Kyriakos Stamatopoulos

Kyriakos Stamatopoulos (born 28 August 1979) is a Greek Canadian former football goalkeeper who is the head goalkeeper coach for AIK. He is nicknamed "Stam" (/stæm/).[2][3][4]

Kyriakos Stamatopoulos
Stamatopoulos in 2015
Personal information
Full name Kyriakos Stamatopoulos
Date of birth (1979-08-28) 28 August 1979
Place of birth Kalamata, Greece
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 AIK (goalkeeper coach)
Youth career
Scarborough Azzurri
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2002 Kalamata 13 (0)
2003–2004 Enköpings SK 40 (0)
2005 Boden 30 (0)
2006–2010 Tromsø 17 (0)
2007 → Toronto FC (loan) 12 (0)
2009 → Lyn (loan) 6 (0)
2009 → Fredrikstad (loan) 11 (0)
2010 → AIK (loan) 4 (0)
2011–2018 AIK 50 (0)
National team‡
2001 Canada U23 2 (0)
2001–2016 Canada 21 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 January 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2016

Early life

Stamatopoulos moved with his family from Greece to Ontario when he was a small child. He started playing ice hockey at the age of 2 in Canada and only picked up football at the age of 13.[5]

Club career

Sweden

Stamatopoulos' clubs were relegated every year he played with them in Sweden. First Enköping twice in a row, then Boden while he was on loan there. His relegation-run did not end before he moved to Norway.[6]

Tromsø

His career at Tromsø got off to a rough start, after he was given a two-match suspension for his involvement in a group fight, which he described as "a little hockey brawl" that occurred during his debut match against Molde. He became a fan favourite as a result of this incident.[7]

On loan

Toronto FC

On 3 August 2007 it was announced that Canada's Toronto FC manager Mo Johnston had loaned Stamatopoulos in the middle of their "keeper crisis". He made his debut against Los Angeles Galaxy on 5 August.[8]

Lyn

In April 2009, Stamatopoulos was loaned out from Tromsø to Lyn.[9]

Fredrikstad

On 20 July 2009, it was announced that Stamatopoulos joined Fredrikstad on loan for the rest of the season. Stamatopoulos will join the club 1 August, and make his debut for Fredrikstad 2 August, at home against Viking.

AIK

Stamatopoulos signed a season-long loan deal with the reigning Swedish champions on 6 March 2010. AIK's goalkeeper Nicklas Bergh became injured during the pre-season, leaving the team with only one goalkeeper. Stamatopoulos made his debut with the club in the quarterfinal of Svenska Cupen in July 2010 against Helsingborgs IF. He only let in one goal in the 1–1 draw, but AIK lost in the penalty shootout.[10]

He became first choice following the tragic death of Ivan Turina in May 2013,[11] but was subsequently the club's second-choice goalkeeper.

On 22 November 2017 AIK announced they prolonged Stamatopoulos's contract until 31 December 2020. In addition, he was appointed as head goalkeeping coach for the club and would continue to be registered as a player in the squad.[12]

Career statistics
Season Club Division League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2006 Tromsø Tippeligaen 10020120
2007 401050
2007 Toronto FC MLS 12000120
2008 Tromsø Tippeligaen 302050
2009 Lyn 602080
2009 Fredrikstad 11000110
2010 AIK Allsvenskan 401050
2011 601070
2012 600060
2013 26010270
2014 800080
2015 300030
2016 000000
Career Total 9901001090

International career

Stamatopoulos was a member of the under-23 national team in July 2001 at Jeux de la Francophonie.[13]

He made his senior debut for Canada in a November 2001 friendly match against Malta.[14] His last cap came in 2016. In total, he made 21 caps.

gollark: We have to define "better" somehow.
gollark: If we go around defining good-ness as an average of players' preferences, then they're bad.
gollark: I mean, I personally like some, but doesn't mean they're good.
gollark: I mean...
gollark: Anyway, the thing is that their CBness does matter, for trade value, which affects ability to get rarer dragons.

References
  1. "Kenny Stamatopoulos". canadasoccer.com. Canadian Soccer Association. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  2. https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/a/zp23v/stamatopoulos-jag-grat-som-en-bebis
  3. http://www.fotbolldirekt.se/2013/10/31/klart-aik-skriver-langtidskontrakt-med-stam/
  4. https://www.expressen.se/sport/fotboll/allsvenskan/aik-malvakten-berattar-sjalv-om-mutforsoket/
  5. http://www.yourlivingcity.com/stockholm/community/extraordinary-expats-kenny-stamat/
  6. http://www.league321.com/sweden-football-historic-league-tables.html
  7. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/keeper-arrives-just-in-time/article18141783/
  8. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/keeper-arrives-just-in-time/article18141783/
  9. Kyriakos Stamatopoulos at National-Football-Teams.com
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "27 - The number that unites Sweden". ESPN. 20 September 2013.
  12. http://www.aikfotboll.se/nyheter/aik-forlanger-med-kyriakos-stamatopoulos
  13. http://www.canadasoccer.com/?t=profile&pid=3040
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - CanadaSoccer
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