Faidon Mattheou The Patriarch or Basketball

Faidon Matthaiou (1924 – 2011) was one of the brightest all round athletes of the Greek sports pantheon but he thrived mostly in basketball.
Born in Thessaloniki on the 12th July of 1924 he came from a family with a heritage in sports.

He was involved in many sports (water polo, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, shooting, fencing, athletics, bike) and was a member of the teams of olympic basketball and rowing.
He took part in two Olympic Games in two different sports: in 1948 in London at rowing and in 1952 in Helsinki in basketball.

He had a great career winning many titles in over 60 years as a basketball player and coach.
He started from “Aris” of Thessaloniki in 1945, but in 1949 he went to “Panathikos” where he won 3 Greek Championships (1950, 1951, 1954).
He then played at “Sporting” and “Panionios” and later he was transferred to the Italian club “Inis Varese”. He ended his career at “Aris”.
He played for the Greek National Basketball team in 44 games and scored a total of 539 points (avg. 12). He played at the first official game in the history of the Greek National team, in the Eurobasket of Egypt in 1949, where Greece placed 3rd, while he also coached the first game of the Greek National Women Basketball team.

He also had a great career as a coach, being coach of the Greek National Men Team, the National Women Team, the teams of “Panionios”, “Peristeri”, “PAOK” and others.
He is looked upon as the creator of the women basketball team of Aris.