Nikos Zagotsis (Greek: Νίκος Ζαγκώτσης; 16 March 1940 – 25 June 2022) was a Greek professional footballer who played as a forward and a later manager.
 Nikos Zagotsis with AEK Athens suit. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nikolaos Zagotsis | ||
| Date of birth | 16 March 1940 | ||
| Place of birth | Perama, Athens, Greece | ||
| Date of death | 25 June 2022 (aged 82) | ||
| Place of death | Salamina, Greece | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1958 | AE Perama | ||
| 1958–1960 | AEK Athens | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1960–1963 | AEK Athens | 2 | (0) |
| 1963–1965 | Panachaiki | ||
| 1965 | Aias Salamina | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1971–1972 | Iraklis Psachna | ||
| 1972–1973 | Propontis Chalkida | ||
| 1974–1975 | Peramaikos | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editZagotsis started playing football in the youth teams of AE Perama.[1][2] In 1958, alongside his graduation from the Ionideios School of Piraeus, he was transferred to AEK Athens, under the presidency of Nikos Goumas.[3] He became a member of their infrastructure departments of the club until 1960, when he was promoted to the men's team.
An attacker with a highly developed sense of the goal, Zagotsis had the misfortune of being a teammate of the great scorer, Kostas Nestoridis, resulting in spending the most of his time at his career in AEK as a back-up choice and since the substitutions were prohibited during the match at the time, he was deprived of the possibility of more appearances. He scored a hat-trick in his only appearance in the Cup on 15 March 1961 in a 8–1 home win against Niki Plakas. Despite being overshadowed by "Nestoras", in the summer of 1962 Zagotsis took the opportunity of the punishment of Nestoridis by the then coach, Jenő Csaknády, due to his late arrival for a friendly match against Panegialios and by replacing him, he scored all 5 AEK in the 5–3 home win on 18 August. The punishment of Nestoridis also gave Zagotsis the opportunity to compete a few days later in the friendly match against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. The match took place on 25 August as a rematch of the friendly that had preceded against the "blaugrana" for the inauguration of the AEK Stadium. AEK experienced a heavy defeat in the hands of Barça by 6–1[4] with Zagotsis scoring the only goal for his team and went down in history as the first Greek to score at the ground of Barcelona.[5][6][7][8][9] With AEK he won the championship in 1963, despite him not having any participation.[10]
In the summer of 1963, he was transferred to Panachaiki, who were then competing in the second division and in his first season he emerged as the top scorer of his group with 18 goals,[11] finishing at the top of the table.[12] In August 1965, he was transferred to the newly promoted second division-side, Aias Salamina, where played until December of the same year. Then he was hired after passing the exams he took at the National Bank of Greece and was appointed in Larissa. The difficulty of commuting forced him to end his football career at the age of just 25.[3]
Managerial career
editIn 1970, five years after his retirement as a footballer, Zagotsis attended the Coaching School of the HFF and obtained a coaching certificate. Combining his work at the bank and his coaching career, when he was transferred to Chalkida in 1971, he took over as the coach of Iraklis Psachna. In 1972 he managed Propontis Chalkida until 1973. His next transfer to Nikaia in 1974 helped him take over as coach at Peramaikos where he spent a season, winning the Piraeus FCA League.[3]
Personal life
editZagotsis was married to Maria Giannouli and together they had three children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His last transfer with the bank brought him to the department of Salamina, where he lived permanently since 1980, and after serving for many years as the manager of the local branch until 1995, when he retired. Zagotsis watched his beloved AEK incessantly until his death on 25 June 2022, at the age of 82.[1][2][3][5][6][7][8][9]
Honours
editAs a player
editAEK Athens
Panachaiki
- Beta Ethniki: 1963–64 (Group A)
Individual
- Beta Ethniki top scorer: 1963–64 (Group A)
As a manager
editPeramaikos
- Piraeus FCA League: 1974–75
References
edit- ^ a b team, AEK1924 gr (27 June 2022). ""Έφυγε" ο Νίκος Ζαγκώτσης".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Ο θρυλικός... σκόρερ της ΑΕΚ στο Καμπ Νου!!!". 27 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Νίκος Ζαγκώτσης". aekpedia.com.
- ^ "Barcelona - AEK (6-1) - Friendly - 25/08/1962 FC Barcelona Players". players.fcbarcelona.com.
- ^ a b "Απεβίωσε ο Νίκος Ζαγκώτσης, ο πρώτος Έλληνας σκόρερ στο "Καμπ Νου"". amna.gr.
- ^ a b "Έφυγε από τη ζωή ο Νίκος Ζαγκώτσης, ο πρώτος Έλληνας σκόρερ στο "Καμπ Νου"". capitano.gr.
- ^ a b "Απεβίωσε ο Νίκος Ζαγκώτσης, ο πρώτος Έλληνας σκόρερ στο "Καμπ Νου"". themagazine.gr.
- ^ a b Team, Onsports (27 June 2022). "ΑΕΚ: Πέθανε ο Ζαγκώτσης - Ήταν ο πρώτος Έλληνας σκόρερ στο "Καμπ Νου"". onsports.gr.
- ^ a b "Έφυγε από τη ζωή ο παλαίμαχος ποδοσφαιριστής της ΑΕΚ Νίκος Ζαγκώτσης - Ήταν ο πρώτος Έλληνας που σκόραρε στο Καμπ Νου". pontosnews.gr. 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Greece - Final Tables 1959-1999". RSSSF.
- ^ "Η περίοδος 1963-64". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "Greece - List of Second Level Final Tables". RSSSF.