Stan Lazaridis

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Stanley "Stan" Lazaridis (born August 16, 1972 in Perth, Western Australia), is a retired Greek-Australian football (soccer) player. Lazaridis' parents originate from Macedonia, Greece. He played as a left-sider though is equally at home on the wing in a deeper-lying midfield role or even at left-back. He last played for his home-town club, Perth Glory.

His reputation as a young left-footed teenager began with Olympic Kingsway where, despite his age, he intimidated many a defender with his extraordinary change of pace.[1] His career started with Stirling Lions (formerly Stirling Macedonia), Perth before West Ham United became aware of his talent and paid £300,000 to sign him. However, after a 3-1 defeat at Chelsea on his debut, he did not earn a regular place in Harry Redknapp's team. A pair of injuries, (the second soon after his return from the previous) cut into his playing time considerably, though he always worked hard when on the field to impress (scoring at least two more long range efforts in his time).

Over four seasons, Lazaridis, also known as "Skippy Stan", played just 87 games for West Ham United and was then sold to Birmingham City. Impressive for a long while, he played an important role in guiding the team up to the Premiership for 2002-03.

Lazaridis was released at the end of the 2005-06 season by Birmingham City after making 222 appearances for the club. A firm favourite with the Birmingham supporters, he ended his career in Australia with Perth Glory.

Lazaridis made only 11 appearances for the Perth club in 2006/07, much to the derision of the supporters. Lazaridis, who had 60 caps, was called up to the Australian 2006 FIFA World Cup squad but was one of six players who did not see any game time in Germany.


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