Savva Georgiou

Football manager infobox
playername = Savva Georgiou


fullname = Savva Georgiou
nickname = "Kotsios" ( _el. Κώτσιος)
dateofbirth = 1931
dateofdeath = 1996
cityofbirth = Nicosia
countryofbirth = Cyprus
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs = APOEL Nicosia
years =
1955-1956
clubs = APOEL Nicosia
Maccabi Haifa
caps(goals) =
38 (10)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears =
managerclubs =
pcupdate = March 8, 2007
ntupdate =

Savva Georgiou ( _el. Σάββα Γεωργίου) was a Cypriot football striker and was the first foreign footballer ever to play professionally in Israel. He was also the first ever Greek Cypriot that played in a football championship outside Cyprus. Georgiou comes from a working class Greek background mixed with Jewish heritage from one of his grandfathers.

He played football during 1950s and he was one of the best ever Cypriot footballers. Sometimes he could play even as a defender. He began playing football for APOEL youth team in 1949 and one year later he became member of the senior squad. Scoring two goals for his team in the Cypriot Cup final in 1951 against EPA Larnaca FC, APOEL won the final 7-0 (a record in a Cypriot Cup final until today) and he won the first trophy in his career. In 1952, he helped his team to win the Cypriot Championship and then, as the first professional Cypriot player he played football in England with Bristol City for one year and he also played for the representative team of London.

Arrival to Israel

For the season 1955-56 he played for a year for Maccabi Haifa. Before Georgiou, the only foreign players that played in Israel were British soldiers that were stationed in Israel during the British Mandate. The Cypriot striker was the first player ever to be brought in from abroad to play professional football in Israel.

Three offers from Israeli clubs were on the table though Georgiou ended up only playing for Maccabi Haifa. Acclimation was difficult but eventually he settled in in the port city and scored some goals to go down in the annals of history in Israeli football.

Back to Cyprus

In 1957, when APOEL FC had relegation danger, he was brought back to Cyprus and he was the most important player of his team. In 1959, he beat by himself the Greece national football team, playing with a representative team of both AC Omonia and APOEL. He died in 1996.

References

* [http://www.simerini.com.cy/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=210018 Article about Savva by Simerini]

External links

* [http://maccabi-haifafc.walla.co.il/ts.cgi?tsscript=player&id=2373 Profile and biography of Savva Georgiou on Maccabi Haifa's official website]