Spyros Ikonomopoulos
Personal information
Full name Spyridon Ikonomopoulos
Date of birth (1959-07-26) 26 July 1959
Place of birth Akrata, Greece
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 July 1959) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for AEK Athens.[1]

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

Club performance League Greek Cup Europe Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
1977–78 AEK Athens Alpha Ethniki 10000010
1978–79 00000000
1979–80 80000080
1980–81 2606010330
1981–82 1201000130
1982–83 10000010
1983–84 00000000
1984–85 20000020
1985–86 10200030
1986–87 00000000
1987–88 40000040
1988–89 3004020360
1989–90 801040130
1990–91 20100030
1991–92 00000000
1992–93 00000000
1993–94 20000020
1994–95 00000000
1995–96 00000000
Career total 950170701190

Last updated: 2022-07-14
Source: Spyros Ikonomopoulos

Honours

AEK Athens

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ο Σπύρος Οικονομόπουλος αποκλειστικά στο "The Columnist"". thecolumnist.gr.
  2. ↑ Καζαντζόγλου, Σταύρος (April 5, 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". kitrinomavro.gr.
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