John Limniatis

Ioannis "John" Limniatis (Greek: Ιωάννης "Τζον" Λημνιάτης; born 24 June 1967 in Athens, Greece) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player. He played 44 times and scored one goal for the Canadian national team, also captaining and later becoming the head coach of the Montreal Impact.

Ioannis Limniatis
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-06-24) 24 June 1967
Place of birth Athens, Attica, Greece
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Position(s) Manager (former Midfielder)
Club information
Current team
 Unattached
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987 Ottawa Pioneers 19 (0)
1988 Ottawa Intrepid 9 (0)
1988–1992 Aris Thessaloniki 94 (1)
1992–1993 Panetolikos 20 (0)
1993–1998 Montreal Impact 126 (2)
1999 Charleston Battery 25 (0)
2000–2001 Montreal Impact 24 (0)
National team
1987–1997 Canada 44 (1)
Teams managed
2008–2009 Montreal Impact
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Before migrating to Canada with his family, Limniatis in 1977, used to train with the players of Greek Third Division side Ilisiakos in the 1970s, taking shots at legendary Greek goalkeeper Nikos Sarganis.[1]

After beginning his pro career in 1987 with the Ottawa Pioneers of the Canadian Soccer League, he became the 1st ever Canadian to be sold to a European 1st division team. He was transferred for a fee of $50.000. Limniatis played professionally in Greece with First Division side Aris Thessaloniki F.C. from 1988 to 1992 and Panetolikos in the Second Division from '92 to '93. He then joined the Montreal Impact in the summer of 1993 and remained with the club until 1998. After a brief spell in the United States on loan with Charleston Battery, Limniatis returned to the Impact playing 24 more games in the 2000–2001 season. Liminatis played both outdoors in the A-League and indoors in the National Professional Soccer League both with the Impact and the Kansas City Attack in 1995–96.

Limniatis was named 1994 A-League Rookie of the Year and 1996 and '97 Defender of the Year.

He's a member of both the Canadian & the Quebec Soccer Hall of Fame, inducted in 2009.

He is also the 1st and only soccer person so far to be inducted in the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame (Pantheon des sports du Quebec), inducted in 2012.

International career

A defender or midfielder, Limniatis made his debut for Canada in a September 1987 friendly match against El Salvador, He earned a total of 44 caps, scoring 1 goal. He has represented Canada in 8 FIFA World Cup qualification matches[2] in three unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaigns.

His final international game was a March 1997 World Cup qualification match against the United States.

International goals
Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
13 July 1991Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States Jamaica3-13-21991 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Managerial career

He spent his last years with the Impact as their assistant coach, indoor head coach, and later director of operations. He was coach for the Montreal Impact until Marc Dos Santos was named as interim head coach following Limniatis' termination by the Impact board.[3]

Personal life

Limniatis's hometown is Laval, Quebec, Limniatis has two daughters, Alexia and Nikki. His cousin is a pro basketball player in Greece.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. John Limniatis – FIFA competition record
  3. Impact fire Limniatis, name Marc Dos Santos interim head coach. He was the seventh head coach in Impact history.
Preceded by
Nick De Santis		 Montreal Impact Head Coach
2008–2009		 Succeeded by
Marc Dos Santos
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