Giorgos Donis

Infobox Football biography
playername = Giorgos Donis


fullname = Georgios Donis
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1969|10|29
cityofbirth = Frankfurt
countryofbirth = West Germany
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
position = Midfielder (retired)
currentclub = AEK Athens (manager)
youthyears = 1986–1987
1987–1988
1988–1989
1989–1990
youthclubs = Pavlos Melas
Panathinaikos
Athinaikos
Panargiakos
years = 1990–1992
1992–1996
1996–1997
1997–1998
1999
1999–2000
clubs = PAS Giannina
Panathinaikos
Blackburn Rovers
AEK Athens
Sheffield United
Huddersfield Town
Total
caps(goals) = 052 0(7)
107 (31)
022 0(2)
030 0(2)
007 0(1)
021 0(0)
239 (43)
nationalyears = 1991–1997
nationalteam = Greece
nationalcaps(goals) = 024 0(5)
manageryears = 2003–2004
2004–2008
2008–
managerclubs = Ilisiakos
Larissa
AEK Athens

Giorgos Donis (Greek: Γεώργιος (Γιώργος) Δώνης) born on October 29, 1969 in Frankfurt, West Germany) is a retired professional football player and the current manager of AEK Athens. He was the first ever Greek to play in the English Premiership.

Club career

Giorgos Donis started his career with PAS Giannina in 1990, after 2 successful years he moved to Panathinaikos. On June 5 1996 after helping the Greek club reach the UEFA Champions League in 1996, Donis moved to Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer, making use of the, then recent, Bosman ruling signed for 1.1 billion drachmas, a record amount for Greek players at the time. He had two erratic seasons with them before heading back home to play for AEK Athens. Later he moved to England again, this time for Huddersfield Town were he ended his career.

Management career

At the end of his playing career he turned to coaching. In 2003 he managed the Zografou team Ilisiakos for one season and then made the move to Larissa, as coach where after one season he managed to bring the team to the Greece Super League from the second division in one year and finish them in 8th the following year. In 2007 Larissa finished in 10th place but he managed to bring them the Greek Cup after defeating Panathinaikos in the final [ [http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=535707.html Unlikely Larissa take Greek Cup] ] . In his first taste of European football management, his Larissa side defeated his former team Blackburn Rovers to qualify for the group stages [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=599067.html Larissa explain it all] ] .He finished a great year in 6th(mising out on the season play-off's on goal difference).On April 25 2008, Donis stepped down as manager of Larissa and was appointed as head coach of AEK Athens on May 14 [ [http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=696219.html Donis handed AEK post] ] .

International career

He debuted for the Greek national football team on December 22 1991 and made a total of 24 appearances scoring 5 goals.

Honours

As a Player:

Panathinaikos
*Greek Championship: 1995, 1996
*Greek Cup: 1993, 1994, 1995
*Greek Super Cup: 1993, 1994

As a Coach:

Larissa
*Greek Cup: 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=16259 Career Stats] at National Football Teams.