Themos Asderis

Players of Pera Club.

Born in Constantinople (now Istanbul) at the beginning of the century, in 1900 and from a young age he started playing football in the only clubs when he had a football department, Pera Club and Enosis Tataoulon. The black July 1922 strikes Hellenism and thousands of Greeks arrive in Greece. Most of them manage to reach Athens and one of them is 22-year-old Asderis. Struck by misfortune and fate and most of them freed, they soon seek the daily life of the city and two years after the war, they try to play football in a poor, wounded and suspicious Greece towards the refugees.

Some people, in a small country in the offices of the Young Men's Christian Brotherhood of Athens in the center of Athens, that housed on Mitropoleos Street, decide to resurrect the Megali Idea that was born in Istanbul, to set fire to the flame that was burning after his drama 1922 and that is how Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos (Athletic Union of Constantinople, Greek: Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) is born. Before two months have passed, the newly established AEK is staffed by an overwhelming majority of Istanbul footballers. Among them, the right and central defender (in a 2-3-5 formation) Asderis. In those years, football was highly amateur, there was not a Greek Federation and AEK was still training in the open field next to Temple of Olympian Zeus. He formed a great defending partnership alongside Miltos Ieremiadis, for the first 5 years of the club's excistance. Asderis, a small and fast footballer, has already reached the age of 28 when AEK informally acquires its headquarters in Nea Filadelfeia and manages to play on the soil of Filadelfeia before retiring from active football in 1929, at the young age of 29.[1]

AEK at 1932 Cup.

He started his refereeing career almost immediately and throughout the 1930–31 season he refereed football matches in both Athens and Thessaloniki, but with meager results. In fact, Sotiris Asprogerakas, Asderis and the other former coach of AEK, Josef Sveg, are among the few pre-war referees in the history of Greek football. He is one of the few people who have contact with the sport and very quickly returns to his "home" and takes over the technical leadership of AEK after the expulsion of Rauchmal. With AEK he wins the first Cup in the history of the institution, winning on November 8, 1931 Aris with 5-3 at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium. In the same year, the state-run newspaper "Acropolis" organizes a "Christmas Cup" in Athens with the participation of AEK, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Apollon Athens and the Austrian Admira Wacker. AEK also wins the "Acropolis Cup", winning to the surprise of all the Austrian fans with 4-3 and becomes the first team to win two Cups in a season with Asderis as its coach.

He remained on the bench of AEK until 1933 and later returned the team alongside Kostas Negrepontis in a period of decline for the team. AEK after the renewal and the arrival of the players of its academy, which was the first in Greece, such as Kleanthis Maropoulos, Tryfon Tzanetis and Michalis Delavinias, is ready to start its own empire. In 1937 AEK does not participate in the Greek Championship because it has planned to return to its roots. He travels to Istanbul in an intense emotional charge and participates in mini tournaments with Güneş and Fenerbahçe. It loses in the first game to the Turkish champions 2–1, but beats Fenerbahçe 3–2. Now the team was ready for big things and proves it with the first double in the history of Greek football in the 1938–39 season. Next season is the last appearance of Asderis on the bench of AEK, again as an intermediate link in the tenure of Negrepontis. The team wins the championship again and looks to the future with optimism, since its "batch" is unique and wins its opponents easily. Unfortunately for humanity, however, the World War II is coming, Mussolini orders his troops to attack Greece after the "No" of Metaxas and football is no longer priority.[2]

Asderis starts a wandering in Panathinaikos,[3] which he helps to stand together with the other Constantinople citizen and founding member of AEK Fokiona, Dimitriadis, during the very difficult occupation years. With the release and the resumption of the national championships, comes the call from Olympiacos. Asderis becomes the first coach in the history of Greek football to coach all three greats of his former "P.O.K." (to be followed by Helmut Senekowitsch and Jacek Gmoch) and at Olympiacos more mature than ever, he the championship, as well as the Cup of 1947.[4] Asderis was also part of the technical staff during three of the four terms of Negrepontis on the bench of the National team. In 1951 and at the age of 50, the Asderis retired from active role, having done everything in football as a footballer, as a coach and as a referee. He has written his name in the history of AEK Athens Olympiacos with the double. A life full of football that ended on March 22, 1975, when Themos Asderis left his last breath in Athens.[5][6]