Nikos Sevastopoulos

Nikos Sevastopoulos (; born 26 February 1945) is a former Greek professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

Early career Sevastopoulos from a young age was involved in football, playing with his peers in the arenas of Tavros. At the age of 11 in 1956, he joined the local Panthisaikos, where he played for a season. Afterwards, he went for a trial in the youth departments of AEK Athens by the people in charge there, Christos Ribas and Georgios Daispangos. Both were impressed by the potential and abilities of the 12-year-old Sevastopoulos and immediately enrolled him in the academies of the club, where he continuously participated as a main player in the youth divisions. In 1963, they won the youth champion, alongside the conquest of the Greek Championship by the senior team, while he was already playing as a key player in the youth national team.

AEK Athens In the summer of 1963, Heinrich Müller promoted him to the senior team and on 13 October 1963, he made his debut in a 0–0 away draw against Iraklis. However, his refusal to the proposal of Kleanthis Maropoulos to work as an employee in the sporting goods store he maintained alongside Tryfon Tzanetis put him out of favor. Maropoulos being the selector of the national team and General Captain of AEK, removed him from the senior team and sent him in the youth team, which frustrated Sevastopoulos. His disappointment made him provocative on the pitch and in a match against Ethnikos Piraeus after a hard tackle, he engaged in a fight with his opponent Chatziioannidis and he was punished with a four month-ban.

His spell in South Africa increased the spite of Maropoulos towards him and his sideline from AEK continued for as long as his term in the army. In April 1967 after was released from military service, he left for South Africa again, planning for a permanent stay. However, the Coup d'état of 21 April and the consolidation of the military dictatorship, which resulted in the removal of Maropoulos as the selector of the national team and with the delay in the process of issuing a green card for his stay in the country and after months of waiting in Zimbabwe and Zambia, he returned to Greece on 9 June 1968.

The manager of the yellow-blacks, Branko Stanković was impressed by his skills and gave him a place in the squad. He quickly became part of the main squad and was one of their main players in their course to the quarter-finals of the European Cup, scoring in the first quarter-final against Spartak Trnava at Spartak Stadium on 26 February 1969, the day he celebrated his 24th birthday. The difficulty in the payments of the players on the part of the then management caused a new reaction by Sevastopoulos who again sought to leave for Cape Town. The junta commissioner who had been placed by the regime in the club initially withheld his passport, preventing him until April 1969. Then he managed to leave and remained in South Africa until 15 September of the same year. His return to Nea Filadelfeia was met with closed doors. Stanković had realized that he was dealing with an unprofessional and undisciplined footballer and despite his stunning performances, he terminated his contract with the club. In the summer 1974 he moved to Canada in order to play for Toronto Homer, under the name "Gus Hatoupis". In 1975, he was acquired by league rivals Windsor Stars where he appeared in eight matches. Throughout his short tenure with Toronto he was deemed as an ineligible player by the Canadian Soccer Association as he was registered under his legal name, which caused a problem with the HFF, as he failed to get permission to play abroad. After the impeachment of Vyzas to FIFA, he returned back to the club of Megara, where he played until 1981 when he retired, at the age of 36.

International career Sevastopoulos played for Greece U19 4 times for the qualifiers and the group stage of the European Championship in 1963. He scored his only goal in the 7–2 triumph over West Germany at home, on 13 April.

Personal life Since 1974, Sevastopoulos started working as a bartender at the Hilton Hotel of Athens, alongside his football obligations at Vyzas Megara. He stayed at the Hilton bar until 1997, without missing a break in between, traveling to Canada or Brazil to compete in 5X5 or 6X6 football tournaments with famous veterans from abroad. He later worked in a cosmetics company with his wife.