Niko Kovi

Niko Kovi — Biography

Niko Kovi, also known in Greece as Nikos Kovis, was a central defender and a first-choice regular in Beşiktaş's back line in the 1970s. He is counted as the fourth player of Greek descent to play for the Turkey national team, after Lefter Küçükandonyadis, Koço Kasapoğlu and Aleko Yordan. He studied at St. George's Austrian High School, and after his playing days he spent years coaching in Greece.

He began at Vefa and played his first senior match in 1968-69, when he was just 16. He stayed at Vefa despite an offer from AEK, moved to Beşiktaş in 1973 and played all 30 league matches in his first season. He did not win the league there, but he made his mark in the cups: in the 1974 Prime Minister's Cup (Başbakanlık Kupası) final he scored in the 115th minute against Bursaspor to win the trophy, and in 1975 he scored in the second leg of the Turkish Cup final against Trabzonspor, helping Beşiktaş win the club's first Turkish Cup. In 1978 he went to Panathinaikos, where he spent five seasons and won the Greek Cup in 1981-82, then moved to OFI Crete and retired in 1985.

He first played for Turkey in the 1974 RCD Cup against Iran, a tournament Turkey won, and made five appearances for the senior national team. As a coach he led several Greek clubs, including Levadiakos, PAS Giannina and Apollon Smyrnis, and until 2010 was technical director of Panathinaikos's youth academies.