Nikodimos Papavasiliou

Papavasiliou in 2010.

Papavasiliou holds the English UEFA A Licence and also the UEFA Pro Licence.[5] He began his managerial career in Cyprus, first at APE Pitsilia in the 2006–07 Cypriot Second Division and then moving to Olympiakos Nicosia, who had recently been relegated to the Second Division after many decades in the top flight. Papavasiliou led the Green−Blacks throughout their 2007–08 campaign, but missed out on promotion in the final match of the competition, in which his side was defeated 2−1 by fellow promotion contenders Nea Salamis, who thus finished in the promotion zone and left Olympiakos in fourth place.[6]

In the summer of 2009, Papavasiliou returned to Greece and the team where he made his name as a player, OFI, where he was paired up with former OFI teammate Myron Sifakis to lead the club during its 2009–10 Beta Ethniki campaign. The duo were however sacked after poor performances at the start of the competition.[7] He returned to Cyprus and Olympiakos Nicosia, this time completing the club's comeback to the First Division after securing third place in the 2009–10 campaign. He left the club in the summer of 2010 and spent the next six months managing Doxa Katokopia until January 2011, and then one year at Enosis Neon Paralimni, whom he led to an all-time best sixth-place finish in the First Division in 2011. In February 2012, Papavasiliou was hired as manager of Olympiakos Nicosia for the third time in his managerial career.[8]

In September 2012, Papavasiliou reached an agreement with Apollon Limassol, for whom he had played from 1996 to 2000, and mutually terminated his contract with Olympiakos to complete the move.[9] He did not manage to finish the season with the club, as he was sacked in March 2013, after a 9−6−6 record.[10] In September 2014, he was appointed manager of Ermis Aradippou, but once again he was fired after several bad results in February 2015.[11]

On 21 August 2015 Papavasiliou was hired as manager of Slovak First Football League side Slovan Bratislava, whom he led to the 2016 Slovak Cup Final.[12] He finished the season in second place behind double-winners AS Trenčín, boasting an impressive .64 win ratio. His second season with the club came to an abrupt end however, as he was fired after the third game of the 2016−17 season[13]

In May 2018, Papavasiliou was appointed manager of Greek Football League side Ergotelis.[14] He managed to lead the club to its first Greek Cup Quarter-finals since 1986 during his first season as club manager.[15] His work did not go unnoticed and in September 2019 he was offered the head coach position of struggling Super League side Panionios. Papavasiliou thus terminated his contract with Ergotelis, accepting the bid and thus making his Super League managerial debut.[16]

As of match played 24 December 2020

Papavasiliou has accumulated substantial experience and expertise in scouting, and Academy management, having worked as a scout for FA Premier League clubs Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United. He is also the owner of Nikki Football Academy in Cyprus.[5]