AEK Athens
Demis Nikolaidis played for which team from 1996 to 2003?
Demis Nikolaidis Themistoklis Demis Nikolaidis ( , born 17 September 1973 ) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker . He was the forty second president of AEK Athens FC , and is considered one of the finest footballers Greece has ever produced . In his early childhood and teenage years he lived in the city of Alexandroupoli , in the north-east part of Greece . In a sterling career with Ethnikos Alexandroupolis , Apollon Smyrnis , AEK Athens FC and Atlético Madrid , Nikolaidis earned his reputation as a born goalscorer , scoring prolifically for club and country . His power , pace and skill on the ball have been widely praised but it was his work-ethic and enthusiasm , perhaps , that propelled him to his exalted status among Greek footballers . Club career . AEK Athens . In his teenage years he played for Ethnikos Alexandroupolis , the local team of his hometown . The scouts of several teams had seen his progress from these years , earning him a move to Athens . He made his professional debut at the age of 20 at Apollon Smyrnis . His fine performances sparked a bidding war between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos , and the strikers childhood favorite AEK Athens , with Demis refusing to join Olympiacos and forced his club president to sell him to AEK . At AEK , Nikolaidis linked up with some of the great Greek players of his generation , including Vassilis Tsiartas , Theodoros Zagorakis , Michalis Kapsis , Grigoris Georgatos , Traianos Dellas , Vassilis Lakis . With his new side , Nikolaidis excelled , scoring on his debut against Ionikos . During his time with AEK , Demis managed to win three Greek cups and the 1996 Super Cup , he was the topscorer in the 1999 Greek league and second scorer in the 2001 UEFA Cup ( 1 goal behind topscorer Dimitar Berbatov ) . He is the top scorer for Greek teams in European competitions having scored 26 goals in 51 games . He has scored five goals in a match twice and he is the only Greek player to have scored 4 goals in a European match . Having scored a total of 21 goal in the UEFA Cup he is one of the competitions all-time topscorers . At AEK he scored an impressive 190 goals in 266 games ( including European , cup and domestic league games ) making him the fourth highest goalscorer for the club and a legend amongst the fans . On 24 March 2002 , the International Committee for Fair Play awarded him with the Fair Play Award , an honorary diploma for his conduct in the Greek Cup Final on 8 May 2000 , between the teams of AEK Athens and Ionikos , when Nikolaidis informed the referee he had used his hand to score a goal that had been allowed as valid . Atlético Madrid . Although he failed to win the league in his time at AEK , Nikolaidis became arguably one of the most beloved players in the clubs history . But after quarrelling with owner Makis Psomiadis , later indicted for forgery , and allegedly being assaulted by his bodyguards , Nikolaidis decided the time had come to leave AEK after the 2002–03 season . He asked and left the team in a mutual consent free transfer , although he was already paid for the rest of his contract . Atlético Madrid beat off several other clubs to land the strikers coveted signature , seen that his number 11 was taken , he wore the number 21 as a tribute to AEK and the Original 21 fan club . Nikolaidis first months at the Vicente Calderón Stadium were a tremendous success , he scored six goals and formed a fearsome attacking pair with teenage sensation Fernando Torres . However , a series of serious injuries kept him out of the first team for nearly the rest of the season and severely affecting his chances of getting picked for Euro 2004 . Although Atletico wanted to keep him to the roster of the team , Nikolaidis decided to retire from professional football . International career . Demis made his debut for the Greek national football team on 26 April 1995 against Russia . Demis became the Greek national teams main source of goals . In 1999 , however , along with Michalis Kasapis and Ilias Atmatsidis , Nikolaidis retired from the national team , protesting for injustice in the Greek League . Two years later , after the disappointing tenure of coach Vasilis Daniil was brought to an end following a particularly horrendous series of results , he returned to the international fold . In his first game back , Nikolaidis scored in Greeces 2–2 away draw to England during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers . New coach Otto Rehhagel focused his offense around the quick striker and was rewarded with direct qualification to the Greek team to represent Greece at Euro 2004 . Even though struggling with injury , Rehhagel nevertheless included him in his Euro 2004 squad . Greeces new strike force , Zisis Vryzas and Angelos Charisteas , played well enough but Nikolaidis still figured consistently in the team , coming off the bench in all three group games before starting against France , and leading Greece to a tremendous shock victory . After that fine performance , however , Nikolaidis succumbed to a serious injury and did not even dress for Greeces last two games . He amassed 54 caps , netting 17 times for the national team and is amongst the top 6 goalscorers ever for Greece . Without a doubt , he accomplished much during his international career but there are some who wonder if his contribution could have been greater had an injury and a poor run of luck not conspired against him . Chairman of AEK Athens . With AEK struggling terribly in the wake of Psomiadis corruption and the prospect of relegation to the fourth division looming , Nikolaidis retired at the relatively young age of 31 . His next move , supported by all AEK fans , was to establish a consortium of businessmen and purchase AEK on 27 May 2004 , as he had always dreamed . Becoming the clubs president , Nikolaidis set a goal that he would remove all debts that AEK owed and make them a force in Europe in the space of 5 years . Himself and technical director Ilija Ivić , a former teammate , made several clever signings and fought ferociously for the league title , finishing third when many had expected a mid-table performance . In his second year as president , after signing two promising Greece Under-21 players , as well as adding former star Vasilis Lakis , Ukrainian international striker Oleh Venhlinskyi and one time Inter centre back Bruno Cirillo , AEK achieved UEFA Champions League qualification . Apart from the improvement of the economic standards and the athletic performance of AEK , Nikolaidis was determined to decrease the hooligan actions in football , and called on the league to do more to reduce violence . On 2 November 2008 , Demis decided that he would quit as chairman of AEK after continuously poor results , stating that he had not achieved his goal in the 5 years plan . One of the reasons according to Nikolaidis for quitting was that the team didnt sell 30,000 season tickets ; he stated If I had managed to convince the AEK supporters to come to the stadium then I would not be leaving . In my mind we need 30,000 to become a big team . During Nikolaidiss presidency , AEK had their first wins in Champions League and the club made about 12,000,000 euros from selling players to other teams ( like Kostas Katsouranis , Sokratis Papastathopoulos , Dániel Tőzsér , Sotirios Kyrgiakos etc. ) . Personal life . Demis is married to a Greek singer Despina Vandi who was also born in Germany and grew up in Greece . They have a daughter named Melina ( 2004 ) , and a son named Giorgos ( 2007 ) . A Discovery Channel documentary entitled Europes Richest People estimated Nikolaidis and Vandis combined fortune to be in excess of €25 million in 2014 . Honours . Club . - AEK Athens - Greek Super Cup : 1 - Greek Cup : 3 International . - Greece - UEFA European Championship : 1 Individual . - Greek Young Footballer of the year : 1 - Greek Footballer of the year : 3 - Greek Super League top scorer : 1 - Fair Play Diploma for Act of Fair Play : 1 Records . - He is the second Greek goalscorer in European competitions scoring a total of 26 goals . - He is one of the few player who have scored five goals in a single Greek Super League game . He did so in AEK Athens 6–1 win against Kalamata during the 1996–97 season . - He scored Greeces 500th goal on 6 October 2001 in a match against England .