Stelios Manolas

Manolas started football from a young age, playing on the streets and vacant lots in and around the Athens suburb of Galatsi, where he lived during his childhood. In his early teens he, alongside his friend Kostas Antoniou, played for the small amateur club, Aetos Galatsi,^[2] where he was discovered by scouts and brought to the attention of AEK Athens. At the age of 15, he was playing for the youth teams of the club. Over time, he was distinguished for his technical skill, intelligence and tactical mind. On 2 January 1980, he signed his first professional contract with the club.^[3] He made his debut shortly after on 3 February 1980 in a 1–1 draw against Kastoria and from the next season onwards, he became a regular in the defense of the yellow-blacks.^[4]

As a youngster, his solid technical training, dynamism and perception and a fighting spirit, were shown in his efforts on the pitch for team defense and attack. He was a mastermind of the defense, influenced his teammates and boosted their confidence. Even though he was started his career as a right back, he was converted into a centre-back by Hans Tilkowski, a position he competed for the rest of his career. Almost throughout his career he was one of the best players and one of the natural leaders of AEK. In the summer of 1988 despite his desire to depart from AEK, the new president Stratos Gidopoulos alongside the new manager Dušan Bajević persuaded him to stay and renew his contract, which he did on 8 July.^[5] A top moment in his career, among others, was when he head blocked a shot by Lajos Détári in front of AEK's goal line in the crucial game against Olympiacos at the Olympic Stadium, that brought to AEK the 1989 league title.^[6]

Under Bajević, AEK went into an title-winning era. Manolas alongside Toni Savevski, became the main players that the team was based during the 90's, becoming their captain. On 19 November 1993 he renewed his contract for another 1,5 years.^[7] Manolas had been targeted by Porto and Monaco, but as he stated, he would never leave the club, as he wanted to retire there. He played at AEK for 19 consecutive seasons and being one of their oldest players, he became their captain. After winning 3 consecutive championship titles he also led the club to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in the summer of 1994, becoming the first Greek club to qualify in the new format.^[8] On 6 July 1995 he renewed his contract for another year.^[9] AEK went to win the Cup at the end of the season, while losing the league to a margin by Panathinaikos.^[10] Despite the departure of Bajević in the following summer, Manolas stayed at the club and renewed his contract for another year on 18 July 1996.^[11]

In the summer of 1997 Manolas, dissatisfied with the then owner Michalis Trochanas, withdrew from the club's activities for several months^[12] bur later returned, with ENIC as the major shareholder, to end his career at the end of the season.^[13] His last match was against Skoda Xanthi which earned him his 700th appearance.^[14] Manolas ended his career after 19 seasons, being second in league appearances behind Mimis Papaioannou and 12th in the history of the Greek championship. With AEK, he won the 4 league titles, 3 Cups, 2 Super Cups and the only League Cup title ever played in 1990.^[15]

Manolas played for Greece in 71 matches from 1982 to 1994 and scored 6 goals.^[16] He was a member of the squad that played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, in the USA.^[17]

After his retirement, Manolas became a certified coach in 2002 and worked for Greece U21 until 2004.^[18] In 2008 he held the post of technical director in AEK, where he resigned in 2009.^[19] In November 2012 he became the manager of Niki Volos where he stayed for three months.^[20] In the summer of 2014 he returned to AEK, as the coach of AEK Athens U20.^[21] In 2015, he was called from AEK as an interim coach to replace Traianos Dellas in the men's team, and was then called again at the same position to replace Gus Poyet. During his second managerial period, he won the Cup in 2016.^[22]

Manolas is the uncle of former AEK Athens and Olympiacos international defender, Kostas.^[23] His son, Konstantinos, was also a footballer who played for AEK.

As of match played 17 May 2016

More information Team, Nat ...

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Greece U21		1 July 2002	30 June 2004	17	5	6	6	20	18	+2	029.41
Niki Volos		6 November 2012	17 February 2013	16	6	7	3	16	9	+7	037.50
AEK Athens U20		1 July 2014	13 October 2016	34	18	4	12	58	38	+20	052.94
AEK Athens (caretaker)		20 October 2015	30 October 2015	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	100.00
AEK Athens (caretaker)		20 April 2016	19 May 2016	4	2	1	1	5	4	+1	050.00
Total				73	33	18	22	105	70	+35	045.21

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• List of one-club men in association football