Thomas Mavros

Thomas Mavros (Θωμάς Μαύρος, born 31 May 1954) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Initially, a legend for Panionios, he was a relevation of the Greek championship at the age of 16.

Mavros was born on 31 May 1954 in Kallithea, where he lived for the first 4 years of his life, until his family moved to Palaio 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 the Nea Smyrni Stadium to watch Panionios.

His the elder brother of Sotiris, soon joined the children section of Panionios.

AEK were about to relive the adventures of the transfer of Kostas Nestoridis in 1955.

The desire of Mavros to play for the great AEK of the time, as well as his huge 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 play for either side.

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 to Nea Smyrni for a match of Panionios against Pierikos.

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 defeated Olympiacos by 1–0 and he earned 100 drachmas for the luck he brought to the team.

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 under Dezső Bundzsák at the beginning and later Joe Mallett who distinguished and cultivated his talent, becoming the youngest player to have played in a Greek 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 against Atlético Madrid in the first round of the UEFA Cup.

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 a left winger and later as a striker, where he showed his scoring abilities, provoking the interest from the big teams of Greek football.

In the summer of 1975, the president of AEK Athens, Loukas Barlos was interested in signing Mavros, but the board of Panionios were negative to any offer, refusing to give their best player.

After the dispute was resolved Mavros was finally transferred to AEK Athens in June 1976.

The happy ending of the case brought on the one hand the joy and satisfaction to both Barlos and Mavros who have since adapted a "father-son" relationship.

He immediately became an integral part of the team helping them reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, winning 2 Championships and 2 Cups including a domestic double in 1978.

He was also top scorer 3 times (1978 with 22 goals, 1979 with 31 goals, 1985 with 27 goals).

In 1979, he was also the second goalscorer in Europe, 3 goals behind AZ's player, Kees Kist.

He formed alongside Dušan Bajević one the club's best scoring couple and one of the best in Europe.

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 rivals Olympiacos.

They named him "God" (Θεός), the lexicographer, Faidon Konstantoudakis came up with the nickname "Theomas" ("Θεωμάς") (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" ("Ποιος, ποιος, ποιος; Ο Μαύρος ο Θεός").

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.

He became one of the leaders of AEK 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 the Greek championship and played for the World XI in 1984.

His nickname was "the God" (Θεός), or "Theomas" ("Θεωμάς").

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