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Thomas Mavros (, born 31 May 1954) is a Greeks former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Initially, a legend for Panionios, he emerged as one of the revelations of the Greek championship at the age of 16. He became one of the star players of AEK Athens and led the club to major successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Mavros is widely regarded as one of the best footballers in Greece, having scored a record of 260 goals in the Greek championship and played for the Europe XI in 1981 as well as the World XI in 1984. He was nicknamed "the God" (), or "Theomas" ().
In 2012 he also served as the president of AEK Athens.
The happy ending of the case brought joy and satisfaction to both Barlos and Mavros who developed a "father-son" relationship. From his first season, he became an integral part of the team, helping them reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. With the arrival of Dušan Bajević he formed one of the club's most prolific attacking duos. The following season, he had a starring role in AEK winning the domestic double, emerging as the top scorer of the league with 22 goals. The great team of Barlos did not stop there and won a second consecutive championship in 1979, while they missed the chance to win the domestic double, losing the cup to Panionios in the final. Mavros was again the league's top scorer making a career record of 31 goals, while his performances of that season won him a Silver Shoe, finishing 3 goals behind Kees Kist of AZ Alkmaar.
The era after the departure of Barlos was marked with administrative and financial instability within the club, while the transfers did not live up to the expectations, as the team was getting weaker in every season. In that period of decline for the club, Mavros stayed and with his leading presence held the team from falling apart. The fans of AEK Athens loved him because he was one of the few players who stayed with the club after Barlos left and because of his tendency to score against their rivals, Olympiacos. They gave him the nickname "God" (), while the lexicographer Faidon Konstantoudakis also coined the nickname "Theomas" () (paraphrase of his first name to resemble the Greek word for God) and whenever he scored the whole stadium chanted "Who, who, who? Mavros the God" ().
On 18 August 1981, Mavros was called to Europe XI to play against Czechoslovakia for the 80th anniversary of the Czechoslovak Football Association.
In 1982, he played a key role in eliminating Olympiacos in the quarter-finals of the Cup with 2 wins and his goal in the victory by 0–1 in the second leg at Karaiskakis Stadium. In the counterattack of AEK that led to the goal, Mavros got the ball at the center of the field and dribbled into the penalty area and many supporters of the red whites began leaving the stadium confident of the upcoming goal of Mavros and the consequent elimination of their team. In the final against PAOK FC at Olympic Stadium, his goal and another by Vangelis Vlachos led the club to win a title after 4 years. In the following season he renewed his contract with the club receiving 45 million drachmas from the then president, Lefteris Panagidis.
On 22 June 1984, Mavros was called to the World XI alongside his countryman Vasilis Hatzipanagis and other legends like Franz Beckenbauer, Ruud Krol, Johan Neeskens, Peter Shilton, Kevin Keegan, Mario Kempes, Hugo Sánchez and Felix Magath. Around 20,000 Greek spectators were present at Giants Stadium to watch World XI playing against New York Cosmos in a 3–1 win. In fact, according to Mavros, in the game, Beckenbauer told him "At last, you came.", referring to the constant interest of his team, New York Cosmos for Mavros.
On 27 January 1985, Mavros also became one of the nine Greeks players in history to have scored 5 goals in a match against Egaleo where AEK won by 5–2. At the end of the season he finished as the top scorer of the league for the third time in his career with 27 goals. In 1987, the manager of the club, Nikos Alefantos asked the president, Andreas Zafiropoulos not to renew the contract of Mavros, as he thought the player was "too old" to play for a club of that level. This was confirmed on 11 April 1987, in the home match against Apollon Kalamarias, when at the 80th minute Alefantos substituted Mavros, being booed by the fans. Zafiropoulos agreed to the request of the manager and Mavros was released from the club and returned to his former club, Panionios. During his spell at AEK he won 2 championships and 2 Cups, including the domestic double of 1978.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Wayback Machine: who responded by applauding them back and sending them kisses, wiping away a tear of joy. Before retiring in 1991, Mavros managed to score a total of 51 goals in 89 matches on his second spell at the club and surpassed his former teammate at AEK Athens, Mimis Papaioannou as the all-time top scorer in the Greek championship.
Mavros made his debut with Greece on 16 February 1972 in a 0–5 home defeat at the hands of the Netherlands. From 1972 to 1984 he made a total of 36 international appearances, scoring 11 goals. His most notable moment was his presence in the 1980 European Championship.
On 1 August 2012, Mavros became the president of AEK Athens in an effort to help the club to cope with its financial struggles. He formed a new team based on young players and hired Vangelis Vlachos as the manager and Vasilios Tsiartas as the technical director, but it was without result. He resigned on 30 September 2012, when he found out attempts to bypass his decisions with the removal of Vlachos, who he had chosen, being the triggering event.
In 2017 he published his autobiography with the title "Who, who, who? Mavros the God". His 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, Stelios Serafidis and Mimis Papaioannou.
| Panionios | 1970–71 | Alpha Ethniki | 2 |
| 1971–72 | 4 | ||
| 1972–73 | 9 | ||
| 1973–74 | 11 | ||
| 1974–75 | 13 | ||
| 1975–76 | 0 | ||
| AEK Athens | 1976–77 | 21 | |
| 1977–78 | 31 | ||
| 1978–79 | 40 | ||
| 1979–80 | 19 | ||
| 1980–81 | 15 | ||
| 1981–82 | 19 | ||
| 1982–83 | 31 | ||
| 1983–84 | 17 | ||
| 1984–85 | 27 | ||
| 1985–86 | 4 | ||
| 1986–87 | 0 | ||
| Panionios | 1987–88 | 18 | |
| 1988–89 | 12 | ||
| 1989–90 | 24 | ||
| 1990–91 | 1 | ||
| Greece | 1972 | 1 | 0 |
| 1973 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1974 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1975 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1977 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1978 | 8 | 6 | |
| 1979 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1980 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1981 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1982 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 2 | 0 | |
Mavros was an agile striker and an incredibly nimble footballer with the ability to always be in the right position to score. The extra personal training he followed with weights, sand runs and other original methods for the time, increased his body strength and explosiveness and gave him incredible jumping ability, which made him the most difficult player to mark on the pitch, even for the best defenders. The result of his enhanced physical condition was to be able to maintain his level at the age of 36. He was a natural leader on the pitch, as his presence he boosted the morale of his teammates and cheered the crowd to create a hot atmosphere from the stands. At the same time, he was the terror of the opponent defenders and goalkeepers which made them nervous with the idea that he would find a way to score against them. His leadership skills helped AEK Athens hold up during financial and administrative difficulties that led to a downfall on the competitive part.
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