Sakis Tsiolis

….was born in Karditsa on June 30, 1959 and started playing football at a relatively young age. Born and bred in this town of Thessaly, he made his debut in football with Ethnikos Karditsas and then Anagennisi Karditsas at the age of 22.

The talented midfielder moved on to Larisa, where in the following years he experienced great success and lived memorable moments. In 1985, he won the Greek Cup with the “Vissini (cherries)”, and in 1988 as captain of the team celebrated his first Greek Championship in one of the biggest surprises in the history of Greek football.

He left Larisa and the “Alcazar” stadium in 1989 for Ionikos, where he played until 1993. His last team was Paniliakos, where he played until 1995.

* Once the Greek professional league was first established in 1979, he had 192 league appearances. He also had 4 appearances in European competition.

* As a result of his exceptional season with Larisa when they won the Greek Championship, he appeared 4 times for the Greek national team. He scored in the international friendly against Canada on May 20, 1988.

*He started his coaching career at Asteras Amaliadas where he served as player-coach.

*In 1996, he managed Anagennisi Karditsas and won the 3^rd Division North Championship.

*In the 1997 to 1998 season he coached Nafpaktiakos Asteras.

*The following years he worked at PAS Preveza.

*In 1999, Tsiolis worked at Panionios as assistant coach to Jacek Gmoch. He then briefly returned to Anagennisi Karditsas.

After that, from 2000 to 2001, he coached 4 teams: Paniliakos, Panelefsiniakos, Nafpaktiakos Asteras, and Patraikos.

*He then joined Paniliakos (2001-2004) and succeeded in advancing the team to 1^st Division.

*The following season (2004-2005), he coached Kalamata team in the 2^nd Division.

*In 2005, working for Ionikos, he was valued by football experts as one of the most promising coaches. He remained at “Nikea” through the middle of 2006 to 2007 season.

He joined Levadiakos team for the rest of the season and succeeded in advancing the team to 1^st Division.

*This was followed by two years at Thrasivoulos (2007-2009), where he led the team to its first ever appearance in the Greek Super League in its first season.

*In 2009, he coached and led Olympiakos Volou to 1^st Division. The excellent run and attractive style of football landed the team in the top places and made Sakis Tsiolis one of the hottest names of the 2010 to 2011 season. The team took 6^th place in the league and reached the semi-finals of the Greek Cup.

*In March 2011, he took control of Aris Salonika and led the team to a 100% win record, 5 wins in the last 5 games of the season.

*In November 2011, he was appointed manager at Asteras Tripolis where, as recognized by public opinion, he took his career to new heights with his team’s successful run. For the first time in the club’s history, attractive football, Greek Cup semifinalist and European qualification were the results of his first season at Asteras Tripolis.

*In the summer of 2012, at the start of his second season at Asteras Tripolis, he eliminated INTER BACU in the EUROPA LEAGUE, and in the next round, after two draws against MARITIMO the team was eliminated on the away goals rule.

The year that followed was dreamlike as the team played exceptional and attractive football and he found himself for a second season in a row, among the top three managers of the season.

Third place, European qualification once more and a place in the Greek Cup final combined with great football, brought Sakis Tsiolis to be the target of the biggest clubs in Greece.

In the EUROPA LEAGUE, elimination came early to a more experienced team of RAPID WIEN.

After 2 years, in October 2013 he stepped down as manager of the “Arcadians” leaving the team in 6^th place, with only one defeat in the season.

*From November 2013 to January 2014, he coached PAS GIANNENA.