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STELIOS Giannakopoulos has seen two of his great loves go through hardship since hanging up his boots.
Back home in Greece, football fell to its knees as financial and political crises hit hard.
Against all logic they had lifted the European Championship in 2004 yet, eight years later, two defeats against the Faroe Islands left them watching the 2016 tournament on the TV. [Surely Iles means 12 years? - Sluffy]
Wanderers have suffered a similar fate, albeit on a much smaller scale. Stelios played his last game for the club in 2008 against Chelsea, where Matt Taylor’s late equaliser capped off their great escape in the Premier League. The same season Bolton had beaten Atletico Madrid and Red Star Belgrade, and drawn in Bayern Munich’s backyard.
Such was the former midfielder’s concern for the club’s plight as they suffered two relegations in five seasons, he looked into launching a takeover bid of his own. It proved unsuccessful – but the 43-year-old harbours hope that, one day, he could return in some capacity.
“I would do it yesterday,” he smiled. “I believe Bolton deserves a bright future.
“There is so much potential here. Everything surrounding the club has Premier League status. Nothing is missing.
“The passion and the love for the club is there. It is a matter of time before Bolton stands on their feet again and gets back into the Premier League and Europe too.
“Of course, it needs the right people, wealthy people, so they can bring in the quality the fans deserve.”
Stelios predicts a brighter future on home shores too. He worked as head of the Greek PFA after finishing his playing career in 2010, working towards his coaching badges at the same time.
And while the credit crunch has transformed a once prosperous football landscape, Stelios points out Greece has rather a long history of solving problems.
“If you are not there it is difficult to describe what has happened in my country,” he told The Bolton News.
“All the bad things have affected football. It has been hard. But we Greeks are tough people too.
“When we are together we deliver, we always have. And tough times will pass.”
As he met challenges in Greece, Stelios has also kept the home fires burning, quite literally, back in England.
He maintains a family base in Euxton, a stone’s throw from the former training ground, which is ready to walk into whenever his wife and children’s schedules allow.
Since finishing as head of the PFA in 2012, Stelios has taken two managerial jobs at Paniliakos and AE Kifisias in the Greek lower leagues to gain coaching experience. He now finds himself looking for the next challenge, a similar position to the one which once brought him to Wanderers’ door as a player.
“When I came in 2003 Big Sam and Phil Brown came to Greece to see me play and before I signed I wanted to speak with them. They told me about a club with a big history,” he said.
“I found this out myself and learned about a team who beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final with Nat Lofthouse. I thought it would be nice for me to be a part of this history one day.
“It was a big task for me to leave Greece. Olympiakos was a top club, I was champion year in year out, I would have played Champions League year in year out.
“But living in England and establishing myself in the toughest league in the world was the biggest gamble in my career. And that is why I took it.”
Stelios played 177 games for Bolton, scoring 28 goals. At one stage he seemed destined to join either Liverpool or Manchester City but the Wanderers board put a block on his exit and put a new deal on the table.
“It was natural that clubs come in, ask questions and make offers,” he said. “It was a privilege for me that clubs like that were asking to sign me.
“I had a contract and it was the club’s decision not to let me go. I don’t blame them. If I had a player I wanted to keep I would do it and make sure my team stays strong.
“It didn’t harm anything in my career.”
Post-Allardyce, the landscape at Wanderers was much different. After Sammy Lee’s disastrous short stay, Megson’s safety-first approach meant less game time for Stelios, now into his thirties.
While he made 30 appearances in his final season before moving briefly to Hull City, Stelios admits his only regret was not getting a chance to say goodbye on the pitch – a sentiment shared a year later by his team-mate Ivan Campo.
“It was difficult,” he said. “I try to be positive and maybe that is why I achieved good things but everyone wants to play.
“The only disappointing thing for me is that I left the club receiving a letter from Gary Megson saying ‘thanks very much, we don’t need you anymore.’
“He said the club’s door would always be open, which was very polite, but I did not want to say goodbye to the club through a letter. I didn’t think I deserved that, and nor did Ivan.”
Stelios now has his UEFA Pro Licence and an extensive footballing CV to fall back on as he looks to make his next move.
He won seven Greek titles with Olympiakos, played and scored in the Champions League, played in the Premier League and twice helped Bolton get into Europe before doing the same with Larissa back home.
“I won the European Championship too,” he interjects, pointing out that I have missed the biggest achievement of his footballing career.
“They are great weapons to have but coaching is different,” he continued. “You have a different starting point with players who have not played at the same level.
“They say in Greece ‘you’re on the other side of the river’ and when you’re a player you only think about you, your performance, help yourself. In coaching you have to think about everything – the players, the fans, the board, the money.
“My dream is to one day become manager or a technical director, to get involved in some of the big projects in the top leagues in Europe.
“But right now, I am looking to take a step. Everything is possible for me.”
While Stelios sets to work enriching his coaching reputation, perhaps building towards a return to England, his reputation in Lancashire remains firmly intact.
Those who had not disappeared for a half-time pint on the opening day of the season against Leeds United gave him a standing ovation as he did half-time Golden Gamble draw duties for Andrew Dean, and readers of The Bolton News selected him for their best Wanderers XI of the last two decades, alongside the likes of Jussi Jaaskelainen, Kevin Davies, Jay Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff.
Time has not dulled Stelios’ passion for Bolton and, unlike the interviewer sat across from him at the table, nor has it had any great effect on his appearance.
Whereas many former players pay lip service when talking about their clubs and are happy to recall anecdotes for the sake of a few rose-tinted column inches, his interest runs deeper. Indeed, his story may not yet be done.
“This is the biggest present, the most priceless thing in football or sport, to be remembered,” Stelios said, pausing on the news he had been voted into our Macron Legends team.
“Look at Nat Lofthouse. He is not with us any longer but he will always be here at Bolton.
“A legacy is the most important thing you can have as a human being because when you have gone, stories will remain and be told by people forever, generation after generation.
“Bolton was my life for five years but not only me, my family. My middle child was born in Preston, my eldest started school here, this country means a great deal to me.
“I will hope, one day, someone asks ‘who was Stelios?’ And they have a good story to tell.”
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/15490680.After_tragedies_here_and_at_home__Greek_star_is_positive_for_future/?ref=mrb&lp=13
Back home in Greece, football fell to its knees as financial and political crises hit hard.
Against all logic they had lifted the European Championship in 2004 yet, eight years later, two defeats against the Faroe Islands left them watching the 2016 tournament on the TV. [Surely Iles means 12 years? - Sluffy]
Wanderers have suffered a similar fate, albeit on a much smaller scale. Stelios played his last game for the club in 2008 against Chelsea, where Matt Taylor’s late equaliser capped off their great escape in the Premier League. The same season Bolton had beaten Atletico Madrid and Red Star Belgrade, and drawn in Bayern Munich’s backyard.
Such was the former midfielder’s concern for the club’s plight as they suffered two relegations in five seasons, he looked into launching a takeover bid of his own. It proved unsuccessful – but the 43-year-old harbours hope that, one day, he could return in some capacity.
“I would do it yesterday,” he smiled. “I believe Bolton deserves a bright future.
“There is so much potential here. Everything surrounding the club has Premier League status. Nothing is missing.
“The passion and the love for the club is there. It is a matter of time before Bolton stands on their feet again and gets back into the Premier League and Europe too.
“Of course, it needs the right people, wealthy people, so they can bring in the quality the fans deserve.”
Stelios predicts a brighter future on home shores too. He worked as head of the Greek PFA after finishing his playing career in 2010, working towards his coaching badges at the same time.
And while the credit crunch has transformed a once prosperous football landscape, Stelios points out Greece has rather a long history of solving problems.
“If you are not there it is difficult to describe what has happened in my country,” he told The Bolton News.
“All the bad things have affected football. It has been hard. But we Greeks are tough people too.
“When we are together we deliver, we always have. And tough times will pass.”
As he met challenges in Greece, Stelios has also kept the home fires burning, quite literally, back in England.
He maintains a family base in Euxton, a stone’s throw from the former training ground, which is ready to walk into whenever his wife and children’s schedules allow.
Since finishing as head of the PFA in 2012, Stelios has taken two managerial jobs at Paniliakos and AE Kifisias in the Greek lower leagues to gain coaching experience. He now finds himself looking for the next challenge, a similar position to the one which once brought him to Wanderers’ door as a player.
“When I came in 2003 Big Sam and Phil Brown came to Greece to see me play and before I signed I wanted to speak with them. They told me about a club with a big history,” he said.
“I found this out myself and learned about a team who beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final with Nat Lofthouse. I thought it would be nice for me to be a part of this history one day.
“It was a big task for me to leave Greece. Olympiakos was a top club, I was champion year in year out, I would have played Champions League year in year out.
“But living in England and establishing myself in the toughest league in the world was the biggest gamble in my career. And that is why I took it.”
Stelios played 177 games for Bolton, scoring 28 goals. At one stage he seemed destined to join either Liverpool or Manchester City but the Wanderers board put a block on his exit and put a new deal on the table.
“It was natural that clubs come in, ask questions and make offers,” he said. “It was a privilege for me that clubs like that were asking to sign me.
“I had a contract and it was the club’s decision not to let me go. I don’t blame them. If I had a player I wanted to keep I would do it and make sure my team stays strong.
“It didn’t harm anything in my career.”
Post-Allardyce, the landscape at Wanderers was much different. After Sammy Lee’s disastrous short stay, Megson’s safety-first approach meant less game time for Stelios, now into his thirties.
While he made 30 appearances in his final season before moving briefly to Hull City, Stelios admits his only regret was not getting a chance to say goodbye on the pitch – a sentiment shared a year later by his team-mate Ivan Campo.
“It was difficult,” he said. “I try to be positive and maybe that is why I achieved good things but everyone wants to play.
“The only disappointing thing for me is that I left the club receiving a letter from Gary Megson saying ‘thanks very much, we don’t need you anymore.’
“He said the club’s door would always be open, which was very polite, but I did not want to say goodbye to the club through a letter. I didn’t think I deserved that, and nor did Ivan.”
Stelios now has his UEFA Pro Licence and an extensive footballing CV to fall back on as he looks to make his next move.
He won seven Greek titles with Olympiakos, played and scored in the Champions League, played in the Premier League and twice helped Bolton get into Europe before doing the same with Larissa back home.
“I won the European Championship too,” he interjects, pointing out that I have missed the biggest achievement of his footballing career.
“They are great weapons to have but coaching is different,” he continued. “You have a different starting point with players who have not played at the same level.
“They say in Greece ‘you’re on the other side of the river’ and when you’re a player you only think about you, your performance, help yourself. In coaching you have to think about everything – the players, the fans, the board, the money.
“My dream is to one day become manager or a technical director, to get involved in some of the big projects in the top leagues in Europe.
“But right now, I am looking to take a step. Everything is possible for me.”
While Stelios sets to work enriching his coaching reputation, perhaps building towards a return to England, his reputation in Lancashire remains firmly intact.
Those who had not disappeared for a half-time pint on the opening day of the season against Leeds United gave him a standing ovation as he did half-time Golden Gamble draw duties for Andrew Dean, and readers of The Bolton News selected him for their best Wanderers XI of the last two decades, alongside the likes of Jussi Jaaskelainen, Kevin Davies, Jay Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff.
Time has not dulled Stelios’ passion for Bolton and, unlike the interviewer sat across from him at the table, nor has it had any great effect on his appearance.
Whereas many former players pay lip service when talking about their clubs and are happy to recall anecdotes for the sake of a few rose-tinted column inches, his interest runs deeper. Indeed, his story may not yet be done.
“This is the biggest present, the most priceless thing in football or sport, to be remembered,” Stelios said, pausing on the news he had been voted into our Macron Legends team.
“Look at Nat Lofthouse. He is not with us any longer but he will always be here at Bolton.
“A legacy is the most important thing you can have as a human being because when you have gone, stories will remain and be told by people forever, generation after generation.
“Bolton was my life for five years but not only me, my family. My middle child was born in Preston, my eldest started school here, this country means a great deal to me.
“I will hope, one day, someone asks ‘who was Stelios?’ And they have a good story to tell.”
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/15490680.After_tragedies_here_and_at_home__Greek_star_is_positive_for_future/?ref=mrb&lp=13
