George Angelopoulos reflects on his 300-game local footy career

‘Georgie’ Angelopoulos has seen the highs and lows of football over his 300 games. There’s been “dominant” finals performances, friendships and some big lessons.

George Angelopoulos laughs about it now.

He was “sweatin’” back then.

Noble Park coach Mick Fogarty had one eye on his team board and the other on an infuriated Angelopoulos.

Fogarty was naming his line-up for the 2013 Eastern league grand final and intentionally held Angelopoulos’ name to last on the interchange.

Angelopoulos hadn’t played for two weeks after diving into hot water with a tweet criticising the umpiring in the first final.

The polarising character, who played his 300th game last weekend, said his good has always outweighed his bad but conceded the tweet “wasn’t my finest”.

“We got beaten by five goals but jeez I thought the umpiring was bad that day,” Angelopoulos recalled with a laugh.

“I just didn’t think, I had 15 followers … I didn’t think it was going to go far.

“I spoke to my mate and he was going to take the blame but the Noble president, fair enough, didn’t want to knowingly lie so I copped two weeks and missed two finals.

“I had to train my arse off that week to play in the granny and Mick Fogarty sent me to train with the twos.

“We went upstairs for selection, he’s reading the players out: nothing, nothing, still nothing and then last spot on the bench he reads my name out.

“He (Fogarty) comes up to me and goes ‘were you sweatin’?’ and I said yep and he goes ‘good, I wanted you to sweat’.

“That was a bit of a wake-up call, you don’t want to be missing finals.”

George Angelopoulos at Noble Park.

Fogarty, who said Angelopoulos was one of his favourites, recalled the story similarly.

“Every now and then you’ve got to keep them on their toes,” Fogarty said.

“Georgie was never, ever missing, he was actually close to my first picked but I wasn’t ever telling him that.

“I could see his face, it had a bulldog-like look on it, it looked like he was ready to kill me … I kept a close eye on his face, don’t worry about that.”

It’s a moment in Angelopoulos’ journey that summarises him perfectly.

His on-edge style has often taken him to the highs and lows of football.

The Angelopoulos way formed quickly at Noble Park when his teammates made him feel invincible.

Angelopoulos has taken that with him to every club he’s played at since, eager to be everyone’s favourite teammate.

“I just remember the feeling of when someone tackled you or did something, the senior boys would come in and get stuck into them, it would make you feel 10-foot tall,” he said.

“That ties into how I play, I want to make the younger blokes feel like I have got their back.

“I would have played 80 games where the opposition has spent more time trying to take my head off more than they have trying to win – it’s worked, that’s probably why I do it.

“One of the guys who I played with at Noble said to my old man one day ‘George was one of my favourite teammates’, that’s as good a compliment I have ever heard.

“Everyone can say ‘he’s a good footballer’, whatever, I would love to be remembered as a good teammate.”

George Angelopoulos. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Angelopoulos went from Noble Park, Narre Warren, Karingal and Stony Creek before finding home at Springvale Districts.

He trained with Districts during his year at Stony Creek and planned to cross over provided it stayed in Division 2.

Demons coach Kris Thompson rang him the day of the meeting to cancel after they had been relegated.

But Angelopoulos went against his original plan and attended the meeting anyway.

“Thommo rang me and said ‘don’t worry about the meeting, we just got relegated’. I said ‘I am not going to do that to you, I will come hear you out’,” he said.

“I sat through the meeting and I was really impressed, I didn’t commit at that stage but something Thommo said to me stuck that day.

“He told me they were at rock bottom but we could build something and you’d be a big part of that, he said, ‘how good would it be to win a Div 1 flag?’”

Fast-forward 12 months and Angelopoulos played the best game of his career against Hampton Park.

He kicked two last-quarter goals in a semi-final to propel Districts into the decider.

Thompson grabbed Angelopoulos after the final siren to reflect on their meeting a year prior and it allowed for an iconic image.

“It was after the game, he came up to me and it was more of a quiet conversation,” Angelopoulos said.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play Divvy 3, they’d just been relegated, and that last quarter was to get us into a grand final, it was a moment of reflection.”

“A moment of reflection” between Angelopoulos (L) and Kris Thompson. Picture: AAP/ Chris Eastman

Thompson said ‘Georgie’ announced himself to the Southern league in that final.

“The semi-final against Hampton Park was probably when he really made his mark as a Springvale player,” Thompson said.

“The game was up for grabs at three-quarter time and I remember saying to him ‘this is why you’re here, to win these big games’.

“He went into the midfield and had a dominant last quarter which included that iconic match-winning goal.

“There’s never a dull moment with Georgie and we’ve had some deep and really honest conversations over the years but we’ve always managed to keep footy as footy and our friendship away from footy – we are great mates.”

Angelopoulos kicks the sealer in the game of his career. Picture: AAP/ Chris Eastman

Thompson knows his livewire is disliked externally but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Most umpires and oppo players probably hate him and that doesn’t worry him one bit, but those that know him away from footy love him,” he said.

“He’s got a really high footy IQ and mid-week at training he’s been a huge asset to have in regard to teaching the modern game and improving our standards as we’ve risen up the divisions.

“His story definitely isn’t over at Springy, we are hungry for success and I know he will leave a great legacy as a Springvale man.’’

Fogarty echoed Thompson’s opinion, saying Angelopoulos was allowed to “do whatever he likes” at Noble Park.

“Forget (Jack) Ginnivan and all these other blokes, Georgie was the first one, he was ahead of his time,” he said.

“You just roll with the punches with Georgie, I loved everything about him as a player.

“His excitement, energy and ability to get under the oppo skin made him a really important player in our team.

“He’s probably hated by every opposition for his antics and what he gets up to but I absolutely love him and what he gave to our footy club.

“George could do whatever he likes as long as it didn’t affect him on a Saturday and it never did.”

For ‘Georgie’, it’s always been about being a good teammate.

GEORGIE’S BEST

Kyle Martin (Noble Park)

“Kyle is just a footballer. He wasn’t the best runner or best athlete but he’s just the best pure footballer I have ever seen, if he played full forward he could kick 100 goals.”

Peter O’Brien (Noble Park)

“Superstar. He was silky, just a real good finisher, a smooth mover, he reminded me a bit of Simon Black.”

Craig Anderson (Noble Park)

“Absolute running machine. He was the captain in those two flags I played in at Noble, I don’t think I have played with anyone who works harder. Star.”

Tory Dickson (Noble Park)

“I played one year with him and he kicked 130 I think or somewhere in that vicinity. He was just too hard of a match-up, talls couldn’t go with him on the ground and he was too big and too strong for the smalls.”

Gavin Vassallo (Springvale Districts)

“He’s a given. He is just a freak, he could do things that no one else could. He would only need five minutes to kick two of the best goals you’d ever see.”

Jeff Gobbels (Balwyn)

“He kicked a torp from about 75 out on the half time siren (in the grand final) to put them about seven goals up. I still remember that grand final, he was unbelievable.”

Rennie Gilchrist (Balwyn)

“He was just a great leader who stepped up in big moments.”