Takis Economopoulos

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A young Takis Econopoulos.
A young Takis Econopoulos.
1971 European Champions Cup Final
1971 European Champions Cup Final

Panagiotis "Takis" Economopoulos (alternative spelling Oikonomopoulos, Greek Τάκης Οικονομόπουλος), is a Greek former football goalkeeper.

Economopoulos (Greek: Τάκης Οικονομόπουλος) was born in Kallithea on October 19, 1943. He started his career at a local club moving to Apollon Athens in 1959. The following year, he transferred to Proodeftiki.

In 1964, a month after coach Stefan Bobek arrived at Panathinaikos, Takis Economopoulos was acquired by Panathinaikos from Proodeftiki. He was nicknamed the bird after his impressive flings and had a glorious career wearing the colors of PAO.

While playing for Panathinaikos, he managed to keep the opponents from scoring for 1,088 minutes (in a span of 13 consecutive games - a record for Greece which he still holds!). He kept a clean slate from January 17, 1965 until May 9, 1965 - when he was finally beaten. Takis Economopoulos' record places him in spot number 19 in the World's Top Division Goalkeepers of all time with the longest time without conceding a Goal (the second highest for Greece, ranking at world spot 38 is Vasilis Konstantinou of Panathinaikos who went 988' without giving up a goal Dec. 30, 1979 - Mar. 16, 1980).

Economopoulos had set up a gym at home and used to put extra hours of training there. One of the boys who used to hang out and watch the bird train was Yiannis Kyrastas.

Economopoulos later played for Panachaiki. After retiring as a football player, he went on to work with Panathinaikos as a goalkeeping coach.

In 2002, Takis Economopoulos became responsible for coaching Panathinaikos' first team during the four last matches of the season -- after coach Sergio Markarian had been barred from entering any stadium for 40 days following an incident with with Olympiakos Piraeus FC.


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