Nikos Dabizas

Nikos Dabizas

Personal information
Full name	Nikolaos Dabizas
Date of birth	3 August 1973 (1973-08-03) (age 38)
Place of birth	Ptolemaida, Greece
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	retired
Youth career
	Pontii Veria
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1994	Pontii Veria	85	(7)
1994–1998	Olympiacos	104	(8)
1998–2003	Newcastle United	130	(11)
2003–2005	Leicester City	51	(1)
2005–2011	Larissa	178	(5)
National team‡
1994–2004	Greece	70	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 July 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2004

Nikolaos "Nikos" Dabizas (born 3 August 1973 in Ptolemaida) is a retired Greek professional footballer and former Newcastle United, Leicester City, Olympiacos and Larissa defender . He was also in Greece's 2004 European Football Championship winning squad.

Career

Career in Greece

Dabizas spent his days playing football and helping in his father's company. His first contact with football came when he was sixteen, although he never dreamt of becoming a professional footballer. However, fate had other plans for him. He played for a year as an amateur at the local team of Amydeo called Hermes, which was enough to give him the ticket to a team in the third division and a professional contract, as he joined Pontioi Verias, as an 18-year-old, where he remained for three consecutive seasons, playing one year on the third division and two in the second. His big career break came when he was 21. He got an offer from Olympiacos, one of the biggest teams in Greece.

He moved to Piraeus and helped his new team win the Greek championship twice, something they hadn't done in ten years. He also took part in his first UEFA Champions League games. After three-and-a-half seasons with Olympiacos he received an offer from Newcastle United, which opened him the doors to the English football fields, in the Premier League.

Newcastle United

He signed with Newcastle in March 1998. His initial four-year contract, which was to expire in 2002, was renewed well ahead of time and was to see Dabizas in the team until June 2004. He famously scored Newcastle's winning goal in the 1–0 victory in the local derby against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on 24 February 2002. Whilst at Newcastle he played in both the 1998 and 1999 FA Cup Finals.

Being left out of the first squad since the spring of 2003, Dabizas had no option but to seek a transfer. A car accident prevented him from moving during the summer transfer window. Still the decision to move was enforced as he did not see any action when the new season started. He accepted an offer from Leicester City in January 2004.^[1]

Leicester and Euro 2004

Dabizas played regularly for Leicester as they battled to stay in the Premier League, their efforts were inadequate and the team was relegated to the Championship. It seemed like it was going to turn out to be a very disappointing season, but it was far from over. Dabizas was selected for the 2004 European Football Championship Greek squad but never saw any action as an injury kept him on the sidelines. To everyone's surprise, Greece went on to win the tournament, ending a season that had many turning points.^[2] After Euro 2004, Dabizas chose to stay at Leicester despite being entitled to a relegation release clause in his contract.^[3] Dabizas scored twice during his spell at Leicester, one in the league against Sheffield United,^[4] and another in the FA Cup against Charlton Athletic.^[5]

AEL Larissa

Dabizas was released by Leicester at the end of his contract in May 2005.^[6] In August 2005, he signed a three-year deal with Larissa. In 2007, he won Larissa's second Greek cup, after a great personal performance in the final, being the captain. Dabizas, played in UEFA Cup 2007–08, reaching the group stage by eliminating Blackburn Rovers. In 2008–2009 season the team finished 5th in SuperLeague and won an UEFA Europa League place, but were eliminated in the 2nd qualifying round by KR Reykjavik (1–1,0–2). Here Dabizas found Stelios Venetidis and Stelios Giannakopoulos two team mates in the Greek National Team in Euro 2004, as well as former Newcastle United team mate Laurent Robert. After a poor start to the 2009/2010 season, Larissa finally finished in mid-table, and Dabizas signed a one-year contract extension, meaning that his spell with Larissa would be the longest with any club in his career and also where he played most.He finally retired there in 2011

Honours

Olympiacos

• Greek Championship: 1997, 1998

Larissa

• Greek Cup: 2007

Greece

• European Championship: 2004

References

http://sportlarissa.gr/index.php?option=com_content&id=8264

1. ^ "Dabizas to join Leicester". BBC Sport. 2004-01-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/3361063.stm. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
2. ^ "Greatest Euro shock ever?". BBC Sport. 2004-07-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3867133.stm. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
3. ^ "Foxes admit Dabizas doubts". BBC Sport. 2004-07-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/3869309.stm. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
4. ^ "Leicester 3–2 Sheff Utd". BBC. 14 September 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/3647028.stm. Retrieved 6 November 2009. 
5. ^ "Charlton 1–2 Leicester". BBC. 19 February 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/4259699.stm. Retrieved 6 November 2009. 
6. ^ "Six stars released by Foxes boss". BBC Sport. 2005-05-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/4522791.stm. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 

External links

• Dabizas.com Nikos Dabizas Official Web Site
• National Football Teams

Persondata
Name	Dabizas, Nikos
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	3 August 1973
Place of birth	Ptolemaida, Greece
Date of death
Place of death