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Lakis Nikolaou (; born 17 July 1949) is a Greeks former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He is the current medical director of AEK Athens.
This double occupation brought Nikolaou very close from being released from AEK in 1974, but under the possibility of signing to any of their big rivals, the president of AEK, Loukas Barlos called him to stay in the club. Nikolaou accepted with the term that the 1971 signature premium of 300 thousand drachmas to be given to him and rejoined the team but the pay remained to be seen until today. Under the manager, František Fadrhonc he was relocated as a center-back, where he emerged as a leader in defensive line of the team for the next decade. The team of Barlos and Fadrhonc, where Nikolaou was a starter, excelled in Greece and abroad as they progressed to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1977, won 2 Championships and 1 Greek Cup including a domestic double in 1978. He created a defensive duo with Petros Ravousis, where they were complementing each other and were considered as one of the most prominent of the era. He was declared "Athlete of the year" for the years 1974 and 1979 by the Panhellenic Sports Press Association.
After the departure of Mimis Papaioannou, Nikolaou became the team's captain for many years. In the summer of 1980, Nikolaou decided to stop his football career remaining in the club only as the team's doctor. As AEK faced problems midseason, Nikolaou was urgently called by the then coach, Miltos Papapostolou to put on his football shoes again and help the team. He accepted and competed for another one and a half season in the yellow-black jersey. His final match was on 30 May 1982 against Kastoria.
Nikolaou made his debut for Greece on 8 September 1973 and played a total of 15 games. He was a participant at the UEFA Euro 1980.
On 8 October 1997, after pressure and with AEK Athens having financial issues, he accepted the assumption of the presidency of club under the owner company ENIC for a period of about a year.
International career
Nikolaou played with Greece U19 15 times, where he competed in the European Championship in 1971.
Other activities
In his medicine career, Nikolaou received the title of the specialty of orthopedics and was declared a doctor of the University of Athens in 1975. He obtained the specialty title of Orthopedics in February 1981 and in 1985 he received the title of Doctor of the University of Athens. From 1983 to 1986 Nikolaou did further training at Duke University in the USA in the field of sports injuries and has been awarded by the American Orthopedic Association for his pioneering work in cruciate ligament transplants of the knee and his long-term studies in the field of the physiology of muscle injuries. At AEK, he was hired as the team's doctor in 1977 and from 1987 he has been the head of their medical department. Since 1987, his professional relationship with the Orthopedic Clinic of the Medical Center led a medical coverage agreement between the Center and Olympiacos, which brought him as head of the medical department of the club from 2003 to 2009. He was the doctor of the national teams of Greece from 1982 to 1994, while he served as President of its Health Committee and consequently a member of the Board of Directors in 1994-95.
Personal life
He has been married to his beloved Eleni since 1974 and has 3 children and 5 grandchildren.
Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition Lakis Nikolaou on football.aek.com AEK Athens 1971–72 Alpha Ethniki 11 1972–73 7 1973–74 11 1974–75 2 1975–76 3 1976–77 0 1977–98 2 1978–79 2 1979–80 3 1980–81 0 1981–82 4
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and year Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Honours
AEK Athens
External links
Categories: 1949 Births, Living People, Greek Men's Footballers, Greece Men's International Footballers, Men's Association Football Central Defenders, Aek Athens F.c. Players, Aek Athens F.c. Chairmen, Uefa Euro 1980 Players, Super League Greece Players, Aek Athens F.c. Non-playing Staff, People From Ios, 20th-century Greek Sportsmen
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