Soulis Papadopoulos

Soulis Papadopoulos

Personal information
Full name	Anastasios Papadopoulos
Date of birth	(1967-07-19) 19 July 1967
Place of birth	Nikaia, Attica, Greece
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Ergotelis (manager)
Youth career
–1987	Proodeftiki
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987–1995	Proodeftiki
1995–1996	Atromitos
1996–1997	Doxa Vyronas
1997–1999	Proodeftiki
Managerial career
2000–2004	Proodeftiki
2004	Apollon Limassol
2005	Paniliakos
2005–2007	Proodeftiki
2007	Vyzas
2007−2008	Olympiakos Volos
2008–2009	Pierikos
2009	Egaleo
2009–2010	Pierikos
2010	Diagoras
2010−2011	Veria
2011–2012	Pierikos
2012	Iraklis
2012	Pierikos
2012	Doxa Drama
2012−2013	Olympiakos Volos
2013	Aris
2013−2014	Aris
2014	Chania
2015	Chania
2015	AE Larissa
2015	Lamia
2015	Olympiakos Volos
2017−	Ergotelis
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Anastasios "Soulis" Papadopoulos (Greek: Σούλης Παπαδόπουλος; born 19 July 1967 in Nikaia, Attica) is a retired Greek football player and current football manager.

Career

Playing career

Papadopoulos began his football career at the infrastructure segments of his local Proodeftiki and was promoted to the first team in 1987. He spent the majority of his career in Proodeftiki, with brief tenures at Atromitos and Doxa Vyronas towards the end of his playing career. Papadopoulos retired in 1999, last playing for Proodeftiki in the Greek Alpha Ethniki.

Coaching career

Several months after his retirement, Papadopoulos began his coaching career as an assistant manager at Proodeftiki in the Greek Alpha Ethniki. He took on as interim manager during coaching staff replacements and eventually, was appointed head coach of the club in 2000. Despite the club's relegation at the end of the 1999-2000 Alpha Ethniki season, Papadopoulos was entrusted to lead the team back to top-flight, which he managed after managing the club for two seasons in the Beta Ethniki. He would remain manager of Proodeftiki for the following two seasons in the Alpha Ethniki until the end of the 2003-04 Alpha Ethniki season, when he resigned from his post after a loss from Panionios, thus failing to avoid relegation to the Beta Ethniki.

Papadopoulos moved to Cyprus and was appointed head coach of Cypriot First Division side Apollon Limassol. His stay however was brief, as he resigned from his post in September 2004 after a 6−1 loss from Alki Larnaca. He returned to Greece to take over Kastoria in the Beta Ethniki, but terminated his contract in just two days, due to personal reasons. Early in 2005, Papadopoulos took over as manager of Paniliakos, also in the Beta Ethniki before returning to Proodeftiki in the summer of 2005, managing the club for two seasons in the Beta Ethniki. At the end of the 2006-07 Beta Ethniki season, Proodeftiki finished in 16th place, thus being relegated t the Gamma Ethniki (the third tier of the Greek football league system) and Papadopoulos' contract with the club was terminated.

Papadopoulos moved to Vyzas in 2007, and then Olympiakos Volos until March 2008. A month later, he was hired by Pierikos where he managed to avoid relegation at the end of the season. He thus renewed his stay at Pierikos, until April 2009.

In September 2009, Papadopoulos took over management of Egaleo, resigning after managing no win in three consecutive matches. He returned to Pierikos in October 2009, where he managed to enter the promotion play-offs. After Pierikos failed to promote to the Superleague in the process, Papadopoulos' contract was terminated.

At the start of the 2010−11 season, he moved to Rhodes to take over local club Diagoras. He resigned after three games, and was appointed head coach by fellow Football League side Veria until January 2011. In March, he once again returned to Pierikos. He left the club in January 2012, and was appointed head coach of Iraklis in the Football League 2 Northern Group. In May 2012 he was hired a fourth time by Pierikos until the end of the season. In the summer of 2012, he moved to Doxa Drama.