Christos Ardizoglou


Christos Ardizoglou is a Greek former international footballer who played as mainly a midfielder.

Early life

Ardizoglou was born in Jerusalem, where his family had found refuge after the Asia Minor disaster, from a Greek father and an Israeli mother. After living the first years of his life in Israel, his parents Dimitris and Angeliki decided in 1958 to settle the family in Greece. Thus the 5-year-old Ardizoglou alongside his parents and five siblings moved in the slums of Nea Ionia, in a harsh poverty which consisted the everyday life in the most common way of the time. Trying to mentally escape of that way of life, he started occasionally playing football and doing cycling training at the Amarousion Sports Club where he obtained his sports card. Despite he hard opposition and punishment from his parents due to his enactment with sports, he did not stop him from following his dream. Soon enough, the neighborhood scouts of the time were impressed by the skills of the young Ardizoglou and despite being rejected by the neighboring AEK Athens, which he desired to join, he eventually signed to the another neighboring team of Apollon Athens.

Club career

Apollon Athens

In 1966 Ardizoglou became a member of the infrastructure departments of Apollon Athens. Despite his great performances with the amateur team of Apollon the then manager of the men's team, Dezső Bundzsák refused to promote him. As a result he quit football and began working in a factory for six months, until he was urged to return to the club.
In 1971 Ardizoglou was promoted to the men's team and signed a professional contract, playing as a full-back. At the end of the season Apollon were relegated to the second division. Ardizoglou, who in the meantime has been converted to the position of wide midfielder, was amongst the players who had major contribution in the club's return to the first division. From that moment on he became one of their star players of Apollon Athens. In July 1974, the management of Apollon, obeying the will of the leaders of the then regime, were about to give Ardizoglou to Panathinaikos. His move to the "greens" was thwarted at the last minute thanks to the fall of the dictatorial regime during that period and the persistence of the new president of AEK Athens, Loukas Barlos who got him to dress in the colours of his club. The transfer cost the exorbitant sum for the time of 5 million drachmas, plus young footballers of AEK as an exchange and Ardizoglou got an apartment as a transfer gift.

AEK Athens

Ardizoglou quickly established in the squad of AEK and under František Fadrhonc he became an important tool of the team that stared for years both domestically and internationally. On 27 February 1977 in a home match against Pierikos for the league after a penalty wasn't awarded to AEK, he alongside his teammates gathered around the referee to protest. After intense protests and the refere's refusal to award the penalty Ardizoglou escaped from the hands of his teammates and attacked the referee. This resulted in his expulsion with a straight red and his punishment with 10 matches. His greatest moment was reaching the semi-finals of UEFA Cup in 1977 even though he didn't compete, due to punishment with Greece U19. The following season, he scored in the heavy 4–1 away defeat by Standard Liège for the UEFA Cup on 1 November 1977. At the end of that season AEK won the domestic double. He also contributed in the great 6–1 win over Porto on 13 November 1978 for European Cup, where he scored the second goal for his team. He played for AEK for 11 consecutive years, winning 2 Championships and 2 Greek Cups including a double. In 1985 Ardizoglou came into conflict with the major shareholder of the club, Andreas Zafiropoulos and in the summer of the same year he and with the urge of the then manager Antonis Georgiadis, he terminated his contract with the yellow-blacks.

Later years

On 15 July 1985 Ardizoglou returned to Apollon Athens, but this time he did not manage to establish himself. In January 1986 he moved to the second division side, Atromitos, where he played for one year and then moved to Olympiacos Chalkida. There he retired as a footballer and later started coaching at the level of amateur football clubs and academies.

International career

Ardizoglou was a member of Greece U19 from 1973 to 1974. He played in the qualifing round of the 1973 UEFA European Under-18 Championship, where they finised second behind Romania. The following year he was part of the squad the qualified in the 1974 UEFA European Under-18 Championship and reached its semi-finals, where the lost to Yugoslavia. A few days later, a group of Greek internationals met the referee of the match by accident which they attacked. Amongst his attackers, the referee identified Ardizoglou and Voulgaris of Olympiacos Volos and filed a report, which resulted in his punishment with a two-year ban from the club and international competitions of UEFA.
On 24 September 1975 Ardizoglou made his debut for Greece against Romania for the Balkan Cup. He was member of the squad that participated in UEFA Euro 1980, which consisted Greece's debut in a major tournament. He played 43 times in total scoring 2 goals. He has also been invited once to the World XI.

Managerial career

Ardizoglou was also the manager of Apollon Athens from 1 July 1998 to 3 September 1999.

After football

Ardizoglou is now retired from the Greek Police, in which he joined in the context of the search for a stable job in the State, as was customary for athletes of his time. He continuously participates in the events of the Veterans' Association of AEK Athens. In the 2019 local elections, he was a candidate for municipal councilor of Athens with the "Open City" party.

Style of play

The unique and rare athletic skills of Ardizoglou complemented his unconventional and idiosyncratic character, ultimately contributing to the creation of an extraordinary personality in both its positive and negative aspects. First of all, his appearance with his tall, slender physique, always with his socks pulled down to his ankles and his shirt outside his shorts, made him recognizable even from a very long distance. His peculiar appearance was complemented by the uniqueness of his movements and style of play. Playing on the wings, with a preference for the left side, in a midfield role that began behind the center, giving him the necessary space to sprint and penetrate the opposing defenses, while he could also compete as a full-back. He was an excellent passer, with good free kicks and a powerful straight shot, but he stood out for his speed and pace. His impressive pace allowed him to advance towards the opponent's area almost unchallenged. He was very unpredictable in his decisions, capable of dribbling past half of the opposing team to score or turning back again or simply going out of the pitch with the ball at his feet. His technique was at a high level, although he rarely needed to demonstrate his dribbling skills, as he could exploit empty space to push the ball forward and start sprinting, overtaking anyone in his path, causing excitement in the stands. The stands that often disapproved of him when he was careless and misplaced in his finishing. Ardizoglou was a unique and impressive performer, who at the same time was capable of making some of the finest and disappointing performances with the ball at his feet.

Honours

AEK Athens
Individual