To many he was the embodiment of the “mangas”, a Greek larrikin, in his day, flamboyant footballer Ulysses Kokkinos embodied not only the Swinging Sixties but was also the star in a team that drew the biggest crowds in Australian football.
Michael Mandalis, the prolific Hellas centre forward who played alongside Mr Kokkinos. said his friend was a unique player who always had opponents guessing.
“When he came onto the football ground, he was a performer. He was very fast, he loved the game and he loved Hellas. He was a very unusual and unpredictable player and he was born for this life,” said Mr Mandalis who is a mentor and assistant at South Melbourne Hellas and who was inducted into the Football Victoria Hall of Fame in 2019.
“I played next to him, we very similar but he was stronger and could leap like a kangaroo. I always admired him even when we played against each other. We hung around together and we had a great time,” Mr Mandalis told Neos Kosmos.
His great strength was contesting the ball in the air. Mr Mandalis, who had played against many of his era’s great stars, including Pele, said his former teammate was better than any of them.
“He flew like a bird. He had the greatest header in the world, he went up like an albatross and the ball would shoot off his head like a cannonball to the back of the net. ”
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Mr Kokkinos was born in Istanbul in 1949. His father, Yiannis was a timber merchant in the city. The young Ulysses was drawn to football from an early age. He drew the attention of Lefteris Kucukandoniadis, the captain of the national Turkish team and played for Fenerbahce and Turkish captain, who convinced Mr Kokkinos’ father to let him play for Pera Club.
Mr Kokkinos was 16 when the family fled Istanbul for Athens in 1964 following a flare up in Cyprus that led to the persecution of the Greek minority in the city. The family’s assets were frozen and they were given a week to leave with belongings packed into five suitcases.
In Athens, he signed a contract to play for second division club Proodeftfitki but could not settle there. He smuggled himself on board the Patris and was looked after by the ship’s crew as the ship made its way to Australia. He jumped ship at Fremantle and with the help of a Greek family made his way by train to Melbourne. Again, members of the community found him a place to stay and looked after him.
He made his way to South Melbourne Hellas where he put on on a 20-minute ball-juggling performance that drew a crowd and the attention of club officials who signed up as a junior who trained with the first team. The team featured Greek national team members including AEK’s Kostas Nestoridis who was the captain coach of the team when Mr Kokkinos was signed on. When Mr Nestoridis went to visit his family in Greece, the caretaker coach John Anderson gave Mr Kokkinos his first big break when he selected him for the 1967 Ampol Cup final. Mr Kokkinos scored two goals.
Over the years, Mr Kokkinos had four stints with South Melbourne Hellas 1966-68, 1970, 1971 and 1974-75.
He also signed up for Greek giants Panthinaikos for two periods, 1968-69, and 1970. During his 25 year footballing career that oscillated between Greece and Australia he was to play for Paniliakos and Panserraikos in Greece, Fitzroy Alexander, Hakoah Eastern Suburbs, Melbourne Juventus, Fitzroy United, West Adelaide Hellas, Western Suburbs and Floreat Athena in Perth where he was a player-manager.
His achievements on the field drew much praise but he also led a flamboyant lifestyle that drew much controversy. Much like George Best, the gifted Manchester United star with whom he was readily compared, Mr Kokkinos led a lifestyle that incorporated “wine, women and song” with his football.
He developed alcohol, drug and gambling addictions and served time in prison on drug-related offences.
He took a different path when his father travelled from Greece to see him in prison. When his father broke down in tears, Mr Kokkinos decided to change the course of his life.
Mr Mandalis said he opened a restaurant takeaway in Brighton and he privately coached football and many benefited from his experience.
“He followed his odyssey. Ulysses enjoyed life to the end. He was a different species. He had a flamboyant background but he was always himself,” Mr Mandalis said.