Thomas Mavros

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Thomas Mavros (Greek: Θωμάς Μαύρος) (born May 31, 1954), is a retired Greek football player. He is regarded as one of the best players to play club football in Greece having scored a record number of goals there.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Panionios

Having grown up in Nea Smyrni he joined Panionios youth ranks and soon made his way to the first team. He soon managed to become the youngest player ever to score in the Greek Super League. He was also capped by the Greek national football team at a very young age whilst playing for one of the less glamorous Greek clubs.

[edit] AEK Athens

In 1975 AEK Athens' president Loukas Barlos wanted to sign the young striker but Panionios board refused to trade his team's best player. It was then reavealed that when Mavros signed his contract with Panionios he was still underage, thus making the contract invalid. Panionios still blocked the transfer leading to a litigation between the two sides which lasted for the entire 1975-76 season. During this time, Mavros was unable to play for either side. After the dispute was resolved Mavros was finally transferred to AEK Athens on 1976. He immediately became an integral part of the team helping them reach the UEFA Cup 1976-77 semi-finals, winning two championships: (1977-78 and 1978-79) and two cups (1978, 1983). He also managed to become Greek Superleague's Top Goalscorer three times (1978 with 22 goals, 1979 with 31 goals, 1985 with 27 goals). In 1979 he was also second goalscorer in Europe, three goals behind Kees Kist. The AEK Athens fans loved him because he was one of the few players who stayed with the club after Barlos left and because of his tendency to score against rivals Olympiacos F.C.. They called him by the nickname "God" and whenever he scored the whole stadium chanted "Who, who, who? Mavros the God" (Greek: "Ποιος, ποιος, ποιος; ο Μαύρος ο Θεός").

[edit] Back to Panionios

In 1987 AEK Athens' manager Nikos Alefantos asked the club's president Andreas Zafiropoulos not to renew Mavros' contract as he thought the player was too old to play for a team of that level. Zafiropoulos agreed and Mavros was released from the club and returned to his former club, Panionios. With Panionios he finished top scorer in Greek Superleague once (1990 with 22 goals) and, until his retirement in 1991, scored a total of 51 goals in 89 matches surpassing his former teamamte at AEK Athens Mimis Papaioannou as the Greek Super League's all time top goalscorer. A notable moment was his return to his former club's stadium on October 28, 1990 in a match he scored against them as the match ended with a scoreline of 7-1 in favour of AEK Athens.

[edit] International career

He had a total of 36 appearances with Greece scoring 11 goals in the period of 1972-1984. His most notable moment was his appearance in UEFA Euro 1980.

[edit] Records

• He is the youngest player to have scored in the Greek Super League. He scored the winning goal in Panionios' 1-0 win against Pierikos on February 17, 1971 when he was 16 years, 8 months, and 17 days old.
• He is the Greek Super League's top goalscorer having scored 260 goals in 501 matches.
• He is the youngest player to have scored for the Greek national football team.

[edit] Honours

AEK Athens

• Greek Championship: 1978, 1979
• Greek Cup: 1978, 1983

Individual

• Greek Superleague Top Goalscorer: 1978, 1979, 1985, 1990
• European Silver Shoe: 1979

v • d • e Greece squad - UEFA Euro 1980 1 Konstantinou • 2 Kyrastas • 3 Iosifidis • 4 Kapsis • 5 Firos • 6 Livathinos • 7 Terzanidis • 8 Nikoloudis • 9 Ardizoglou • 10 Galakos • 11 Damanakis • 12 Gounaris • 13 Xanthopoulos • 14 Koudas • 15 Mavros • 16 Kouis • 17 Ravoussis • 18 Nikolaou • 19 Kostikos • 20 Anastopoulos • 21 Poupakis • 22 Papafloratos • Coach: Panagoulias