Panajotis "Panos" Dimitriadis (born 12 August 1986) is a Greek-Swedish professional footballer who plays for Akropolis. Known for his ability to play in several positions, at AIK he was mainly considered a central defender, but is also an option as a defensive midfielder (his preferred position), offensive midfielder or wing-back.

Panajotis Dimitriadis
Personal information
Full name Panajotis Dimitriadis
Date of birth (1986-08-12) 12 August 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Utility player
Team information
Current team
Akropolis
Youth career
AIK
Djurgården
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Vasalund 74 (12)
2010–2012 Sandefjord 87 (11)
2013–2014 Brommapojkarna 25 (2)
2014–2015 AIK 15 (0)
2015–2016 Gençlerbirliği 13 (1)
2016–2018 Giresunspor 59 (8)
2018–2020 AIK 47 (1)
2021– Akropolis 28 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 December 2021

Dimitriadis started his career at AIK's and Djurgården's respective youth departments, before he joined Vasalund and played for the team in Superettan. He joined the Tippeligaen side Sandefjord in 2010, and stayed at the club after their relegation to Adeccoligaen. He joined Brommapojkarna ahead of the 2013 season, before he returned to his youth-club AIK ahead of the 2014 season.

Career

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A Swedish-Greek,[2] Dimitriadis was born in Stockholm.[3] During his youth he played for both Djurgården and AIK,[4] and he was named "youth player of the year" at Djurgården in 2004.[1] He played 45 matches and scored 10 goals for Vasalund in Swedish Division 1 from 2007 to 2008,[5] and was on an unsuccessful trial with his youth-club in January 2009.[1]

After playing 29 matches and scoring two goals for Vasalund in the 2009 Superettan, Dimitriadis was bought by the Tippeligaen side Sandefjord. Dimitriadis was brought to the Norwegian club as a back-up for the midfielders Marciano and Ebrima Sohna, and signed a two-year contract with the club.[6] Dimitriadis was injured in a pre-season match against Ljungskile along with Malick Mane, and Sandefjord's head coach Patrick Walker blamed the artificial turf in LSK-Hallen for the injuries.[7] Dimitriadis recovered from the injury, and started the opening match of the 2010 season against Start on 14 March 2010.[8] He played a total of 29 matches and scored four goals in 2010,[3] when Sandefjord was relegated from Tippeligaen. Dimitriadis stayed at the club after the relegation.

Even though Dimitriadis is an offensive midfielder and have played as a forward he was used as a centre-back in the 2012 season, due to the injuries on Alexander Gabrielsen and Yaw Ihle Amankwah, with great success. After a match against Ullensaker/Kisa his teammate Eirik André Lamøy told the local newspaper Sandefjords Blad that if it was possible, he wanted to have several Dimitriadis playing in different positions which would make the team better.[9]

Dimitriadis continued to play centre-back throughout the season due to injuries, and his performance as a defender got him on Thomas Berntsen in Norwegian TV 2's list as one of Adeccoligaen's five best players.[10] Nenad Lukic, Dimitriadis' agent, later told that clubs from Sweden, Turkey and Greece was interested in signing the midfielder.[2] Dimitriadis played all of the 30 league-matches and scored three goals in the 2012 season.[3] He also scored a hat-trick in the promotion play-off match against Ullensaker/Kisa, which Sandefjord lost 4–3.[11] His contract with Sandefjord expired after the 2012 season,[12] and he returned to Sweden and Stockholm in February 2013 when he signed for the newly promoted Allsvenskan side Brommapojkarna.[4] Ahead of the 2014 season, Dimitriadis joined his old youth-club AIK on a free transfer.[13]

After a one and a half year stint in AIK, he signed for Gençlerbirliği in Turkey on 29 May 2015.[14]

On 26 August 2016, he joined Giresunspor on a one-year contract.[15]

On 4 July 2018, Dimitriadis signed for AIK for two years, making a return to Allsvenskan and Swedish football.[16]

On 1 February 2021, Dimitriadis signed with Akropolis.[17]

Career statistics

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As of 30 November 2013[3]
Season Club Division League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
2010 Sandefjord Tippeligaen 29 4 3 0 32 4
2011 Adeccoligaen 28 4 3 3 31 7
2012 30 3 5 2 35 5
2013 Brommapojkarna Allsvenskan 25 2 1 0 26 2
Career Total 112 13 12 5 124 18

Honours

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AIK

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Tre spelare tränar med DIF" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF Fotboll. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Succésvensk i Norge – öppnar för allsvenskan" (in Swedish). fotbolldirekt.se. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "Panajotis Dimitriadis" (in Norwegian). altomfotball.no. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  4. ^ a b Grythagen, Stian (4 February 2013). "Klar for Allsvenskan" (in Norwegian). Bergensavisen. Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Panajotis Dimitriadis" (in Swedish). fotbolltransfers.com. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Sandefjord henter svenske" (in Norwegian). TV2 Sporten. 8 December 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  7. ^ "Skadetrøbbel i Sandefjord" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Start slo Sandefjord i serieopninga" (in Norwegian). NRK Sørlandet. 14 March 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  9. ^ Hasle, Anders Mehlum (15 July 2012). "Lamøy: – Tenk om vi kunne klonet Panos!" (in Norwegian). Sandefjord Blad. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  10. ^ Berntsen, Thomas (6 September 2012). "Dette er de beste adeccoligaspillerne" (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Bodø/Glimt og Ull/Kisa videre i kvalifiseringen" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. Norwegian News Agency. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  12. ^ Nilssen, Stig (11 December 2012). "Her er spilleren Sandnes Ulf jakter" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  13. ^ Sundeman, Axel (5 November 2013). "Eliasson och Dimitriadis klara för AIK". Svenska Fans (in Norwegian). Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  14. ^ "Panajotis Dimitriadis ile anlaştık". genclerbirligi.org. (in Turkish). 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  15. ^ "Dimitriadis Giresunspor'da". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 26 August 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  16. ^ "Panajotis Dimitriadis klar för AIK Fotboll". aikfotboll.se. AIK Fotboll. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Panajotis Dimitriadis klar för Akropolis IF" (Press release) (in Swedish). Akropolis. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
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