Thomas Mavros
Drawing of Thomas Mavros playing for AEK Athens.
58th president ofAEK Athens
In office 1 August 2012 – 30 September 2012
Preceded by	Andreas Dimitrelos
Succeeded by	Andreas Dimitrelos
Personal details
Born	(1954-05-31)31 May 1954 (age 71) Kallithea,Athens, Greece
Spouse	Angeliki Agorastopoulou
Children	Dimitris Mavros Sotiris Mavros Ioanna Mavros
Association football career Full name Thomas Mavros Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) Position Striker Youth career 1965–1970 Panionios Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1970–1976 Panionios 135 (35) 1976–1987 AEK Athens 278 (174) 1987–1991 Panionios 89 (51) Total 502 (260) International career 1972–1974 Greece U19 5 (4) 1972–1976 Greece U21 4 (1) 1972–1984 Greece 36 (11) 1979 Greece military 2 (1) * Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thomas Mavros (Greek:Θωμάς Μαύρος, born 31 May 1954) is aGreek former professionalfootballer who played as astriker.

Initially, a legend for Panionios, he was a relevation of the Greek championship at the age of 16. He became one of the star players ofAEK Athens and led them to huge success during the 70's and 80's. Mavros is widely regarded as one of the best footballers in Greece having scored a record number of 260 goals in theGreek championship^[1] and played for theWorld XI in 1984. His nickname was"the God"(Greek:Θεός), or "Theomas"(Greek:"Θεωμάς").

In 2012 he also served as the president of AEK Athens.

Mavros was born on 31 May 1954 inKallithea, where he lived for the first 4 years of his life, until his family moved toPalaio Faliro. His father, Michalis, despite not being a footballer himself, was a huge fan of football. Ever since he was just 5 years old, his father used to take him and his brother in the yard of their house every morning, from 7 to 9 and taught them how to play the ball, as he tried to teach them everything about football, helping them to consolidate as he went them every Sunday to theNea Smyrni Stadium to watchPanionios. His the elder brother of Sotiris, soon joined the children section of Panionios. For the 7-year-old Mavros, it all started on a winter Sunday in 1961, after his father refused to go to the stadium due to bad weather. Mavros decided to go alone toNea Smyrni for a match of Panionios againstPierikos. He waited outside the locker rooms of the stadium and caught the attention of the then leader of the club, Takis Papoulidis, who urged Mavros to go out with rest of the team for the warm-up. At the instigation of Papoulidis, the two of them played "headers", reaching 65 without dropping the ball. Papoulidis, distinguishing the talent and abilities of the little Mavros, urged him to come to every match in the uniform of Panionios and to enter the pitch with the team as their mascot. In the first match in which Mavros went as a mascot, Panionios defeatedOlympiacos by 1–0 and he earned 100drachmas for the luck he brought to the team.^[2]

At the age of 11, Mavros joined the infrastructure departments of the club and began his intensive involvement with football. A bad circumstance related to the disappointment of his own from his brother's exclusion in the teenage section brought him to train with Olympiacos. There,Elias Yfantis immediately recognized his value and asked him to join the team. The refusal of Panionios in giving his sport's card prevented the transfer disappointed the teenage Mavros to the point of abstaining from the activities of Panionios. The gap was bridged by the curator of the team Papidas, after a visit to his house and a promise to 14-year-old Thomas for participation in the youth team. There, he worked underDezső Bundzsák at the beginning and laterJoe Mallett who distinguished and cultivated his talent, becoming the youngest player to have played in aGreek championship match, at the age of 16, as well as the youngest scorer when at 17 January 1971, he scored the only goal in the 65th minute against Pierikos on 1–0 victory. He also became an international at a very young age whilst not playing for any of the top clubs. On 16 September 1971, he made his European debut againstAtlético Madrid in thefirst round of theUEFA Cup.^[3] His appearance made him the then youngest player of a Greek football club to have ever played in a European competition. Initially Mavros played as aleft winger and later as astriker, where he showed his scoring abilities, provoking the interest from the big teams of Greek football.^[4]

In the summer of 1975, the president ofAEK Athens,Loukas Barlos was interested in signing Mavros, but the board of Panionios were negative to any offer, refusing to sell their best player. AEK were about to relive the adventures of the transfer ofKostas Nestoridis in 1955.^[5] The desire of Mavros to play for the great AEK of the time, as well as his appreciation in the person of Barlos were enough to surpass the inexplicable and obsession of the president of Panionios, Tsolakakis to cancel the transfer. It was then revealed that when Mavros signed his contract with Panionios, was still underage, thus making the contract invalid. Panionios still blocked the transfer leading to a litigation between the two sides which lasted for an entire season. During this period, Mavros was unable to compete in an official match for either side and thus he was limited in playing in friendly games with AEK. On 2 July 1976 the dispute was eventually settled out-of-court and Mavros was transferred to AEK Athens for the amount of 10,000,000 drachmas.^[6][7][8]

The happy ending of the case brought joy and satisfaction to both Barlos and Mavros who adapted a "father-son" relationship.^[9] From his first season, he became an integral part of the team, helping them reach thesemi-finals of the UEFA Cup.^[10] With the arrival ofDušan Bajević he formed one the club's best scoring duo in Europe. The following season, he had a starring role in AEK winning the domestic double, emerging as thetop scorer of the league with 22 goals.^[11] The great team of Barlos did not stop there and won a second consecutive championship in 1979, while the lost a chance to win the domestic double, losing thecup to Panionios in the final.^[12] Mavros was again the league's top scorer making a career record of 31 goals, while his performances of that season won him aSilver Shoe, finishing 3 goals behindKees Kist ofAZ.^[13]

The era after the departure of Barlos, was marked with administrative and financial instability, while the transfers did not live up to the expectations, as the team was getting weaker in every season. In that period of decline for the club, Mavros stayed and with his leading presence held the team from falling apart. The fans of AEK Athens loved him because he was one of the few players who stayed with the club after Barlos left and because of his tendency to score against their rivals, Olympiacos. They named him "God"(Greek:Θεός), the lexicographer, Faidon Konstantoudakis came up with the nickname"Theomas" (Greek:"Θεωμάς")^[14] (paraphrase of his first name to resemble the Greek word for God) and whenever he scored the whole stadium chanted"Who, who, who? Mavros the God"(Greek:"Ποιος, ποιος, ποιος; Ο Μαύρος ο Θεός").^[15]

On 18 August 1981, Mavros was called toEurope XI to play againstCzechoslovakia for the 80th anniversary of theCzechoslovak Football Association.^[16]

In 1982, he led the club in the qualification at the expense Olympiacos, in thequarter-finals of the cup with 2 wins and his goal in the victory by 0–1 in the second leg atKaraiskakis Stadium. In the counterattack of AEK that led to the goal, Mavros got the ball at the center of the field and dribbled to the opposite area and many fans of the red whites started leaving the stadium confident of the upcoming goal of Mavros and the consequent elimination of their team. In thefinal againstPAOK atOlympic Stadium, his goal and another byVangelis Vlachos led the club to win a title after 4 years.^[17] In the following season he renewed his contract with the club receiving 45 million drachmas from the then president, Lefteris Panagidis.^[18]

On 22 June 1984, Mavros was called to theWorld XI alongside his countrymanVasilis Hatzipanagis and other legends likeFranz Beckenbauer,Ruud Krol,Johan Neeskens,Peter Shilton,Kevin Keegan,Mario Kempes,Hugo Sánchez andFelix Magath.^[19] 20,000 Greek fans were inGiants Stadium to watch World XI playing againstNew York Cosmos in a 3–1 win. In fact, according to his statement, in the game, Beckenbauer told him "At last, you came.", referring to the constant interest of his team,New York Cosmos for Mavros.^[20]

On 27 January 1985, Mavros also became one of the nineGreek players in history of who have scored 5 goals in a match againstEgaleo in a 5–2 win.^[21] At the end of the season he finished as the top scorer of the league for the third time in his career with 27 goals.^[22] In 1987, the manager of the club,Nikos Alefantos asked the president,Andreas Zafiropoulos not to renew Mavros' contract as he thought the player was "too old" to play for a team of that level. All the above were confirmed on 11 April 1987, in the home match againstApollon Kalamarias, when Alefantos subbed off Mavros at the 80th minute, being booed by the fans. Zafiropoulos agreed to the coach's request and Mavros was released from the club and returned to his former club, Panionios.^[23] With AEK he won 2 championships and 2 cup, including the domestic double of 1978.^[24]

Mavros proved wrong the coach and administration of AEK Athens, with his return in Nea Smyrni. With Panionios, in 1990 he finished as top scorer in league with 22 goals, at the age of 36, being the oldest player in Greece to ever win this award.^[25] Upon his return inNea Filadelfeia on 28 October 1989, as an opponent of AEK, Mavros equalized the match at the 27th minute and didn't celebrate, with the crowd and chanting his name as if he had just scored for AEK, showing their love and appreciation to his face,^[26][27] who responded by applauding them back and sending them kisses, wiping away a tear of joy. Before retiring in 1991, Mavros managed to score a total of 51 goals in 89 matches on his second spell at the club and surpassed his former teammate at AEK Athens,Mimis Papaioannou as the all-time top scorer in the Greek championship.^[1]

On 14 November 1993, he retired in the friendly match whereGreece faced AEK, which was organized in his honor. The match ended 4–2 for AEK and Mavros scored three goals in the last game of his glorious career, playing with both teams.^[28]

Mavros' international career is enviable although much has been heard about its unfair end in 1982. He played forGreece's Youth team from 1972 to 1974, with which he scored 4 goals in the matches for the European Championship. Two goals againstYugoslavia and one goal on 16/1/74 againstMalta. Then he played withGreece U21 and on 31/5/1972 he scored the winning goal in the semifinal of the European Championship in the 2–1 victory overCzechoslovakia. At the age of 17 he became the youngest player to ever score for themen's squad. Mavros had a total of 36 appearances withGreece scoring 11 goals in the period of 1972–1984. His most notable moment was his presence in the1980's European Championship.

Mavros is married to the formerbasketball player ofPalaio Faliro, Angeliki Agorastopoulou and they have two sons, Dimitris and Sotiris and a daughter, Ioanna.^[29]

After retiring from football Mavros engaged in business of restaurant services. Although he was repeatedly offered the position of coach or manager of AEK, he stubbornly refused, not agreeing with the situation of the club in general. In 2007 he opened his own coffee bar in the marina ofAlimos.^[30]

On 1 August 2012, Mavros became the president of AEK Athens in an effort to help the club to hold up from the financial struggles,^[31] forming a new team based on young players and hiring Vangelis Vlachos as the coach andVasilios Tsiartas as the technical director,^[32] but it was without result. He resigned on 30 September 2012, when he found out attempts to bypass his decisions with the removal of Vlachos, who he had chosen, being the triggering event.^[33]

In 2017 he published his autobiography with the title "Who, who, who? Mavros the God".^[34] His name is honoured on one of the four pillars of AEK Athens' new stadium,Agia Sophia Stadium, alongside other important figures of the club's history such as Kostas Nestoridis,Stelios Serafidis and Mimis Papaioannou.^[35]

List of international goals scored by Thomas Mavros

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 June 1975	Toumba Stadium,Thessaloniki, Greece	Malta	1–0	4–0	1976 UEQ
2	5 April 1978	Stadion Miejski,Poznań, Poland	Poland	5–2	5–2	Friendly
3	11 October 1978	Leoforos Alexandras Stadium,Athens, Greece	Finland	4–0	8–1	1980 UEQ
4	11 October 1978	Leoforos Alexandras Stadium,Athens, Greece	Finland	5–0	8–1	1980 UEQ
5	11 October 1978	Leoforos Alexandras Stadium,Athens, Greece	Finland	7–1	8–1	1980 UEQ
6	28 October 1978	Kaftanzoglio Stadium,Thessaloniki, Greece	Hungary	4–0	4–1	1980 UEQ
7	15 November 1978	Gradski Stadium,Skopje, SFR Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia	0–1	4–1	1980 Balkan Cup
8	27 February 1980	Parc des Princes,Paris, France	France	1–1	5–1	Friendly
9	11 March 1981	Stade Municipal,Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	0–2	0–2	1982 WCQ
10	29 November 1981	Karaiskakis Stadium,Piraeus, Greece	Yugoslavia	1–0	1–2	1982 WCQ
11	27 October 1982	Makario Stadium,Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus	0–1	1–1	Friendly

AEK Athens^[14]

• Alpha Ethniki:1977–78,1978–79
• Greek Cup:1977–78,1982–83

Individual^[14]

• Alpha Ethnikitop scorer:1977–78,1978–79,1984–85,1989–90
• Greek Cup top scorer:1982–83
• European Silver Shoe: 1978–79

• Greek championship all-time top scorer with 260 goals.^[1]
• Most goals in a league game with 5 goals in a 5–2 win against Egaleo on 27 January 1985.^[37]
• Most goals scored in thederbies against Olympiacos with 16 goals.^[38]

Mavros was an agile striker and an incredibly nimble footballer with the ability to always be in the right position to score. The extra personal training he followed with weights, sand runs and other original methods for the time, increased his body strength and explosiveness and gave him incredimbe jump, which made him the most difficult player to mark on the pitch, even for the best defenders. The result of his enhanced physical condition was to be able to maintain his level at the age of 36. He was a natural leader on the pitch, as his presence he boosted the morale of his teammates and cheered the crowd to create a hot atmosphere from the stands. At the same time, he was the terror of the opponent defenders and goalkeepers which made them nervous with the idea that would find a way to score against them. His leadership skills helped AEK Athens hold up during financial and admistative difficulties that led to a downfall on the competitive part.^[4]

• Thomas Mavros at WorldFootball.net
• Thomas Mavros at National-Football-Teams.com
• Thomas Mavros at EU-Football.info

• 1954 births
• Living people
• AEK Athens F.C. players
• AEK Athens F.C. chairmen
• Panionios F.C. players
• Greece men's international footballers
• UEFA Euro 1980 players
• Super League Greece players
• Men's association football forwards
• Footballers from Athens
• Greek men's footballers
• 20th-century Greek sportsmen

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