Spyros Kontoulis
Spyros Kontoulis was a Greek footballer who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Coming in 1935 from the local Amyna Kokkinia, Kotoulis moved to AEK Athens and managed to make 83 appearances and celebrate two championships, a Cup and an Athens championship. AEK had imposed itself on their opponents, it had won the last two championships before football activities were inevitably interrupted, due to the invasion of Greece by Italy. Kontoulis interrupted his football career in order to fight in the war. He continued playing for AEK during The Occupation taking part in unofficial tournaments, until he was arrested and executed by Nazis in 1944.
International career
Kotoulis played in three matches for the Greece national football team in 1938. He was also part of Greece's team for their qualification matches for the 1938 FIFA World Cup.
Death
During a battle he was seriously injured in the leg, but managed to survive. He escaped the battlefront, but he did not "escape" the center of Athens during The Occupation. Walking in April 1944 in the Pedion tou Areos to his mother's house to take care of an injury from a football game, Kotoulis was arrested by the occupying forces. He was taken to the Haidari camp, where he met his brother, Vasilis, and his teammate, Kostas Christodoulou. Because two months after his arrest, in June, Kontoulis was faced with the inevitable. He was being transported with other arrested competitors to Kaisariani to be executed. Attempting to cheat death, he jumped on the move from the truck. Unfortunately, he was too injured to escape. Beaten enough to run away. He was killed by machine gun fire in the middle of the street in Metz. The story is known thanks to the AEK's masseur, Kountouris who was an eyewitness and relayed the tragic news.
Honours
AEK Athens