Savvas Kofidis

Greek footballer and coach

Savvas Kofidis (Σάββας Κωφίδης; born 5 February 1961) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation in Greece, and is most famous for his successful partnership with Vasilis Hatzipanagis at Iraklis Thessaloniki and his flamboyant haircuts which he has kept to this day. He also appeared 67 times for the Greece national team, scoring once and being a vital part of the team's qualification to the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Born in modern day Kazakhstan to Pontic Greek parents, he started his career in Iraklis, debuting on 18 January 1981 when Iraklis was participating in the Beta Ethniki. In Iraklis's team he played seven seasons before heading to Olympiacos. In 1992, he joined Aris Thessaloniki F. C., the city rivals of Iraklis, where he played until rejoining Iraklis in the 1996–97 season.

His three appearances at the 1994 World Cup rounded off his national team career, which lasted from 1982 to 1994, giving him 67 caps and 1 international goal (9 January 1985, against Israel). He retired from professional football in 1999.

During the 2002–2003 period he was the assistant coach of Ivan Jovanovic in Iraklis, as well as the next period, assisting head coach Sergio Markarián. After Markarián resigned, Kofidis took in charge as the head coach. The next year, with Kofidis taking the reins, was hugely successful as "The Old One", against all expectations, finished 4th in the 2005–2006 Alpha Ethniki championship, and qualified for the UEFA Cup. During the summer, however, many key players were sold as the team was in heavy debt, and the following year was anything but successful. After a string of 10 league matches without a win, and an early exit from the UEFA Cup against Polish team Wisła Kraków, Kofidis resigned. In January 2007 he became head coach in Skoda Xanthi following Takis Lemonis's resignation, but soon left the job. On 30 October 2009 Iraklis F. C. club officials have sacked coach Oleg Protasov to replace him with Kofidis.

Season Club Country Matches Goals 1981–82 Iraklis Greece 31 1 1982–83 Iraklis Greece 34 1 1983–84 Iraklis Greece 29 4 1984–85 Iraklis Greece 29 5 1985–86 Iraklis Greece 28 1 1986–87 Iraklis Greece 26 4 1987–88 Iraklis Greece 29 2 1988–89 Olympiacos Greece 16 2 1989–90 Olympiacos Greece 26 3 1990–91 Olympiacos Greece 33 4 1991–92 Olympiacos Greece 18 0 1992–93 Aris Thessaloniki F. C. Greece 19 0 1993–94 Aris Thessaloniki F. C. Greece 33 0 1994–95 Aris Thessaloniki F. C. Greece 30 6 1995–96 Aris Thessaloniki F. C. Greece 31 1 1996–97 Aris Thessaloniki F. C. Greece 13 0 1996–97 Iraklis Greece 18 1 1997–98 Iraklis Greece 20 1 1998–99 Iraklis Greece 31 1