Iconic Greek sports radio and TV commentator George Georgiou passed away at the age of 71.
George Georgiou, one of the most recognizable and cult figures of Greek sports journalism, was defeated by cancer.
He started his career in sports journalism by reporting on Olympiakos. However, he was a devoted follower of Apollon Smyrna and also held various administrative roles for the team. He gained recognition through his work at the esteemed historical newspaper, Filathlos.
In Filathlos, which had a completely different approach to sports coverage, Georgiou soon acquired his own column, which, together with Apodytiriakia, were the big hits of the time.
The name of his column was The “Café of fans”. There he simply wrote a short introduction which was followed by comments from the fans to which he responded with remarks that even today would cause the intervention of all the competent bodies… It did not take long for the radio and television “Café of the Fans” to emerge. Initially on Channel 5, but then found its way onto bigger TV channels to reach its peak being broadcast by Alpha.
And the TV show was literally what its title said as Georgiou broadcast out of coffee shops from different neighbourhoods of Athens on Sunday evening, discussing with the patrons what had preceded the football matches. And the discussions were almost never only about sports, but also strayed into other fields… In a way, they were the sports stories many years before the sports stories appeared.
