Giorgos Mageiras

Georgios Simos or Charalampous (; 1919 – 12 February 1994), commonly known as "Magiras" (which meant "Cook" in Greek), was a Greek professional footballer who played as a midfielder for AEK Athens and a later manager. Throughout his career he was known by his nickname that came, due to his grandfather owining a cooking restaurant in Naxos.

Early life Magiras was born in 1919 at Urla of Smyrna. He migrated with his family at Nea Ionia of Athens in 1922, during the Asia Minor Disaster. Magiras started playing football in the academies of Eleftheroupoli in 1931 and in 1933 he joined AE Kalogreza. In 1935, he became a member of the academies and the reserve team of AEK Athens, alongside his teammates at Kalogreza, Kleanthis Maropoulos and Tryfon Tzanetis, with whom he later coexisted in the men's team. The following season he won the second consecutive championship with AEK. He stayed at AEK despite the events of the World War II. In 1949 Magiras retired from football after a serious injury in the Cup final against Panathinaikos on 19 June. With the "yellow-blacks" he won 2 Panhellenic Championships and 2 Greek Cups.

International career He played a total of 4 times with Greece from 1948 to 1949. His debut came on 23 April 1948, in a friendly at home against Turkey, the first to be played after World War II, under the instructions of Kostas Negrepontis.

Managerial career After his retirement from as a footballer, Magiras became involved in coaching. He coached Olympiacos Chalkida in the first division in 1960. He also worked at Egaleo in 1961. In the 1960's he was an assistant of Lakis Petropoulos in the technical leadership of Greece. On 22 November 1968 he became the manager of Levadiakos. On 4 July 1969 he was hired at the bench of Ikaros Nea Ionia. Magiras took over the bench of Vyzas Megara in 1970, where he departed after few months. In 1972, he was also the manager of Pierikos. Magiras returned to Chalcis to coach Chalkida, in 1972 for a year and led them to 4th place in the standings.

Personal life Magiras lived at Nea Ionia with his wife and 2 children and worked at the Water Company.

Honours

AEK Athens Panhellenic Championship: 1938–39, 1939–40 Greek Cup: 1938–39, 1948–49