Mimis Domazos

Early career

Domazos was born on 22 January 1942 in Ampelokipoi and he grew up next to the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium. His father was a health worker originally from Samos, and his mother was a nurse of Anatolian origin. He played football in the fields nearby from a young age. At the age of 13, he had obtained a sports card (player registration) for Amyna Ampelokipoi in 1953 by providing a false age to be eligible to compete. During the competition, he attracted Panathinaikos F.C.'s interest. In 1958, Svetislav Glišović, a Serbian footballer and manager, saw him play and recommended his acquisition.

Panathinaikos

Domazos made his unofficial debut with Panathinaikos in a friendly match, playing as a right-winger, against AEK Athens for the Christmas Cup, which was held on 26 December 1958 and ended in a 2–0 defeat for Panathinaikos. In the summer of 1959, he officially joined Panathinaikos at the age of 17 "for a suit and an orange juice", as he had stated. Panathinaikos gave him the nickname "The General", which followed him throughout his football career. In his first three seasons, he won the same number of championships. He scored in the game that secured the last one on 4 June 1961 in a 3–3 draw against Panionios. On 26 November 1963, Domazos scored four goals in the 5–2 away win against Proodeftiki and became the first player in the club's history to score four goals in an official match. He became the captain of the team for almost 15 years. He…

Domazos made his debut with Greece on 2 December 1959 against Denmark in a 3–1 defeat at Leoforos. His last match was on 11 November 1980, at the same stadium in a friendly match against Australia, in a 3–3 draw, in which he was honored for his many years of contribution to the national team and Greek football in general. In this specific match, he scored his last goal, which makes him the oldest player to ever score for Greece, since in less than three months he would have turned 39. He was the National team captain during these years. In total, he was capped 50 times and scored four goals.

Club

Domazos was married to the late Vicky Moscholiou, a popular singer, from 1967 to 1978. The couple had two daughters. In 1978, he met Argyro (Io) Theodorou and, after 4 years, they got married in the holy church of Agia Filothei in a closed family circle with best men the famous singer Giannis Parios and his wife Dina as well as captain Philippas Axiotis. They have a daughter, Theopi (Popi) Domazou, the journalist and municipal councilor of Athens since 2019, a former President of DAEM, and former President of the radio station Athens 9,84. In 2016, Domazos presented the book-album titled Mimis Domazos: secrets and Other Revelations, which mentions many incidents from his great career, while it is full of rare photographs. With his book, which became a best seller, he traveled throughout Greece together with his daughter Theopi (Popi) Domazou, where she presented it. After retirement, he was a businessman and often wrote opinion columns for Greek sports newspapers. He died on 24 January 2025 at age 83. His body was placed in public veneration on the morning of 27 January in the chapel of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens before his funeral, while earlier the hearse containing his body stopped outside the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium for a few minutes. He was buried in the First Cemetery of Athens.