK their first league title in 10 years. At that time the fans gave him the nickname "Mr. Championship 1989".[4] At the start of the following year, some unfortunate performances led to his gradual decommissioning, eventually resulting in him losing his position from Antonis Minou. He did not manage to make any appearances in the league, for the entire three years from 1992 to 1994, when AEK won the same number of titles. The arrival of Ilias Atmatsidis in the team forced him to retire officially, in the summer of 1996, at the age of 37.

International career

Ikonomopoulos played a total of 12 times with Greece, between 1984 and 1989. His debut took place on 12 September 1984 in an away friendly against East Germany, when under the instructions of Miltos Papapostolou, the coach who established him some years earlier at AEK, he replaced Giorgos Plitsis at half-time.[5]

After football

After the end of his football career, he returned to Akrata, where he developed a business activity. At some point, the AEK administration announced its decision to hold a friendly match in his honor, but it never materialized.[6]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[7]
Club Season League Greek Cup Europe Balkans Cup Other[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
AEK Athens 1977–78 Alpha Ethniki 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1978–79 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1979–80 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
1980–81 26 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 33 0
1981–82 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
1982–83 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1983–84 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1984–85 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1985–86 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
1986–87 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1987–88 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
1988–89 30 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 36 0
1989–90 8 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 15 0
1990–91 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
1991–92 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1992–93 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1993–94 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1994–95 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1995–96 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 95 0 17 0 6 0 1 0 2 0 121 0
  1. ^ Includes Greek Super Cup and Greek League Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[8]
National team Year Apps Goals
Greece 1984 1 0
1985 0 0
1986 0 0
1987 0 0
1988 1 0
1989 10 0
Total 12 0

Honours

AEK Athens

Individual

  • Player of the Year: 1988–89

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ο Σπύρος Οικονομόπουλος αποκλειστικά στο "The Columnist"". thecolumnist.gr.
  2. ^ Καζαντζόγλου, Σταύρος (5 April 2018). "Σπύρος Οικονομόπουλος: Ο "Μίστερ Πρωτάθλημα" της ΑΕΚ". enwsi.gr.
  3. ^ "Το ντεμπούτο του Μπάγεβιτς και δώδεκα… πιτσιρικάδων της εποχής! Στις 26 Δεκεμβρίου του 1977 στην Ελλάδα έπαιζαν μπάλα..." filathlos.gr.
  4. ^ "'Τα αξέχαστα δευτερόλεπτα της 7ης Μαΐου'". contra.gr.
  5. ^ "Greece matches 1981–1985" (PDF). epo.gr.
  6. ^ "Σπύρος Οικονομόπουλος". aekpedia.com.
  7. ^ Spyros Ikonomopoulos on football.aek.com
  8. ^ Spyros Ikonomopoulos at National-Football-Teams.com