Stefanos Athanasiadis

Early career

Athanasiadis returned to the junior squad in PAOK in August 1998 and worked his way through the ranks of the academy, showing his scoring abilities and talent with the ball, with the help of junior coach Kostas Malioufas, who established him as a striker. He moved to the Reserve Team in 2004. His hard work under coach Kyriakos Alexandridis was praised in the 2006–2007 season when he became top scorer with 24 goals, with PAOK dominating the Reserve League. His performances earned him a professional contract for three years. He debuted with the first team on 24 February 2007 in a home match against Larissa, coming in as a substitute, with PAOK losing the match 1–3. Coincidentally, his first game as a starter for PAOK was again against Larissa at the last game of the 2007–2008 season where he scored 2 magnificent goals in the first half, with Larissa defeating PAOK again by 4–3. He also renewed his contract in 2008 for a further 5 years. He was working hard to find a place in the starting eleven, yet was overshadowed by more experienced players like Zlatan Muslimović and Lambros Choutos and was mostly used as a late substitute by Fernando Santos. On 29 November 2008 against Thrasyvoulos, Athanasiadis came off the bench in the 89th minute and went on to score the winning goal four minutes later, to win the match 1–2. In 2009, he was loaned at Panserraikos as new strikers arrived at PAOK and he was not a part of Santos' plans. He needed to gain experience as…

On 8 June 2011 Athanasiadis made his debut for the Greece national team in a friendly 1–1 draw against Ecuador. He earned 12 caps during his career.

Athanasiadis was born in the village of Lakkoma, Chalkidiki to a footballing family. Both his father and uncle were footballers. He spent a season with the local team before moving to Thessaloniki. In 1996, Athanasiadis joined PAOK's junior academy, initially playing as a central midfielder. His first chance to show his talent came two years later. Aged 10 in the summer of 1998, after participating with the PAOK squad in a youth tournament held in Trieste, Italy, he was approached by the local club and agreed to join their junior team. His stay at Trieste was short-lived, however, as both he and his family could not adapt to their new life. After only a month in Italy, he left for Berlin and his relatives, and joined Hertha's youth squad. Yet after another month in Germany, he left Hertha as well, to return to his native Greece and Thessaloniki.

PAOK Greek Cup: 2016–17 Individual

Greek Cup top scorer: 2012–13 Super League Best Goal Day 8: 2014–15 Super League MVP Day 9: 2014–15 PAOK Best Goal October: 2014–15 PAOK MVP November: 2014–15 PAOK MVP March: 2014–15 PAOK’s Alltime topscorer in European competitions (20 goals)