Ilias Chatzitheodoridis

A left back, Chatzitheodoridis began his career in his native Greece, playing for Mas Kallitheakos and training part-time with Arsenal's Greek academy.[4] After impressing on trial, he signed a two-year scholarship deal with the Premier League club's principle academy in England on 6 June 2014.[4][5] Chatzitheodoridis made 44 appearances and scored one goal for the U18 team over the course of two seasons, before being released in June 2016.[6][7]

Chatzitheodoridis joined the B team at Championship club Brentford on trial during 2016–17 pre-season and he impressed enough to sign a one-year professional contract on 6 August 2016.[8] An injury crisis at left back saw Chatzitheodoridis win his maiden first team call up for a league match versus Wolverhampton Wanderers on 24 September 2016, but he remained an unused substitute during the 3–1 defeat.[9] He signed a new two-year contract extension in March 2017.[10]

The departure of second-choice left back Tom Field on loan for the first half of the 2017–18 season allowed Chatzitheodoridis to make his senior debut with a start in the Bees' 3–1 EFL Cup first round extra time win over AFC Wimbledon on 8 August 2017.[11][12] He remained on the pitch until the 97th minute, when he was substituted for Henrik Dalsgaard.[12] He played the full 90 minutes of the 4–1 victory over rivals Queens Park Rangers in the following round and on 7 September,[12] manager Dean Smith reported that Chatzitheodoridis would begin training with the first team on a regular basis.[13] A season-ending injury to Rico Henry in late September saw Chatzitheodoridis become the backup to stand-in left backs Josh Clarke and Yoann Barbet,[11] before his departure on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season on 19 January 2018.[14] Despite being contracted for one further season,[10] he was released on a free transfer in July 2018.[15]

On 19 January 2018, Chatzitheodoridis joined League Two club Cheltenham Town on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season.[16] He featured as an ever-present starter in the remaining 18 matches of the season.[17]

On 23 July 2018, Chatzitheodoridis returned to Greece to join Superleague club Panathinaikos on a free transfer.[15][18] He finished a mid-table 2018–19 season with 25 appearances and four goals.[2][19] Prior to his 2019–20 season being ended by an ankle injury,[20] Chatzitheodoridis had made 26 appearances.[2] He signed a new three-year contract in August 2020 and returned to match play in mid-January 2021.[2][21][22]