 Nikolaidis with Panathinaikos in 1922 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Apostolos Nikolaidis | ||
| Date of birth | (1896-04-19)19 April 1896 | ||
| Place of birth | Plovdiv,Bulgaria | ||
| Date of death | 15 October 1980(1980-10-15) (aged 84) | ||
| Place of death | Athens,Greece | ||
| Position(s) | Defender,midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1914–1928 | Panathinaikos | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 1920 | Greece | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1923–1927 | Panathinaikos | ||
| 1929 | Greece | ||
| 1934–1935 | Greece | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14 June 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 June 2024 | |||
Apostolos Nikolaidis (Greek:Απόστολος Νικολαΐδης; 19 April 1896 – 15 October 1980) was a Greek athlete, football manager and businessman. He was a leading board member andpresident ofPanathinaikos A.O.[1]
Nikolaidis was born inPlovdiv,Bulgaria, a member of the Greek community. After his graduation from theRobert College inIstanbul, he moved first toThessaloniki (where he competed as an athlete ofAris) and later toAthens in 1917 and joined the family of Panathinaikos. He was an athletic phenomenon, as he successfully competed indecathlon,football,basketball andvolleyball and also a successfulracing driver. He was a member of theGreek team at the1920 Summer Olympics, both as a football player and as a track athlete.[2] He played football for more than ten years and contributed to all sports departments ofPAO. He also became manager of theGreece national football team.
In 1926–27 he was elected president of theHellenic Football Federation and for a period of more than twenty years president of theHellenic Amateur Athletic Association (1945–67). Moreover, he was president of theAutomobile and Touring Club of Greece. For many decades, he was a board member ofPanathinaikos A.C. and in 1974 he became president of the club. His contribution was significant to the transformation of Panathinaikos to a successful multi-sports club, apart from football.
From 1974 to 1976 he was also president of theHellenic Olympic Committee. He was also a businessman and owner ofSoftex.
Upon his death, as an honour, his coffin was carried on the shoulders of eight athletes from different departments ofPanathinaikos:Ikonomopoulos,Kamaras,Antoniadis (football), Zacharopoulos (track), Georgantis, Iliopoulos (volleyball), Garos, Kalogeropoulos (basketball). Thehome stadium of Panathinaikos atAlexandras Avenue was named after him in 1981, at a ceremony presided by the then Prime MinisterGeorgios Rallis.
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