Giorgos Donis

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Giorgos Donis in 2004 as the coach of Larisa

Giorgos Donis (Greek: Γιώργος Δώνης), is a former footballer, the first ever Greek soccer player to play for the English Premiership.

Donis was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on October 29, 1969. He started playing football for local club Doxa Nikopolis before transfering to Pavlos Melas Thessaloniki in 1986. The following year he was acquired by Panathinaikos. To gain experience, over the next four years he was loaned out to Athinaikos, Panargeiakos and PAS Giannina.

Donis returned to Panathinaikos in 1992. Over the next four seasons, with the greens he won 2 league titles and three Cups. A pacey right winger, Donis moved to Blackburn from Panathinaikos on June 5, 1996 after helping the Greek club reach the Champions League semi-finals in 1995-96. Rovers signed him on a free transfer, making use of the, then recent, Bosman rule. He signed for 1.1 billion drachmas, a record amount for Greek players at the time.

He had two not so successful seasons with them before heading back home to play for AEK. Later he moved to England again, this time for Huddersfield Town.

He turned to coaching after his football career ended. After working with Larisa, he managed Akratitos FC for the 2005-06 season. In May 2008, Donis was named head coach of AEK.