South Melbourne FC has bolstered its defence with an overseas signing just a fortnight ahead of the new NPL season by signing Greek born central defender Christos Intzidis.
Born 25 years ago in Thessaloniki, the tall Intzidis brings considerable professional experience to Lakeside having made over 100 appearances in the top two professional divisions in Greece.
After coming through the PAOK youth academies, Intzidis signed his first professional contract at PAOK in 2014, for which club he made five appearances. He had loan spells at Platanias and Levediakos and played at a number of other Greek clubs before transferring to Aris for whom he made 15 appearances.
His move to SMFC comes at a time when the senior team is undergoing changes having recently replaced senior coach Chris Taylor with youth coach Sasa Kolman. The South Melbourne team’s defence has also lost several personnel since last season with the departure of central defenders Michael Eager, Luke Adams, full back Tim Mala, and keeper Nicola Roganovic.
The club hopes that new signing Intzidis will form a strong central defensive partnership with Kristian Konstantinidis. SMFC Football Director, Nicholas Maikousis predicts that the tall Intzidis will prove a valuable asset to the senior team. Speaking on the club website, he commented, “Christos joins us with a large amount of experience in Greece’s top flight including with PAOK and we are excited to bring him to Melbourne. His size and ability on the ball will make a fantastic acquisition and someone we can have across the back four.”
Meanwhile South fans will be relieved that the club has re-signed forward Leigh Minopoulos for the 2018 season. Minopoulos has been one of South Melbourne’s valuable attacking weapons since joining in 2014 from Werribee City. Since then he’s made 115 appearances in all competitions for a return of 33 goals and just as importantly, numerous assists.
“Melbourne. His size and ability on the ball will make him a fantastic acquisition and someone we can have across our back four.”