Kostas Vasiliou (Greek: Κώστας Βασιλείου; 1914 – 1 May 2003), was a Cypriot footballer who played as a forward and later a manager.
Career
Players of AEK Athens and PAOK before the 1939 Cup finalVasiliou (left) with Chatzistavridis, Tzanetis, Maropoulos and Kitidis in 1940
Vasiliou started his football career at EPA Larnaca in 1934.[3] In 1935 he continued at APOEL with which he won the championship of the 1935–36 season.[3]
In 1936 he was transferred to AEK Athens. He was the first Cypriot to play for the club.[4] With AEK he won the Panhellenic Championship and the Greek Cup in 1939, as well as the Panhellenic Championship 1940.[3][4][5] During his stay in Greece, Vasiliou participated in three friendly matches with the Greek national team.[3][5]
He returned to Cyprus in 1945 and joined APOEL until 1947.[3][5] He won the championship and the Cypriot Cup in 1947.[3][5] In the period 1947–48 he took over as a player-coach of AEL Limassol with which he won the Cup 1947–48.[3][5] In the period 1949–50 he took over as a player-coach at Anorthosis Famagusta, leading them to the conquest of the league for the first time in their history.[3] He again managed Anorthosis from 1951 to 1953.[3][5] He then took over as coach of Nea Salamina in the 1954–55 season, leading the team to win the Cypriot Second Division and to be promoted to the first division for the first time in their history.[3]
Personal life
Vasiliou was the first husband of the famous Greek actress, Rena Vlahopoulou,[3][4][5] whom he met at Corfu in 1938 and married a year later. The couple broke up in 1943.[6] He was a photographer by profession.[3][5] His great-grandson, Nikos Englezou was also a footballer who played for AEK Athens from 2011 to 2013.[7][8][9] Vasiliou died on 1 May 2003.
