Ilias Atmatsidis
Ilias Atmatsidis (Greek: Ηλίας Ατματσίδης; born 24
Ilias Atmatsidis
April 1969) is a Greek former professional footballer
who played as a goalkeeper. He is the director of Personal information
Football at AEK Athens B. Full name Ilias Atmatsidis
Date of birth 24 April 1969
Place of birth Kozani, Greece
Club career Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Atmatsidis started playing football regularly in his
Senior career*
village team at the age of 13 competing as a winger. In
Years Team Apps (Gls)
a match against Foufa Ptolemaidas where the team's
1988–1992 Pontioi Veria 100 (0)
goalkeeper could not compete, Atmatsidis was called
1992–2003 AEK Athens 251 (1)
to play as goalkeeper. His performance established him
in the position under the team's goalposts. He was then 2003–2005
PAOK 33 (0)
transferred to the team of the neighboring village of Total 284 (1)
Agios Dimitrios, with which he was crowned International career
champion of the local second division. He was then 1994–1999 Greece 47 (0)
transferred to Pontius Kozani with whom he played in *Club domestic league appearances and goals
the fourth national division and at the age of 18 he
joined Pontioi Veria, where he played for 3 years contributing to the promotion of the team to the second
division. In the summer of 1992 he was signed by AEK Athens.[1]
In his first year in the team he was the substitute of Antonis Minou, but from the following season he
established himself as a starter for many years, while he was among the captains of the club. A
remarkable performance of Atmatsidis was when he made a double save on a penalty by Anastasiou and
then on a shot by Tsiantakis in a championship match with OFI.[2] For the seasons 1997-1998 and 1998-
1999 he was voted for the PSAP awards as the best goalkeeper of the league.[3][4] He scored once with a
penalty in a crucial championship match against Skoda Xanthi in 1999.[5] He had another outstanding
performance in the league derby against Olympiacos in 1997, where he kept the clean seat and AEK won
by 0–1.[6] From 2000 onwards he began to lose his position to Dionysis Chiotis. He won in his 10-year
presence at AEK 2 championships, 4 Greek cups and 1 Super Cup. In January 2003 the Atmatsidis asked
to be released to get more playing time and his contract was terminated by mutual consent.[7]
After leaving AEK, Atmatsidis signed for PAOK for three years, where he ended his career in 2005. In
the club of Thessaloniki, he won another cup in 2003. In January 2014 he came out of retirement to play
for local Herakleion based club Omonia NOVA Apolimantiki.[8]
International career
Atmatsidis debuted for Greece on 23 March 1994. He played 47 matches, and was included in the 1994
FIFA World Cup, playing as starting goalkeeper in the 0–4 loss against Bulgaria. At November 1999, he
decided to retire from the national team, as a sign of protest against refereeing in Greek football.[9]
After football
In October 2014, Atmatsidis has been in the technical department of the infrastructure departments of
AEK until 2019,[10][11] when he was for a short period an assistant manager to Nikos Kostenoglou.[12] In
July 2021 he was appointed as a Director of Football at AEK Athens B.[13]
Honours
AEK Athens
Alpha Ethniki: 1992–93, 1993–94
Greek Cup: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2001–02
Greek Super Cup: 1996
PAOK
Greek Cup: 2002–03
Individual
Super League Greece Goalkeeper of the Year: (2) 1997–98, 1998–99
References
1. "Ηλίας Ατματσίδης" ([Link] [Link].
2. "Ο ιπτάμενος Ηλίας, ο ασταμάτητος Ντέμης και ο Στέλιος που επέστρεψε" ([Link]
[Link]/a-562980/[Link]
m). [Link].
3. "Kathimerini Page 15" ([Link]
gr/kath/edition/1997/[Link]) (PDF) (in Greek). Kathimerini. 31 December 1997.
Archived from the original ([Link]
(PDF) on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
4. "Kathimerini Page 19" ([Link]
gr/kath/edition/1998/[Link]) (PDF) (in Greek). Kathimerini. 15 December 1998.
Archived from the original ([Link]
(PDF) on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
5. "Ο Ηλίας σκόραρε και "καθάρισε" για το Champions League" ([Link]
etro-aek/[Link]). [Link]. 23
May 2020.
6. "22/9/1997 Ολυμπιακός - ΑΕΚ 0-1" ([Link]
997-olympiakos-aek-0-1). [Link].
7. "Ατματζίδης τέλος" ([Link] [Link]. 10
January 2003.
8. "Ξαναφοράει γάντια ο Άτμα!" ([Link]
f%86%ce%bf%cf%81%ce%ac%ce%b5%ce%b9-%ce%b3%ce%ac%ce%bd%cf%84%ce%b
9%ce%b1-%ce%bf-%ce%ac%cf%84%ce%bc%ce%b1/). 21 February 2014.
9. "Από τον Ντέμη στον Ζλάταν: Οι παίκτες που επέστρεψαν στις εθνικές τους από τη...
σύνταξη" ([Link]
-eixan-aposurthei/4166403). [Link].
10. "Στις ακαδημίες της ΑΕΚ ο Ηλίας Ατματσίδης" ([Link]
aek-academies/). [Link]. 31 October 2014.
11. "Ο Ατματσίδης ξανά στην ΑΕΚ!" ([Link]
794065). [Link].
12. "Στο τιμ του Κωστένογλου ο Ατματζίδης" ([Link]
im-tou-kostenoglou-o-atmatzidis/). [Link].
13. "ILIAS ATMATSIDIS" ([Link]
2117692443). [Link].
External links
Ilias Atmatsidis ([Link] at National-
[Link]
Ilias Atmatsidis ([Link] at [Link]
Ilias Atmatsidis ([Link] at [Link]
Weltfussball ([Link]
[Link]?id=3449) (in German)
Retrieved from "[Link]
