Georgios Iordanidis (defender)
Georgios Iordanidis (, ; born 17 October 1989) is a Greek former football player and current head coach. Early life, coaching career, and education
He was born in 1989 to a middle-class family in Athens, the younger son of Iordanis Iordanidis, an auto electrician, and his wife, Dr. Ioanna Syriou, a secondary school principal and adjunct professor at the University of West Attica. He played senior-level football for Eleftheroupoli, PAO Kalyvion, IFA Blackpool, Sholing, and QK Southampton but several injuries led him to put an early end in his career. In July 2014, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Football Studies from Southampton Solent University, and earlier that year received the FA Level 2 coaching badge from the English FA. On 12 February 2016, he was appointed national team head coach by the Greek Amputee FA. In his debut as a head coach Greece Amputee FA drew 3-3 to AEK Futsal in a friendly game. In June 2016, he led the national team in the country's first participation in the EAFF Amputee Football Weeks project. In January 2017, he organized a charity tournament to gather food supplies for homeless people in Athens. On 11 January 2017, he resigned from his post due to military service obligations. On 18 January 2017, he was invited by R.S.I. as an experiential guest at Avlonas juvenile detention center to increase the sensitivity levels of young offenders on road culture and safety matters. He has also worked as a talent identification scout for GKS Górnik Łęczna and Wisła Kraków of the Lotto Ekstraklasa league in two consecutive seasons (2016–17, 2017–18). In October 2022, he graduated with a Master of Science in Football Coaching from the Global Institute of Sport of the University of East London. Apart from his native Greek, he speaks English, Spanish, and French to varying degrees of fluency. In October 2023, he received the UEFA B coaching license from the Hellenic Football Federation. Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Popular culture

Fullname etymology
His name Georgios derives from the Ancient Greek word georgós which means "earth-worker". The word itself is a compound of gē ("earth", "soil") and ergon ("task", "undertaking", "work"). His paternal surname, Iordanidis, means "son of the one who descends" or "descendant of the one who flows down". It derives from the Hebrew name Yarden, which means "to descend" or "to flow down", in combination with the suffix -idis, of the Greek surnames, that means "the son of" or "the descendant of". His maternal surname, Syrios, means "to glow" or "to scorch" and derives from the Ancient Greek dog-star Sirius of Greek mythology. Ethnic origins
MyHeritage DNA test estimated his ethnicity to be: 74.3% Greek and South Italian, 17.1% West Asian, 3.7% Ashkenazi Jewish, 3.2% Italian, and 1.7% Middle Eastern. It also revealed two genetic group connections: Greek and Germanic. Several historical events occurred in Europe, Western Asia, and Africa over the centuries and are related to his ethnicity estimates and genetic groups. However, it is not clear which events are more relevant to his DNA test results. Out of the many scenarios available, the most likely are: a) The Greek settlements in Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily during antiquity can provide a link to his South Italian descent. b) His Pontic Greek ancestors who lived in Anatolia may explain his West Asian ancestry. c) The Hellenistic period settlements in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, and Phoenicia may also explain his West Asian and Middle Eastern origins. and d) The Italian communities in Greece before World War II or during the Roman era of the Byzantine Empire may be the interface between him and Italy. Family connections

Education industry

The ex-president and executive member of the AHEPA Montreal in Canada, George Sinoyannis, was his uncle. Primarily, he worked as a chief engineer for a Canadian multinational telecommunications company that produced air traffic control systems for civil and military aerospace use. Healthcare industry

The general surgeon, Dr. Olga Iordanidou, who served as administrator of the second health region of Piraeus and Aegean from 2016 to 2019, is his aunt. Of her many works, the most important were: a) the donation of a 16-slice CT scanner from Asklipio Voula Hospital to Naxos General Hospital, b) the creation of pulmonology offices in the islands of Naxos, Milos, Tinos, Paros, Serifos, and Sifnos, and c) the facilitation of medical treatment for cancer patients who needed it due to the atmospheric pollution caused by the catastrophic wildfires of 2018. Music industry

The folk music singer Stelios Iordanidis, who sang with Themis Adamantidis, among others, is his uncle. The guitarist, songwriter, and composer Dimitris Sinoyannis, who has collaborated with top artists in the music industry in recent decades (e.g., Goran Bregović, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Manolis Mitsias, George Dalaras, Haris Alexiou, Marinella, Dimitris Mitropanos, Vasilis Karras, and Vasilis Papakonstantinou), is his uncle. The Greek opera singer and music teacher Meropi Jordano (stage name), who performed in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, is his aunt. Sports industry
The gymnast, Socrates Iordanidis MEd, who works as a hydrotherapist for disabled children at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of Athens, is his brother. The engineer, Alex Sinoyannis MSc, who worked as a dynamic vehicle engineer for Team Penske No. 22 in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2013 to 2016, is his cousin. The referee, Alexandros Dimitropoulos, who officiated forty Super League 1 and seven Greek Cup matches from 2011 to 2016, is his half-cousin. He has also served as a fourth official in twenty Super League 1 games and as a referee in twenty-seven Super League 2 games. The daughter of five-time GBL champion Georgios Moschos, who played for Panellinios Athens, Iraklis Salonica, and AEK Athens basketball clubs and died from lymphoma at the age of twenty-nine, Maria Moschou, is his aunt. Clubs support
He is a supporter of Super League 1 club AEK Athens, and an admirer of Primera División club Boca Juniors. Sport video games
He is featured, as a scout for Wisła Kraków of the Ekstraklasa, in the 2018 edition of the Football Manager simulation video game and as a free agent in the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 editions. References

External links
Georgios Iordanidis at sortitoutsi.net
Georgios Iordanidis at jobs4football.com

1989 births
Living people
Footballers from Athens
Men's association football central defenders
Eleftheroupoli F.C. players
Sholing F.C. players
Southern Football League players
Greek expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Greek expatriate sportspeople in England
Greek football managers
Alumni of Solent University
Alumni of the University of East London
Greek men's footballers