Soulis Papadopoulos (Greek:Σούλης Παπαδόπουλος; born 19 July 1967) is a Greek former player and a professionalfootballmanager.

Papadopoulos began his football career at the infrastructure segments of his localProodeftiki and was promoted to the first team in 1987. He spent the majority of his career inProodeftiki, with brief tenures atAtromitos andDoxa Vyronas towards the end of his playing career. Papadopoulos retired in 1999, last playing forProodeftiki in theGreek Alpha Ethniki.

Several months after his retirement, Papadopoulos began his coaching career as an assistant manager atProodeftiki in theGreek Alpha Ethniki. He took on as interim manager during coaching staff replacements and eventually, was appointed head coach of the club in 2000. Despite the club's relegation at the end of the1999–2000 Alpha Ethniki season, Papadopoulos was entrusted to lead the team back to top-flight, which he managed after managing the club for two seasons in theBeta Ethniki. He would remain manager ofProodeftiki for the following two seasons in theAlpha Ethniki until the end of the2003–04 Alpha Ethniki season, when he resigned from his post after a loss fromPanionios, thus failing to avoid relegation to theBeta Ethniki.

Papadopoulos moved toCyprus and was appointed head coach ofCypriot First Division sideApollon Limassol. His stay however was brief, as he resigned from his post in September 2004 after a 6–1 loss fromAlki Larnaca.^[1] He returned toGreece to take overKastoria in theBeta Ethniki, but terminated his contract in just two days, for personal reasons. Early in 2005, Papadopoulos took over as manager ofPaniliakos, also in theBeta Ethniki before returning toProodeftiki in the summer of 2005, managing the club for two seasons in theBeta Ethniki. At the end of the2006-07 Beta Ethniki season,Proodeftiki finished in 16th place, thus being relegated to theGamma Ethniki (the third tier of theGreek football league system) and Papadopoulos' contract with the club was terminated.

Papadopoulos moved toVyzas in 2007, and thenOlympiacos Volos until March 2008. A month later, he was hired byPierikos where he managed to avoid relegation at the end of the season. He thus renewed his stay atPierikos, until April 2009.

In September 2009, Papadopoulos took over management ofEgaleo, resigning after managing no win in three consecutive matches. He returned toPierikos in October 2009, where he managed to enter the promotion play-offs. AfterPierikos failed to promote to theSuperleague in the process, Papadopoulos' contract was terminated.

At the start of the2010–11 season, he moved toRhodes to take over local clubDiagoras. He resigned after three games, and was appointed head coach by fellowFootball League sideVeria until January 2011. In March, he once again returned toPierikos. He left the club in January 2012, and was appointed head coach ofIraklis in theFootball League 2 Northern Group. In May 2012 he was hired a fourth time byPierikos until the end of the season. In the summer of 2012, he moved toDoxa Drama.

At the start of the2012–13 season, in October 2012 and after consecutive bad results during the championship, Papadopoulos resigned as coach ofDoxa Drama and was subsequently hired again byOlympiacos Volos, where he stayed until January 2013. Papadopoulos then returned to theSuperleague to take over management of former league powerhouseAris in March 2013. Given the club's financial situation and struggling nature, Papadopoulos successfully managed to stay clear of relegation at the end theseason, but terminated his contract in June, only to be re-appointed in December that same year to replaceZoran Milinković. His second tenure withAris was less successful however, and after a loss againstErgotelis in March 2014, which solidifiedAris' relegation to theFootball League, Papadopoulos resigned.

In July 2014, he took over management ofCretan clubChania in theFootball League but was replaced in October that same year. He was re-appointed in January 2015 and stayed inChania for one more month. In March, he moved toAEL until the end of the season.

In August 2015, Papadopoulos was hired byLamia, departing after a loss against his former club AEL during the opening match of the2015–16 Football League season.^[2] In October 2015 Papadopoulos returned for a third time in his career toOlympiacos Volos, departing in December.

After a one-year break, Papadopoulos was hired by formerSuperleague clubErgotelis in theGamma Ethniki in January 2017.^[3] Although considered a title contender,Ergotelis trailed 7 points behindIonikos when Papadopoulos took over. Nevertheless, Papadopoulos achieved a remarkable unbeaten record (12 wins, 3 draws) to narrowly finish on top of the2016–17 Gamma Ethniki Group 4 Table, achieving promotion to theFootball League.^[4] His stay was not renewed for the next season however, due to the departure of former club president Georgios Vrentzos, and an eventual change in club leadership.^[5]

In December 2017, Papadopoulos was hired byGamma Ethniki sideAsteras Amaliada,^[6] with whom he won his secondGamma Ethniki title in a row, leading the club to the top of the Group 5 Table and theFootball League promotion play-offs. However, he was fired after a 3–0 away loss toIrodotos in the opening match of the play-offs.^[7]

• Gamma Ethniki:2016–17

• Gamma Ethniki:2017–18

• 1967 births
• Living people
• Greek men's footballers
• Proodeftiki F.C. players
• Atromitos F.C. players
• Greek football managers
• Proodeftiki F.C. managers
• Apollon Limassol FC managers
• Paniliakos F.C. managers
• Vyzas F.C. managers
• Olympiacos Volos F.C. managers
• S.F.K. Pierikos (football) managers
• Egaleo F.C. managers
• P.A.E. G.S. Diagoras managers
• Veria F.C. managers
• Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) managers
• Doxa Drama F.C. managers
• Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers
• AO Chania F.C. managers
• Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. managers
• Ergotelis F.C. managers
• Aittitos Spata F.C. managers
• Men's association football midfielders
• Footballers from Piraeus
• Greek expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
• Expatriate football managers in Cyprus
• Doxa Vyronas F.C. players
• 20th-century Greek sportsmen

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