Stelios Serafidis was a Greek professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for AEK Athens.
12 Facts About Stelios Serafidis
1.
2.
Stelios Serafidis worked as a water carrier, baker, porter, shoe polisher and peddler.
3.
Stelios Serafidis's older brother Lambis, who was an international striker at Apollon Athens, brought him at the age of 14 to his club.
4.
Stelios Serafidis stayed there for a very short period and then, at the age of 16, was transferred to the infrastructure departments of AEK Athens.
5.
Stelios Serafidis was the main goalkeeper of AEK in the final of the Balkans Cup of 1967 against Fenerbahce, where AEK Athens won the silver medal.
6.
Stelios Serafidis was part of the squad that reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1969.
7.
Stelios Serafidis retired in the summer of 1972, at the age of 37.
8.
Stelios Serafidis did not manage to make more appearances, because he was the back up choice to Theodoridis and Ikonomopoulos.
9.
Stelios Serafidis returned in 1973 as a goalkeeping coach and remained in that position for over 2 decades.
10.
Stelios Serafidis worked for many years with the club's goalkeepers and later on he undertook similar duties for the AEK Athens Academy.
11.
Stelios Serafidis's name is honoured on one of the four pillars of AEK Athens' new stadium, Agia Sophia Stadium, alongside other important figures of the club's history such as Kostas Nestoridis, Mimis Papaioannou and Thomas Mavros.
12.
Stelios Serafidis died after a long battle with cancer on 4 January 2022, at the age of 86.