Risking his job for his beloved hobby, Soccer.

This heartwarming story is from a policeman that decided to follow his childhood love of Soccer and play soccer in Athens. He attended police school to protect his fellow civilians. However, with his love for the world’s greatest sport, he eventually became a student of the beautiful game.

Getting to know Kostas and the path to play soccer in Athens.

Kostas Oikonomou was born in Lárissa, known in Modern Greek as Lárisa. A town of about 160,000 inhabitants, Lárisa has legendary status as the place that Achilles was born and Hippocrates, the Father of medicine had died. In more modern times Kostas Chalkias who played for the English club Portsmouth was from Lárisa.

Today Lárisa is a modern city with shopping, Garden squares, and wonderful parks. Often known as the “City of coffee” for its relaxed atmosphere and some 1600 cafes!

At 26 Kostas became a police officer. His passion for soccer never weakened. During his spare time, he would continue to play for Dimitra Giannoulis. Dimitra is an amateur club consisting of players who play the game as a hobby. Kostas was proud to be one of them.

“I don’t care If I get paid or not because what makes me play this game is the incomparable feeling of stepping up to the pitch”

Kostas got the opportunity to play for other teams in Athens. Similar to Dimitra, they also competed at the amateur level in regional leagues. These clubs were, Keraunos Glyfadas now known as A.O Glyfada competing in the second division of EPS Athens Championship league, Gyziakos, A central Athens community, and Ermis Hrakleiou.

After playing for those club teams, Kostas was recruited and transferred to fellow Athens club Asteras Glykon Neron. It was at Asteras where he experienced the best years of his career.

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He met many soccer players who helped improve his football skills. One iconic personality he met was Vasilis Kontopanos. Vasilis helped him get to the best he could be while playing at Asteras.

Why did he decide to risk his career for his love of Soccer?

Kostas admitted he is a police officer first. A person who is proud to protect and keep his fellow citizens safe. However, he felt that he had the “passion” of soccer inside him and needed to follow those feelings. He didn’t want to look back in life and ask himself, What if?

“I will play soccer as long as God keeps me safe and sound”

Kostas Oikonomou

Sacrifices taken

Kostas pointed out that he knew he had to make sacrifices, and there were many of them.

Unfortunately, he had to leave his wife and family behind daily to travel and attend training sessions. He also had to rely on the Police department to work his duty schedules around team training and games.

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Kostas would wake up each day at 4 am to train with his teammates. Kostas’s position was center-back, a position that is notorious for contact and emergency defending. He would have to avoid contact or collisions that could result in long-term injury as well as putting his job at risk.

At least in the future, Kostas can be safe in knowing he will never have to ask, what if.

Around The World in 80 Diaries – Kostas Oikonomou, Greece, is an original Series from Who’s Putting The Net Up?