Kostas Nestoridis

Kostas Nestoridis (Κώστας Νεστορίδης, 15 March 1930 – 12 December 2023) was a Greek professional footballer, who played as a forward and a manager.

He was amongst the best players in the history of AEK Athens and one of the greatest Greek footballers and goalscorers.

Κostas Nestoridis was born on 15 March 1930 in Drama and was the youngest of three children of the Pontian Greek Giorgos and Kyriaki, who arrived in Thrace as refugees after the Asia Minor disaster.

He and his siblings, Christos and Nopi, experienced intensely the financial misery and the struggles of the refugee life during their childhood.

The work difficulties that his parents repeatedly faced, affected the young Nestoridis and were several times the criteria for any decisions during his football career.

With his family, he traveled from the dirt roads of Drama, to the fields of Kallithea, in search of labor and later to the fields of Preveza, where they took refuge during The Occupation.

There, his talent in football charmed the crowds.

Even through he loved enacting with football, it always came second in his priorities, as the need for assistance in the family finances came first, something that forced Nestoridis to work from a young age as a polisher, cigarette seller, shoemaker assistant and shepherd during his days at Preveza.

After the end of the World War II, the return and resettlement of the family in Kallithea marked his most active involvement with football.

In his neighborhood there was an independent club called PAO Kallitheas.

They were not a recognizable team, but they provided a football kit and lemonade at the half time for their players, things that were almost considered as luxury for the then standards of the young Nestoridis.

His debut, which was marked by scoring five goals, began to spread a legend around his name.

That legend did not take long to cross the narrow borders of the post-war Kallithea and reached the ears of Kostas Negrepontis, who was looking for a partner to Kleanthis Maropoulos in the offense of AEK Athens.

One Sunday afternoon in Kallithea, Negrepontis, impressed by his dribbling skills and shooting technique, did not hesitate and invited Nestoridis to Nea Filadelfeia for a tryout.

AEK's officials were impressed by his talent, but did not ask him to sign a sport's card and responded to his persistent calls for work with some vague promises of appointment to the Water Company.

After about a month, where nothing came out, Nestoridis left AEK and football training, giving priority in finding a solution to his intense livelihood problem.

Nestoridis made his next step in his football career on a night in 1946, when his neighbor and friend, Kostas Sotiriadis, who was playing for Panionios, met him in Kallithea Square and suggested that he visit Nea Smyrni for another tryout.

There, the coach Roussopoulos, having received information from Sotiriadis and impressed by his abilities, made him sign a sport's card, including him in the roster of Panionios.

His urgent need for daily work as a cigarette retailer did not allow him to continue training with Panionios.

He occasionally played football in his neighborhood until Karamalengos, the owner of the factory "Indiana" and a member of Hellas Moschato, heard about him.

He offered Nestoridis a steady job in his business and offered him to sign in his team.

The young Nestoridis, seeing that his two big dreams, the steady job and football were being materialized at the same time, did not hesitate to sign a fake sport's card under the name "Brinzos", as was the nickname of his brother, Christos and started playing in Hellas Moschato.

The team became champions of their division in Piraeus Football Clubs Association, with Nestoridis scoring 48 goals and becoming their star player.

He played for the club from Moschato until 1948.

His career there ended ingloriously, as before the start of the crucial match for the championship against Palia Kokkinia, a rival fan recognized Nestoridis and started shouting him with his real name.

The officials of Hellas, fearing the revelation of forgery and punishment, did not use him, resulting in the 2–1 defeat and the loss of the championship.

Their subsequent efforts to secure a free transfer of Nestoridis from Panionios were also fruitless.

Nestoridis stayed for the first time in his career out of football competitions for a year and in 1949 with the exhortation of the former footballer of Olympiacos, Babis Kotridis, he decided to join Panionios.

There, he eventually got the chance to play under Negrepontis, who was the coach at the time and they formed a strong friendship.

He wore the blue-red jersey for seven years and in 63 appearances he scored 26 goals, winning the first and only AFCA league title of the club in 1951, finishing as its top scorer with seven goals.

At the same season, he had scored and starred in the victory of Panionios by 2–1 against AEK Athens in AEK Stadium and also became an international.

The following season he reached the Greek Cup final, where the they lost to Olympiacos in a replay match as they first match ended in a draw.

Nevertheless, Nestoridis did not spend beautiful days at the club.

The "cliques" of the older players considered him a "foreigner" and did not miss the opportunity to fight him, while from the side of the management he was treated simply as a product, that at some point would fill the club's coffers by transferring to one of the big clubs of POK.

In May 1955, AEK Athens organized a "Solidarity Cup" with the earnings of the tournament going for the completion of the works in their stadium.

Panionios participated in the tournament and after its end in June, their management pressured him to transfer at Olympiacos or Panathinaikos.

He refused and faithful to his refugee origins and in July he signed for AEK who gave him 15,000 drachmas, without the consent of Panionios, with the actions of the vice-president of AEK, Vasilis Sevastakis.

He was punished by the HFF with a two-year ban from the competitive activities.

Nestoridis was boiling, as he waited for his punishment to end, competing only in friendly matches, with the only distractions being his marriage and the birth of his son.

The end of his punishment and his debut with the yellow-black jersey came in September 1957.