Christos Metskas

Christos Metskas (until 2007, Hristos Mețcas, Greek: Χρήστος Μέτσκας; b. 17 June 1935, Slimnitsa, Greece.) is a former football player and coach, Romanian citizen of Greek nationality.
==Early life==
He is the second of six children of his parents Stavros and Eleftheria. In the autumn of 1947, during the Greek Civil War, he emigrated (fled) from his native country with his entire family, from his parents and three of the siblings being separated in Albania, from where he arrived in 1948, via Yugoslavia, in Romania, in Orăștie. Later, in 1953, he graduated from the "Electro-technical No. 4" vocational school in Craiova as a foundryman.
==Club career==
He played football in school teams and the junior one of the "Trustul de Alimentație Publică Locală" (TAPL) Bucharest, and in 1953 he joined the club "Flamura Roșie" Giurgiu, playing in the senior team. In a 1957 match of that team he was noticed by a representative of the club "Flamura Roșie" Arad (UTA), after which he left for Arad, where, at a training session of the team from Arad, in which he took part, he was noticed by the legendary József Pecsovszky, who proposed him to join the team.
In 1958 he joined the team of FCM UTA Arad, playing in the first division (Divizia A) of the Romanian football championship as a striker (no. 10 on the shirt), then as a midfielder (no. 6) and finally as a libero (no. 6) until 1968. He played 217 matches and scored 16 goals. Over time, he played in the UTA team alongside Mircea Axente, Gheorghe Băcuț, Flavius Domide, Zoltan Farmati, Emil Floruț, Toma Jurcă, Iosif Lereter, Ion Pârcălab, József Pecsovszky, Dușan Radin, Gavril Serfözö, Ioan Tăuceanu, Mihai Țârlea sr. and others. Since, at that time, there were very few people of Greek origin settled in Arad, none of whom was known to most of the inhabitants because of its activity, the supporters nicknamed him "The Greek".
In 1966, while playing for UTA, he was contacted by the club "Olympiakos" Piraeus, with which he signed a contract, but before he could obtain the necessary documents to leave and settle in Athens, the coup d'état by the Greek junta took place there, after which the Greek borders were closed.
==Managerial career==
Between 1969 and 1972 he worked as a player and assistant coach of the senior team of the club "Vulturii Textila" Lugoj, the head coach being Mihai Țârlea sr., as well as coach of the republican junior team of the same club. Between 1972-1974 he worked as coach of the team of the club "Gloria" Arad, in the 1974/1975 championship of the team "Stăruința" Dorobanți, and between 1975-1979 he worked as assistant coach of the team "Strungul" Arad, the main coach being Emanoil Gherghel.
Between 1980 and 1990 he worked as head coach of the Republican junior team of UTA, with Ștefan Mândru, Francisc Tisza and Dorel Cura as assistants over time, with a one-year break, during which he worked as coach of the senior team of the club "Progresul" Pecica club. Among his pupils, the following became well-known footballers who played in the first and second league: Raoul Burtea, Ștefan Crișan, Nicolae Dehelean, Lucian Dronca, Gheorghe Gheorghieș, Decebal Codru Grădinariu, Iulian Mihalache, Attila Pap, Dan Țapoș, Mihai Țârlea jr., Marius Țucudean, Adrian Ungur, Florian Voinea and Doru Vușcan.
==Personal life==
In 1974 he married Maria Ricean, a lawyer at the Arad bar, with whom he had a son. In 2004 he obtained Romanian citizenship, until then having the status of stateless person.
==Bibliography==
* Costin, Ionel & Romanescu, Radu, Christos Metskas, Odyssey of a winner (Arad, Romania, Carmel&Print Design SRL, 2017)
* Mecheș, Ionel, Christos Metskas, A Gentleman from the Old Lady's Court, UTA (Arad, Romania, Azbest Publishing, 2020) 
* Stoica, Teodor, The Arad of Old Times (Arad, Romania, "Vasile Goldiș" Western University, 2023) 
Category:1935 births
Category:Football players
Category:People from Kastoria
Category:Greek people