Leon Gardikiotis

Leon Gardikiotis (Greek: Λέων Γαρδικιώτης, born 27 February 1964) is a Greek-Australian soccer coach and retired player. He was head coach of the Tahiti national team at the 2000 OFC Nations Cup.[3][4][5] He was head coach of Springvale White Eagles for a brief period in 2007.[6]

Leon Gardikiotis
Personal information
Full name Leonidas Gardikiotis
Date of birth (1964-02-27) 27 February 1964[1]
Place of birth Lindau, Germany
Playing position(s) Striker[2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984 Sydney Olympic
1985 Larissa
1986 Doxa Drama
1988 Canberra
Teams managed
1995 West Wanderers
1999–2000 Tahiti
2001 Canberra Cosmos
2004 Whittlesea Stallions
2005–2006 Panachaiki
2007 Springvale White Eagles
2008–2009 Niki Volou
2009–2010 Lamia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Gardikiotis was born in Germany by Greek parents, who used to live in Egaleo, and moved to Australia.[7] He signed his first professional contract with Greek club Larissa in 1985[2] and also played for Doxa Drama.[8] He also went to play in Australia for St. George, Sydney Olympic,[9] Canberra,[10] Marrickville Olympic, Heidelberg and Wollongong Wolves.

Coaching career

Leon Gardikiotis, started his coaching career as Head Coach at the age of 31 for a second tier club in Australia called West Wanderers in 1995. Following his introduction to senior team football management, that same season 1995/96 he was offered and worked as the assistant 1st team coach to Berti Mariani at Wollongong Wolves in the Australian National League. The experience and knowledge he picked up coaching in the highest league in Australia, assisted in his ability to handle his next assignment as an associate staff coach at the Brazilian Football Academy (BFA) in Rio de Janeiro, where he also received his senior coaching Diploma. Following the knowledge he acquired from Brazil he then became the Technical Director of the Football Academy of Excellence in Sydney (FAE) and was the official representatives of the BFA in the Oceania region. The FAE was recognised by FIFA and Football Australia. In 1998/99 he coached the Fijian National U17's and U20s teams. With the U17's he participated in the Oceania World Cup qualifiers and finished 2nd to Australia who finished 2nd in the World Cup. The success he achieved with the National Youth teams sparked the interest of the French and in November 1999 became the National Coach of the Senior Team of Tahiti. As National coach he participated in the Oceania Nations Cup.[11] Under Gardikiotis Tahiti reached 117th in the FIFA World Rankings.

In the 2000/01 Australian National Soccer League season, Gardikiotis became Head Coach of Canberra Cosmos and then it was followed by coaching Whittlesea Stallions in season 2003/04.

On 7 September 2005, it was announced that Gardikiotis would become the assistant coach of Greek Beta Ethniki side Panachaiki, under head coach Ken Warden.[12] When Warden was released six days later, Gardikiotis became the head coach.[13]

In 2007, Gardikiotis was head coach of Victorian Premier League side Springvale White Eagles, however he resigned after less than a month in charge, with the club at the bottom of the league.[6] In 2008, he was the head coach of Niki Volou in Greece, but resigned and joined Lamia on 10 February 2009.[14]

In the last couple of years Gardikiotis has worked once again for the Brazilian Football Academy in various projects.

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References
  1. "Leon Gardikiotis". Sports Success Management Inc. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  2. "LARISSA: Leonidas Gardikotis. Striker. He was born in 1964 and he was brought this year from Sydney Olympic." "Γνωρίστε τους πρωταγωνιστές του φετινού πρωταθλήματος (Meet the protagonists of this year's championship)". Athlitiki Icho (in Greek). 8 September 1985.
  3. "Vanuatu pull biggest result in their history". FIFA. 24 June 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  4. Maddaford, Terry (28 June 2000). "Soccer: Island nations genuine threat to All Whites". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  5. "Australian Coach Gives New Hope For Soccer on French Polynesian Island of Tahiti". ITN Source. 1 July 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  6. Trickey, Gareth (22 June 2007). "Springvale coach Gardikiotis resigns". Herald Sun. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  7. "Problems were risen with Greek-Australian Gardikiotis, who was signed by Larissa. His nationality is not clear. Gardikiotis was born in Germany and subsequently moved to Australia. However, Larissa is looking at the registries of the Egaleo municipality, where Gerdikiotis' parents used to live. If he's got a foreign nationality, the move will not take place." Betchave, K. (29 June 1985). "Στα μητρώα του δήμου Αιγάλεω ψάχνει η Λάρισα για τον ομογενή από την Αυστραλία Γαρδικιώτη (Larissa searching Egaleo's registries for Greek-Australian Gardikiotis)". Athlitiki Icho (in Greek).
  8. "... Gardikiotis, before he went to Australia, played for Larissa and Drama, but didn't succeed, so he moved to the far continent." "Gardikiotis rejected from PAS Giannena". Athlitiki Icho (in Greek). 11 December 1986.
  9. "1984 Season Round 08 Results". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  10. "Greek-Australian Leonidas Gardikiotis was trained in Nea Filadelphia today. The player plays in Australian (First Division) club "Canberra" and his roots are from Corfu." Pastras, Giorgos (29 April 1988). "Gardikiotis on trial with AEK". Athlitiki Icho (in Greek).
  11. "Tahiti under pressure". FIFA. 23 June 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  12. "... Leonidas Gardikiotis will become Ken Warden's assistant [...] Gardikiotis has worked with the national team of Tahiti, the youth team of Australia and various Australian clubs." Follas, Kostas (7 September 2005). "Έρχεται ο Γαρδικιώτης (Gardikiotis is coming)". Athlitiki Icho (in Greek).
  13. "...(Warden's) position will be taken by his former assistant, Leonidas Gardikiotis." Follas, Kostas (14 September 2005). "Goodbye, sir..." Athlitiki Icho (in Greek).
  14. "Ο Γαρδικιώτης αντί του Γρηγορίου στον πάγκο της Λαμίας (Gardikiotis instead of Grigoriou on Lamia's bench)" (in Greek). in.gr. 10 February 2009.
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