Mimis Papaioannou

Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou (Δημήτριος "Μίμης" Παπαϊωάννου; 23 August 1942 – 15 March 2023) was a Greek professional footballer, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a manager.

Widely regarded as the greatest Greek footballer of his generation and one of the best Greek footballers of all time, as he was named the best Greek footballer of the 20th Century by the IFFHS.

A skillfull striker that was later converted into an attacking midfielder, due to technical abilities, Papaioannou was characterized by his technique, dribbling abilities, physical strength, versatility in his finishing and his jumping skills that allowed him to stay in the air longer than his opponents.

Throughout his playing career, Papaioannou was never shown a single red card, while he was booked with a yellow card only three times.

Papaioannou was born on 23 August 1942 in Nea Nikomedeia of Imathia.

His father, Kostas was the curator of the local football team Nea Genea, thus the young Papaioannou came in touch with football from an early age.

His football talent began to shine from early on, while his love for football was unquestionable.

His love of football and the financial difficulties of his family forced him to leave school early and split his time between the stadium and the barber shop in the village, where he worked as an assistant.

At the age of 15 he joined Nea Genea and played in the team's offense.

His name and abilities quickly became known in the capital of the prefecture, Veria and to the agents of the local club, as a result of which he transferred to them in 1959, at the age of 17.

That period the coach of PAOK, Žarko Mihajlović selected him (along with other youngsters from North Greece who haven't contract with PAOK) to represent the club's academy in Viareggio's youth tournament.

His appearances for the "Queen of North" aroused the interest of the big teams of Thessaloniki, but also of the then coach of AEK Athens, Tryfon Tzanetis.

The offers of the clubs of Thessaloniki did not meet the requirements of Veria and in fact his transfer to PAOK failed for a difference of 20,000 drachmas.

In 1961, Tzanetis suggested and persuaded the owner of AEK, Nikos Goumas to offer 175,000 drachmas to the team and 25,000 drachmas to the 19-year-old player for his transfer to their club.

The young striker of refugee origin was hesitant, as on the one hand there was his sporting sympathy for the northern Greece, PAOK and the neighboring move to Thessaloniki, while on the other hand there was the greater name of AEK Athens and the money he was offered were more than an immediate need for his family, with prerequisite his move to the distant Athens, but eventually after the advice of the president of Veria, Kostas Vorgiatzidis, Papaioannou chose the club of Athens.

In his international career, Papaioannou was part of the Greek military team that managed to win the World Military Cup in 1962 and 1963.

In the summer of 1962, the 20-year-old Papaioannou was dressed in the yellow-black jersey, starting an integral course of 17 years that elevated him to one of the greatest players in the history of AEK Athens.

He was the player that AEK was looking to pair up with Kostas Nestoridis and lead the club in claiming leagues.

Alongside "Nestoras" they formed an incredible attacking duo that was proved deadly for the opposing defences.

On 27 September 1962 he scored his first goal on his debut in a 7–2 triumph against Egaleo.

He scored in the derby against Olympiacos at Karaiskakis Stadium, in the 1–3 victory on 23 December 1962, while he also scored in the same match of the second round.

At the end of the season, AEK was tied on the 1st place with Panathinaikos and the title was judged in a play-off match on 23 June 1963.

Papaioannou scored twice, Nestoridis also scored from a direct corner kick and after a 3–3 draw according to the regulations of the time, the title was awarded to the team with the best goal ratio in the regular season.

The 39 goals scored by the two clubs and the total goal difference of 66–21, led AEK to win the league after 23 years.

As Mimis Papaioannou had stated, after the end of the match, as he saw all the members of the team in the locker room crying for this success, he was grafted as a newcomer with the club's ideals, while he also cried and became a supporter of AEK.

The upcoming years for AEK and Papaioannou were almost ideal, as he showed that he was the one to take the leader role from Nestoridis in the team, pushing them as high as he could to lead them to success.

His appearances and achievements put him quickly in the heart of the crowd.

The fans adored him and he rewarded them with passion for the yellow-black jersey.

On 29 September 1963 he scored a brace in the away defeat with 5–4 against Panathinaikos.

He scored his first hat-trick on 16 October 1963 scoring all three goals against Aris at home.

Papaioannou played for AEK for 17 seasons and managed to win to 5 league titles, 3 Greek cups, including a domestic double in 1978.

He is the club's all-time top scorer and by the time he left AEK he was also the all-time top scorer of the Greek championship, but today he is the third place.

He is the player of AEK with the second most appearances in all competitions and the first in league appearances.

His nickname was "the Vlach" ("ο Βλάχος"), due to his family origins.

In 1982 Papaioannou, became the coach for New York Pancyprian-Freedoms, where he won both the league and the cup claiming the domestic double.

With Greece he earned 61 caps and scored 21 goals, becoming their top scorer until 1986 and now he is the 5th place of the top scorer list.

In 2021, the IFFHS also selected him in Greece's best XI of all time.

From 1986 to 1991 he managed Kerkyra, Edessaikos, Olympiacos Chalkida, AE Kos and Pannafpliakos.

In 1991 he coached the local club Evgeros at Kefalonia for a season.

He also served as an assistant of Alketas Panagoulias in bench of Greece for 2 years.