Nov
3
Demis Nikolaidis quits AEK
Filed Under Greek Super League | Leave a Comment
AEK President Demis Nikolaidis announced on Sunday that he will leave his post immediately rather than at the end of the 2008-09 season of the Greek Superleague. Demis had already announced his desire to move on at the end of the season. He claimed that his decision to quit earlier was the result of AEK fans booing his team during their victory over lowly Asteras Tripolis on Sunday at home.
Demis took over AEK in 2004 after retiring from soccer having reached the zenith of his career winning the 2004 European Cup with Greece’s national team. At the time, AEK was in desperate need of a savior drowning in debt and without a title for nearly a decade. Demis arranged for the team’s debt to be mostly forgiven and then asked everyone to give him 5 years in order to build a champion team.
His dream was not only to create a champion out of the wreck that had become AEK but also to create a team that would play good soccer and would be fun to watch. He also wanted soccer games to be a celebration and tried his hardest to eliminate soccer violence. Unfortunately, when in 2005 he assisted police in capturing hooligans who caused trouble in one of AEK’s games, he also lost the support of the most hardcore of fans. After that moment, anything he did wrong, no matter how small, caused friction between him and AEK fans. He came close to capturing a title in 2005, 2006, and 2007 finishing in 2nd place in all three cases. However, after 4 years, he never managed to climb to the top of the league and his team’s performance in Europe was a abysmal as ever.
In the end, he had to quit. In November 2nd, he could not bare hearing AEK fans booing his team after scoring the tying goal against Asteras Tripolis; 3 minutes later AEK also scored the winning goal to keep them within sight of the top spot held by permanent Greek champion Olympiacos. A successor to Demis Nikolaidis will be named this week. Demis has not disclosed his future plans but I am certain that he will probably stay out of the spotlight enjoying his retirement. I am certain he will now have more time to spend with his gorgeous wife Despina Vandi and his two kids.