Fotis Papoulis

Fotis Papoulis
Personal information
Full name Fotios Papoulis
Date of birth (1985-01-22) 22 January 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth Athens, Greece
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Forward
Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Acharnaikos 47 (7)
2008–2009 Lamia 14 (4)
2009 Panachaiki 5 (0)
2009–2010 Pyrsos Grevena 19 (3)
2010–2011 Panthrakikos 28 (5)
2011–2012 OFI Crete 41 (9)
2012–2020 Apollon Limassol 210 (84)
2020–2023 Omonia 78 (16)
International career‡
2018–2022 Cyprus 24 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 November 2021

Fotis Papoulis (Greek: Φώτης Παπουλής; born 22 January 1985) is a retired professional footballer who last played for Omonia in the Cypriot First Division. Born in Greece, he played for the Cyprus national team.

Club career

Early career

Papoulis began his football career with Acharnaikos F.C. in the Gamma Ethniki.

He made his Super League debut in January 2010 when he signed a professional contract with Panthrakikos. He scored three goals in twelve matches in the league.

In January 2011, he left the club, signing a six-month contract with OFI, helping them return to the Super League after the play-offs. The following year, he helped the club avoid relegation. It was a very successful season for Papoulis, as he was nominated as an MVP of the week[1] and selected among the top 18 players in the 2011-12 Superleague season.[2]

Apollon Limassol

In summer 2012, Papoulis joined Cypriot club Apollon Limassol.[3] In his first three seasons at the club, he won the Cypriot Cup, and competed in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League twice. He was also Apollon's top scorer in every one of these seasons.[4]

In May 2016, Papoulis scored the first goal of the 2015–16 Cypriot Cup final against Omonia. His team won with a final score of 2-1, and lifted the trophy.[5] The following season, he captained Apollon in the cup final against APOEL, and helped his team win the competition for the second consecutive season.[6] Papoulis also played in the 2017-18 Cup final, however his team lost to AEK Larnaca, and failed to win the competition for the third time in a row.[7]

On 2 August 2018, Papoulis scored a hat-trick in a home game against Željezničar Sarajevo, winning the match with a score of 3-1. This made him the first Greek player to score a hat-trick with a foreign club in a UEFA competition.[8]

Omonia

In summer 2020, Papoulis signed a two-year contract with Omonia.[9]

Οn 4 May 2021, Papoulis scored the winning goal in a 1-0 away win against AEK Larnaca.[10] This win mathematically confirmed Omonia to be the champions of the 2020–21 Cypriot First Division.[11] He was Omonia's top scorer in the league, tied with Marko Šćepović and Ernest Asante at eight goals.[12]

Papoulis was one of Omonia's most consistent players in the disappointing 2021–22 campaign. He was Omonia's top scorer across all competitions with 11 goals,[13] including two very important goals leading up to the Cup final; against AEL in the quarter-final, and against Anorthosis in the semi-final.[14] He played in the final, but was substituted after five minutes, when an early red card forced Omonia coach Neil Lennon to change his plans for the game.[15] His team went on to win the match on penalties.[16]

On 14 June 2022, Papoulis extended his contract with Omonia for another year.[17] His only goal of the 2022–23 season came on 3 September 2022, when he scored the winning goal in a 3–2 home win against AEK Larnaca. On 24 May 2023, Papoulis came off the bench to assist the winning goal in the 2022–23 Cypriot Cup final, winning the trophy for the fifth time in his career; aged 38, he announced his retirement from football after the match.[18]

International career

In August 2018, after many years of residence in Cyprus, Papoulis settled all the necessary documents and has acquired the Cypriot citizenship and is eligible to participate in Cyprus national football team.[19] On 6 September 2018, he made his debut with Cyprus national football team in a 2–0 away loss against Norway for the Nations League competition.

International goals

Scores and results list Cyprus' goal tally first.[20]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 16 October 2018 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Slovenia 1–0 1–1 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C
2. 9 September 2019 San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino 2–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
3. 11 October 2021 AEK Arena, Larnaca, Cyprus  Malta 1–0 2–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Career statistics (from 2009 onwards)

season club league Championship Cup[a] International Total
appear goals appear goals appear goals appear goals
2009–10 Pyrsos Grevena Gamma Ethniki 19 3 0 0 0 0 19 3
2009–10 Panthrakikos Super League Greece 12 3 3 0 0 0 15 3
2010–11 Panthrakikos Beta Ethniki 16 2 1 0 0 0 17 2
2010–11 OFI Beta Ethniki 18 3 0 0 0 0 18 3
2011–12 OFI Superleague Greece 23 6 5 1 0 0 28 7
2012–13 Apollon Limassol Cypriot First Division 26 9 6 2 0 0 32 11
2013–14 Apollon Limassol Cypriot First Division 29 12 6 1 7 1 42 14
2014–15 Apollon Limassol Cypriot First Division 30 14 2 0 7 2 39 16
2015–16 Apollon Limassol Cypriot First Division 25 9 5 1 5 2 35 12
2016–17 Apollon Limassol Cypriot First Division 33 14 5 1 1 1 39 16
2017–18 Apollon Limassol Cypriot First Division 23 15 4 1 2 0 29 16
2018–19 Apollon Limassol Cypriot First Division 24 6 4 0 13 4 41 10
2019–20 Apollon Limassol Cypriot First Division 20 5 4 1 5 1 29 7
2020-21 AC Omonia Cypriot First Division 29 8 1 0 6 0 36 8
2021-22 AC Omonia Cypriot First Division 24 7 7 4 8 0 38 11
2022-23 AC Omonia Cypriot First Division 25 1 6 0 8 0 38 1
career total 366 115 54 8 62 11 482 134

Date of last update: 10 January 2022

  1. ^ includes appearance(s) in Cypriot Super Cup

Honours

Apollon Limassol

Omonoia

References

  1. ^ www.superleaguegreece.net Φώτης Παπουλής και Δημήτρης Γραμμόζης τα βραβεία της 18ης αγωνιστικής
  2. ^ sport24.gr Τα βραβεία της Superleague 2012
  3. ^ sport24.gr Στον Απόλλωνα ο Παπουλής
  4. ^ lemesos-sports.com Θα προλάβει ο Παπουλής;, Retrieved 12 May 2015
  5. ^ Κυπελλούχος Κύπρου ο Απόλλων, Retrieved 18 May 2016
  6. ^ www.sport24.gr Δεύτερο σερί κύπελλο για τον Απόλλωνα, Retrieved 24 May 2017
  7. ^ alphanews.live ΤΕΛΙΚΟ: ΑΕΚ - Απόλλων 2-1, Retrieved 16 May 2018
  8. ^ Ιστορικό χατ-τρικ ο Παπουλής, Retrieved 3 August 2018
  9. ^ Στην Ομόνοια και επίσημα ο Φώτης Παπουλής, Retrieved 29 June 2020
  10. ^ "Πρωταθλήτρια Κύπρου για 21η φορά στην ιστορία της!!!". Sportime (in Greek). Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Πρωταθλήτρια για το 2021 η Ομόνοια". AlphaNews.Live (in Greek). Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου - Επίσημη Ιστοσελίδα". cfa.com.cy. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Cyprus - F. Papoulis - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Κύπελλο… «Φώτη Παπουλή»". PROTATHLIMA. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  15. ^ "«Κρέμασε» την Ομόνοια ο Σέχου, την... πλήρωσε ξανά ο Παπουλής (ΒΙΝΤΕΟ)". AlphaNews.Live (in Greek). Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Ομόνοια - Εθνικός Άχνας 5-4 πέν. (0-0): Κυπελλούχος Κύπρου παρότι έπαιζε με αποβολή από το 5'". www.sport24.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  17. ^ OmonoiaFC (14 June 2022). "Ανανέωση συνεργασίας με τον Φώτη Παπουλή". Omonoia FC. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Ανακοίνωσε την απόσυρση του στην κάμερα του Alpha ο Παπουλής (ΒΙΝΤΕΟ) | AlphaNews.Live". www.alphanews.live (in Greek). Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  19. ^ ΑΦΙΕΡΩΜΑ: Ο Παπουλής ετοιμάζεται να γίνει ο 14ος!
  20. ^ "Papoulis, FotisΦώτης". National Football Teams. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  21. ^ Fotis Papoulis at Soccerway. Retrieved 25 May 2017.

External links