Nikos Anastopoulos (; born 22 January 1958) is a Greek former footballer and manager. He was one the most prolific strikers in the Greek league during the 1980s and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of Greek football.
Anastopoulos began his career at Panionios in 1976, where he quickly became a high-profile player, winning the cup in 1979. After impressive performances in the following season's Cup Winners' Cup campaign, he was reached out by a number of European clubs, eventually signing with Olympiacos. He quickly became a fan favourite with Olympiacos fans and, despite a slow start, became a prolific goal scorer for the club and won the Bronze Boot as the third scorer in Europe in the 1982–83 season. He became central to the club's success in the 1980s, winning four league championships before departing for Serie A side Avellino in 1987. An ambitious signing, his tenure at the Italian club was ultimately unsuccessful, with him returning to Panionios in 1988. After a moderately successful year with Panionios, he returned to Olympiacos in 1989. With the club in dire financial situation, he became a vital part of the club, despite falling out with manager Oleg Blokhin, winning two Greek Football Cups before leaving for Ionikos in 1992. After a successful season with the Athenian side, Anastopoulos returned to Olympiacos, retiring from professional football in 1993 to become assistant manager of returning manager Nikos Alefantos.
Anastopoulos earned his first cap with Greece in 1977, amassing a record (at the time) of 74 caps until 1988. With 29 goals, he is the all-time top scorer for the Greek national team. He also scored Greece's first goal at a major international tournament, scoring against Czechoslovakia at the 1980 European Championship.
His style of play was highly regarded and commonly noted for his acrobatic goals and headers, positioning, and sense of goal. He is considered one of the greatest players in Olympiacos history,The Legend's "Golden Eleven"! Olympiacos Official Website, 8/6/2015 where he scored 159 goals in 291 official games for the club.
Since retiring as a player he has become a football manager, achieving notable success at PAS Giannina, Panachaiki, Aris, OFI and Kalamata, becoming a fan favourite in these clubs. He became known for his outspoken attitude, tactical flexibility, and success under pressure, having achieved promotions with Aris and avoiding relegation on numerous occasions.
Club career Anastopoulos was born on 22 January 1958. He started his career at Dafni before transferring to Panionios with whom he debuted in the Alpha Ethniki in the 1977–78 season. Thanks to Anastopoulos, Panionios won the Greek Cup in 1979 upsetting AEK Athens 3–1. His debut in European competition was also impressive as he scored twice against FC Twente and once against IFK Göteborg in the Cup-winners' Cup. His performance brought an immediate transfer offer from Twente as well as other Greek and foreign clubs. Finally, in 1980, he went to Olympiacos.
As an Olympiacos player, Anastopoulos, also known as "Moustakias" (the moustachioed one), won top scorer honours in 1982–83 season (29 goals), 1983–84 season (18 goals), 1985–86 season (19 goals) and 1986–87 season (16 goals). His goal-scoring exploits in 1982–83 won him the Bronze Boot as third scorer across Europe.
Ahead of the 1987–88 season, Anastopoulos left Greece to play for Avellino in Italy. Though he performed well in the Italian Cup, he failed to score a single goal in Serie A and returned to Greece the following season.
After coming close to signing with AEK Athens, Anastopoulos chose to return to Panionios. He later played for Olympiacos, Ionikos and closed out his career with Olympiacos (once more) after the 1993–94 season.
International career On 21 September 1977, Anastopoulos made his debut for Greece and during his playing career he was capped 75 timesΟι συμμετοχές του Αναστόπουλου στην Εθνική Ελλάδας. epo.gr scoring 29 goals – more than any other Greek international. He was a member of the Greek squad in the finals of Euro 1980 and scored the only Greek goal of that competition with a header against Czechoslovakia.
Career statistics
Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupEuropeTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsPanionios1976–773211??–32+11+1977–78273??–27+3+1978–79284??–28+4+1979–80307??4334+10+Total11725??43121+28+Olympiacos1980–81204??–20+4+1981–823314??2135+15+1982–833129??4135+30+1983–843018??4334+21+1984–852815??4232+17+1985–862419??–24+19+1986–872116??4325+19+Total187115??1810205+125+Avellino1987–88160??–16+0+Panionios1988–89115??–11+5+Olympiacos1989–90227??6228+9+1990–912617??4230+19+1991–92246??–24+6+Total7230??10482+34+Ionikos1992–93197??–19+7+Olympiacos1993–9430??104+0+Career total425182??3317458+199+
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsGreece1977101979201980521981621982941983931984105198562198684198783198894Total7329
International goals Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Anastopoulos goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Nikos AnastopoulosNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1GSP Stadium, Strovolos, Cyprus1–01–1Friendly2Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy1–11–3UEFA Euro 19803Charliaou Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece1–02–1Friendly4Charliaou Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece1–22–31982 FIFA World Cup qualification5Nikos Goumas Stadium, Athens, Greece1–01–2Friendly6Stade Municipal, Luxembourg1–02–0UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying72–08Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–11–3Friendly9Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary1–03–2UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying10Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece1–02–2UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying112–212Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–01–3Friendly13Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Athens, Greece1–01–1Friendly14Tsirio Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus2–02–0Friendly15Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–02–1Friendly162–117Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel1–02–0Friendly18Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–11–41986 FIFA World Cup qualification19Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–02–0Friendly20Lech Stadium, Poznań, Poland1–11–2UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying21Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece2–02–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying22Makario Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus4–24–2UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying23Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece1–03–1UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying243–125Steaua Stadium, Bucharest, Romania1–02–2Friendly26Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada2–03–01988 Matthews Cup273–028Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada1–01–01988 Matthews Cup29BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey1–11–3Friendly
Managerial statistics TeamFromToRecordPlayedWDLWin %PanelefsiniakosJuly 1995June 1996PanetolikosFebruary 1997February 1998PAS GianninaNovember 1998May 1999PanelefsiniakosAugust 1999October 1999PanserraikosNovember 1999March 2000PanetolikosAugust 2000January 2001PAS GianninaJanuary 2001June 2001PanachaikiFebruary 2002June 2002KallitheaSeptember 2002November 2002PAS GianninaNovember 2002June 2003KerkyraSeptember 2003January 2005ArisOctober 2005June 2006PAS GianninaAugust 2006January 2007IonikosMay 2008June 2008KavalaDecember 2008January 2009PAS GianninaJanuary 2010June 2010OFISeptember 2010December 2012AtromitosDecember 2012April 2013PlataniasNovember 2013February 2014PanioniosFebruary 2014May 2014OFIJanuary 2015March 2015ArisSeptember 2015February 2017KerkyraFebruary 2019April 2019KalamataJanuary 2020February 2022KalamataSeptember 2022January 2023KalamataMarch 2024October 2024Total
Honours
Player Olympiacos Alpha Ethniki: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1986–87 Greek Cup: 1989–90, 1991–92 Greek Super Cup: 1992
Panionios Greek Cup: 1978–79
Manager PAS Giannina Beta Ethniki: 2001–02
Aris Gamma Ethniki: 2015–16
Kalamata Gamma Ethniki: 2020–21
References
External links